Baishakhi treats @ Lakeshore Hotel
Bengali misti pulao
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup chinigura or basmati rice
½ cup green peas
2-3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp cashew nuts
2 tbsp ginger, chopped
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 stick cinnamon
2 pods green cardamom
1 jaitrik
A few strands of saffron
4 cloves
½ tsp black peppercorn
1 bay leaf
Salt to taste
2 tbsp ghee
2 cups water
Method
Wash rice and place it in straining bowl. Add turmeric powder, mix well and spread the rice on a platter until use. In a pot or a khorai, heat ghee and sauté all spices. Add cashew nuts and raisins and fry till the cashew turns golden brown and the raisins bulge. Then add the green peas and rice, sauté for few minutes. Keep the heat in low flame. Make sure nothing gets burnt. Add sugar and salt as per taste.
Now add two cups of water; when it comes to boil mix well and simmer. Cover the pot with lid and cook till the rice turns fluffy and soft.
Serve along with your choice of poultry, meat or even fish.
Masala bhaat
Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small piece cinnamon stick
2 crushed cardamoms
15 cashew nuts
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
10 curry leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 cup rice (regular or basmati)
1 cup peas (frozen or fresh)
Salt to taste
2½ cups of water (if using basmati rice, use 2 cups of water)
1 tbsp lemon Juice
Coriander leaves
Method
Take a sauce pan, add ghee and heat it up. Add the ingredients given from cumin seeds to curry leaves and sauté for a minute. Now add spice powder and mix well. Sauté for 30 seconds. Add rice and toss well with the masala and ghee. Add peas, onion, salt, and mix well. Now pour water and bring the whole thing to a boil.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes till all the water is absorbed by the rice and the rice is cooked.
Now squeeze some lemon juice over and sprinkle with cilantro. Mix well with a fork.
Serve while it is still warm.
You can also try this recipe using mustard oil instead of ghee.
Rupchanda bortha (Silver pomfret)
Ingredients
4 pcs pomfrets
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp green chilli, chopped
2 tbsp onion, sliced
1 tsp mustard paste
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
Pure mustard oil (enough to fry fish)
Sprinkle a little lemon juice, if desired
Method
Clean fish and wash. Marinade with chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt; keep it for 15 minutes. In frying pan, shallow fry the fish till golden brown. Let them cool. Once cool, debone the flesh.
In fry pan, fry onions, coriander leaves and green chillies. Add the fish making sure there are no bones in it. Mix with mustard and mix well. Take it off the stove. Serve with steamed rice.
Seem-narkel bhorta
Ingredients
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup seem (flat beans), boiled and mashed
1 cup onion
1 pinch mustard seeds
1 pinch cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander leaf
2 tbsp mustard oil
4 or 5 red chillies
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
Method
Fry the mustard and cumin seeds; add onions and chillies. Fry until the onions turn brown. Now add coconut, boiled seem, coriander leaves and salt. Fry for 2 or 3 minutes. Now blend the all mixture in a food processor to a nice paste like consistency and enjoy steam rice.
Ilish fish paturi
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
500g ilish
1 cup coconut paste
4 tbsp mustard paste
3 tbsp green chilli paste
3 tbsp mustard oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
¼ red chilli powder
½ tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 banana leaf
Salt to taste
Method
Clean and wash the fish and keep aside. In a bowl prepare a mixture with the coconut paste, mustard paste, green chilli paste, mustard oil, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and lemon juice.
Wash and wipe the banana leaf and cut it into square pieces of 6 inch by 6 inch, so that one piece of fish can easily fit into it. Coat the leaf with oil from inside and keep it aside. Then marinate the fish with previously prepared mixture of all the spices.
Put the marinated fish on the banana leaf, wrap it tightly, and tie with a string. Heat oil in a frying pan and put the wrapped fish on it. Fry on medium heat; you may cover with a lid so it can cook thoroughly until the leaf has turned yellow.
Then remove the wrapped leaf from frying pan and take fish out of leafs and serve with hot rice.
Achari bhetki fish
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
500g bhetki fillet
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 tbsp onion paste
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tbsp tamarind sauce (or you can soak tamarind in water with little sugar)
1 tsp panch phoron (crushed)
1 tomato, chopped
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp coriander powder
3 tsp mustard oil
Salt and sugar, to taste
Bell peppers, cubed
4 green chillies
Method
Cut fish into cubes wash thoroughly, rub with salt, little turmeric and red chilli powder. Fry for a little while but do not let them burn.
Now in oil put sliced onion; cook until it thickens. Add finely chopped garlic and fry them until the onion and garlic get light brown; add salt, onion and ginger paste, turmeric and chilli powder. You need to cook the spices very well, adding water little at a time.
Add chopped tomato and water when the tomatoes are completely dissolved in the gravy. Add fish cubes; add tamarind. When the gravy is reduced add green chillies and bell pepper.
Now the final part, the achari flavour -
crush panch phoron, whole coriander seed and little cumin seed together, put them into the gravy, add 2 teaspoon mustard oil over the fish , cover the lid, and keep it on very low flame for 5 min, ready, you may add little sugar to sharpen the taste.
By Saiful Alamin Liton, Executive chef, Lakeshore Hotel