Kopir Dom

A rather delicious and simple thing I made which worked well recently was using our family aloo dum recipe on phoolkopi( cauliflower)

Cauliflower is one of my favourite veggies but I rarely buy it because it often turns out insect infested. my mother is a better judge and when my parents were here, the best thing she did for me was to leave a lot of raw veggies cut up and ready to cook in my fridge.

This was the best gift Ma could give me because I love cooking but have a pathological dislike for buying groceries, and have sometimes starved on occasion as a result :-(, coupled with weird work hours and another pathological dislike of going to the ATM. Which combined with weird work hours makes ordering in also impossible. I have recently discoevered restaurants in my locality where you pay online and am totally having a party now :)
Cutting veggies takes up a lot of time and energy so since these were already pre-cut I really felt I could work well with them. I love the sight of clean fresh veggies and was quite decided about inviting ma back soon :P

But ultimately I kept it simple. This combination of masalas is used at home for making a very favourite phaataphaati aloor dom. Is often made when we invite a number of guests as it is tasty and easy to cook I suppose.

The recipe calls for shit loads of tomatoes , the more the merrier. I used at least six for an average head of cauliflower.

Heat some oil and drop some jeera and let it crack. Then come the green chillies,as many as you like. then drop in the tomatoes and let them turn into mush. (this is a magic moment) , I usually drop the tomato pieces in, turn the heat to medium high cover the pan and let it cook by itself for 2 mins, after which I violently attack and mash the pieces in the pan. So then once they are pulpy, put in some ginger paste and turmeric (if using turmeric) Once the oil separates, put in the gobhis, saute for two minutes, till they are nicely coated, turn the heat to medium and cover it and leave it to cook Keep checking from time to time and sprinkle with water till done. I also took a tablespoon of curd, mixed it with besan and added it. Not really sure if it added anything but the dish was nice and tangy sour from all the tomato, maybe the curd also helped. Before removing I added sugar and some of my aunts muri masala (bhaja masala).
Coriander leaves cut and chopped would complete this dish nicely, but I find them difficult to manage so I dont.
The original aloor dom is usually had in our home with those lovely soft triangular Porotas that only bengalis know how to make :)). I had the kopir dom with rice though.

Short cut eats

I haven't blogged for a while, because I haven't really cooked anything new for a long while that really, really stood out. Also for the last six months, I have been successively , slightly depressed, too lazy to buy good groceries, away on a wonderful work trip, sick and busy and wasting my time by umm.. watching cookery shows online.

I have however discovered lots of little short cut comfort foods that make life easier for me. I get back really late, too late for a proper meal or ordering in. I try to eat at work, but fixing myself a nice comfort snack is relaxing and sustaining.

These are some of the things I have been relying on:

Jhaal muri- thanks to my aunt who makes this AMAZING masala mix. I just mix some muri with mustard oil and this masala and snack on this at night. The best versions have cucumber, tomato onion and are dressed in tamarind or lemon juice.

Besan pancake type things : I have mixed besan with water to varying levels of consistency and tried frying the result in shallow pans kadais etc. With mixed results, but you can't really go wrong with fried besan :P

Then again you can, if the pan is too small and the besan remains thick and uncooked in the middle.

Unsuccessful pakode: I tried doing onion and brinjal ones- the brinjal ones did not get coated properly. The onion ones came out like pancakes. I am probably mixing my batter too thin.

Dahi ke kebabs : Ahh....these were lovely. Hang some curd - either put some curd in a muslin cloth or fine sieve and suspend it over a saucepan overnight, or just open some nice thick dairy  curd (Nestle is good) carton, eat a spoonful and leave it open a few days (in the fridge of course). The water floats to the top and you get a hung -curd like consistency.
Mix the curd with some amount of besan and whatever masalas you like- I like chat masala, green chillies, ginger, that kind of thing. Chat masala or black salt with curd is a winner. Now take small handfuls of the mix and fry them.

Eggs : I have started making these thick omelettes- using two eggs in a small frying pan. with chillies and cheese. They get a thick baked egg like consistency. Nice and filling

Mushrooms : Very easy to turn into killer dishes. Stir fry mushrooms with sme nicely browned onions, garlic salt and pepper, and then throw some sour cream in once nearly done. Adding herbs work well too. Mushrooms cook fast in their own juice and like all good proteins are v easy to cook and keep tasty with little attention. My father thought this was a gourmet dish. I served this with some neer dosas bought from my mallu butcher and panfried fish.

Sprouts : Mixed with lemon juice, my muri masala, green chillies. Have always been very fond of sprouts

Pasta : Made my own sauce by just sauteing a load of tomatoes and some garlic and spices, and blending it coarse. Tasted nice. Added some brinjal to the mix once too.

Saboodana Khichdi: Much easier and tastier than Maggi.

I also discovered this life saver thing called masala oats. I normally don't like cereal as they are always too bland or sweet. These are however catered to Indian tastes and are savoury/ spicy.

I also like keeping ready to fry dosa mixes in the house.