Shorshe Doi Begun(Brinjal)..!!

 Shorshe Doi Begun is a pure vegetarian dish..It is mainly a preparation out of  brinjal or eggpalnts cooked in a muddy gravy comprising  mustard paste & curd..Brinjal is widely used all over  India & many dishes r tried & tasted over it. Owing to its vivid nature it is often called the “king of vegetables .”  Not only in India,  many other  countries also  include Brinjals into their cuisine..

This  is my own experimental  dish with Brinjals..It is indeed a good recipe & easy too..Just need to grab brinjals from your  store & rest of the ingredients are already there in your kitchen shelves..:)

Ingredients:

Medium sized  brinjal (eggplants); paste  ;  mustard seeds ; poppy seeds ; green chilies –slitted from middle ; beaten yogurt – 3 tsp ; kalonji ( kala jeera) seeds ; turmeric powder; salt .

Make a smooth paste with mustard seeds , poppy seeds (in the ratio 1:1) along with  a green chili.

 Procedure:

1)Cut the brinjals into round shapes. Coat them with a pinch of salt & turmeric. Take a kadai or frying pan and heat mustard oil in it..

2)As the oil gets heated up fry the brinjals till golden..and keep aside.

3)To the same oil add ½ tsp of kalonji seeds and two slitted green chilies. As they start to splatter ,lower the heat and add the mustard + poppy seeds paste  to it. Stir the mix continuously blending with the oil.

4)Now add a pinch of turmeric  and mix well. Then add 2 -3 tsp of beaten yogurt. Go on stirring in medium heat..As oil starts to leave the mixture add salt & sugar as per taste..

5)To dilute the gravy add ½ cup of water & allow the gravy to boil cover it with a lid.

6)After 3 min open the lid &  be sure of a muddy gravy. Now its time to add the fried brinjals.

7)Never  stir the gravy after adding thebrinjals..Keep it in flame for a min or so..& then turn off the heat..

8)Sprinkle mustard oil on top & serve with rice..:)

Chingri (Prawn) Posto Malaikari..!!

Chingri(Prawn) Posto Malaikari..is a dish purely from Bengal..The name Malaikari always comes after chingri for all Bengalis..but this time I tried this very popular dish with a change in spices..& the main thing is that I added posto(poppy seeds) to it..I followed this recipe from a tv show..& I liked it very much . I enhanced the recipe by adding some of my own tricks &  tried it a lot of times..u can also try this out & surprise everyone @ lunch..:)

Ingredients :

Fresh jumbo prawns (head intact) -10 nos ; onion(2 med sized) paste ; garlic(8 med sized cloves) paste ; 1 tsp of ginger paste ; poppy seeds paste ; green chilies paste ; beaten  yogurt  2 tsp ; coconut milk ; garam masala powder ; turmeric powder ; bay leaves & whole garam masala   ; salt ; sugar ; mustard oil ; ghee.

Procedure :

1)Clean the prawns nicely & coat them with salt & turmeric powder.

2)Take a frying pan & heat mustard oil in it. Now fry the prawns in it.(Don’t fry too much)  Take the fried prawns in a bowl.

3)Extract juices from the pastes of onion, garlic , ginger.

4)Now we need to marinate the fried prawns with the above juices (extracted from onion, garlic, ginger pastes in step 3). Next add poppy seeds paste, green chili paste, 2 tsp of beaten yogurt, whole garam masala, salt & ghee to the marination. Cover the marinated fried prawns & keep aside for sometime.

5)Now start heating the remaining oil in the same pan with pinch of sugar & as it caramelizes..then add bay leaves(2 nos.) & just over the bay leaves (not directly into the fry pan) add 1 &1/2 tsp of garam masala powder.

6)Now add the marinated prawns along with the marinade.Cover the frying pan with a lid & allow it to get cooked for 5 min in low –medium heat. As the gravy thickens add coconut milk into it. Check out for salt & sugar as per ur taste…

7)Stir the gravy  for 2 mins  & turn off the gas..

8)Serve this delicious Chingri Posto Malaikari with hot steamed rice..:)

[  Note :- U can sprinkle coconut flakes on top before serving. If u want to avoid green chili paste, u can add whole green chilies into the marination .Don’t fry the prawns too much or they will get stiffened]