Vegetable Medley in Spiced Coconut Sauce

Clockwise from left to right:
Oriental Eggplant
Cauliflower
Peas
Mushrooms
Sweet Potatoes

This vegetable dish is really easy to make because everything is simply stewed in the peppery coconut sauce. Any combination of vegetables can be used. This is a gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian dish.

Tuna and Chickpeas Hash

The inspiration for this recipe came from my brother during one of our telephone conversations.  I plan to try his sometime soon, but here is what I came up with. The packaged tuna fish can be replaced with any fish fillets that have been poached and flaked. Generally, a hash is made with potatoes but in an attempt to reduce the carbohydrate content, the chickpeas (garbanzo beans) came in handy. Diced water chestnuts in this hash gives it an interesting crunch.  

Khichuri - Rice, Lentils & Vegetable Stew

Yesterday we had 96°F temperatures and today it was down to 69°F. Looks like Fall is on its way, so I decided to make Khichuri for dinner. 

Khichuri, a Bengali one-pot-meal once considered comfort food for the poor, is now a delicacy served during the Monsoon or rainy season when the weather turns considerably cooler. Core ingredients are rice and lentils but vegetables, eggs, poultry or meat are added according to taste. 

For added interest, a cup of coconut milk was added towards the end which imparted an Asian flair to this dish.

Panthey Khauk Swe - Egg Noodles in Rich Chicken Curry Sauce

This noodle dish is a simplified version of Ohno Khauk Swe, more suitable for small groups of people, and influenced by the Indo-Chinese Muslim population in Burma. The chicken curry recipe provided below may be replaced by left-over Chicken Sipyan to which a cup of coconut milk is added and the gravy reduced by half. If you choose to do that, ignore Chicken Curry ingredients and skip to step 8 of Directions.

Burmese Eggplant Skin Cooked with Dried Anchovies

I concocted this dish one day when my husband brought home 4 huge eggplants from the market. I decided on 3 different preparations of eggplant, a salad, stir-fried eggplant & potatoes with lots of onions & tomatoes, and begun bhaja or pan-fried eggplant. In a hurry to get the cooking done, I thought the stir-fried dish would cook faster if I peeled the 2 eggplants, but I didn't want to throw the peels away and came up with this delicious dish. The peels were full of texture and so tasty when cooked with the anchovies.

Stir-Fried Spinach with Potatoes & Eggplant

Chicken Keema Mattar - Ground Chicken with Peas and Potatoes

There are so many ways to prepare keema curry, but this one is really delicious because of the addition of Shan Pulao/Biryani mix, which is available in Indian grocery stores throughout the United States & Canada.

Shukto - Bitter Melon with a Melange of Vegetables in Mustard & Poppy Seed Sauce

Ilish Maacher Jhaal - Hilsa Cooked in Mustard & White Poppy Seed Sauce

Ilish, or Hilsa as it is known in English, is a Bengali delicasy. 

The spawning habits of this fish reminds me of the salmon runs in Alaska. In the city where I live in Michigan, USA, Bangladeshi & South Indian grocery stores stock flash frozen Hilsa. In Bengal, India, this fish is always eaten fresh, never frozen. 

Hilsa is notorious for its bones, so it definitely is an acquired taste. My Father would soak this fish overnight, bones and all, in vinegar and salt and roast it the next day in the oven. The resulting aroma and melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness is something I will never forget. The vinegar works overnight to melt the bones, so every part of the fish is edible.

This preparation with a mustard/poppy seed sauce is the typical way this fish is cooked in the Bengali kitchen.

Homemade Ghee or Clarified Butter

8 oz. Ghee

Each little bottle of ghee that I buy from the local Indian grocery store lasts about a month because I use it only for garnishing. The 8 oz. bottle costs $5.00 or thereabouts which is not too bad a price. However, several friends have said they make their own ghee at home, so I thought I'd experiment with it since I had used up the last bottle and didn't want to waste time going to the store.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Today being Thursday, is GrandBoy’s day. GrandBoy #2 who is 5 years old, will be visiting us and preparing something appealing for him is a big concern. I thought of individual chicken pot pies, but the thought of fiddling with puff pastry and individual bowls of stuff was pretty daunting. Here is the result of simplifying the entire process – a casserole of chicken pot pie ingredients topped with cracker crumbs.  Hope he likes it!

Burmese Roasted Eggplant Salad - Khayan Thee Pope Thoke

Burmese Begoon Pora

For all you eggplant lovers out there, here is a quick and easy hand-mixed salad, ideal for a hot summer day. It is perfect served as part of a Burmese meal with Basmati rice or as a starter with pita triangles.

Burmese Fried Peanuts - Myay Bae Kyaw

Myay Bae Kyaw
(Pronunciation: MmmYay Bare Jaw)

Here is a vegan/vegetarian snack that is very quick & easy to prepare and is always a hit with guests. We’re fortunate that deep fried onions & garlic are available at the local Oriental grocery store. I also used already roasted, unsalted peanuts, white sesame seeds & chili flakes so it took me just a couple of minutes to toss everything together in a bowl and serve.

Orange Cranberry Amish Friendship Bread

Orange Cranberry Bread

Each cup of starter batter makes 2 loaves of friendship bread. One loaf is wrapped and ready for presenting to the family across the street and the other loaf was shared with friends who dropped by for coffee & dessert this evening.

Chicken Curry with Potatoes in an Onion and Tomato Gravy

Chicken Do Piaza

Can you believe chicken with just a few ingredients can be so delectable? The main ingredients in this dish are chicken, potatoes, onion and tomato paste. I like using boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this dish, but use your choice of chicken pieces. Bone-in chicken thighs & legs work well too. 'Do Piaza' means 'onion two ways' which refers to the puréed onions used in the beginning of the cooking process and the fried onions that are added at the end as a garnish. If time is an issue, instead of blanching the onion and blending with ginger and garlic, the onion could be finely diced and the ginger & garlic grated, then mixed together with the tomato paste.

Beefy Shanghai Noodles

Thursdays are GrandBoys' Day. Today Reid, GrandBoy #3, will be spending the evening with us and we'll be having these noodles, accompanied by chicken & vegetable dumplings. Well (huge sigh!), he wanted no part of it, so we went to The Friar's Kitchen & Bakery where he had Mac 'n Cheese!!!


Thin slices of beef tenderloin marinated in soy and hoisin sauces, stir-fried with green beans, soy beans, red pepper and water chestnuts & tossed with thick, fresh egg noodles.

Loaded Baked Potato And Chicken Casserole

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

The inspiration piece at the link above is a healthy recipe. I made a few changes to pump up the flavour with the addition of fajita chicken strips and red pepper flakes. My recipe is much simpler and more straightforward because I've made use of several pre-cooked, ready-made products such as fajita chicken strips and diced potatoes which cut down the baking time by more than half. Before I added the sour cream to the casserole, it looked kind of dry. The outcome of this entire experiment could not have been more successful. It is delicious!

Crispy Cheesy Chicken

Recipe Courtesy Erin Pawley 

I served this chicken on a bed of Romaine lettuce and baked potato slices along with sauteed mushrooms and soya beans (edamame) seasoned with Herbs de Provence. The chicken came out very tender & juicy and the sauce was particularly delicious. It tasted just like Hollandaise Sauce!

Sweet Potatoes and Peas with Shrimp

The sweet potatoes can be replaced with pumpkin.

Red Lentils Cooked With Ginger

Ada Diye Masoorir Dal

Burmese Bamboo Shoots with Tomatoes & Shrimp

Mum made this preparation with bamboo shoots and shrimp for us when bamboo shoots were in season. It is one of my favourite ways to cook bamboo shoots and brings back so many memories of our childhood in Burma.

Eggplant & Fried Anchovies Sipyan

Begun Shutki

A Burmese dish comprising eggplant and fried anchovies simmered long and slow in a tomato sauce.

Asparagus & Shrimp in Mustard Coconut Sauce

Shrimp and mustard gravy go well with a lot of vegetables such as eggplants, potatoes, pumpkin, summer squash or sweet potatoes. Asparagus provides a crisp note when combined with shrimp and ground mustard.

Ingredients:
1 bundle asparagus, trimmed and cut in 1" pieces
1/2 lb. medium shrimp (35-40 count), shelled & deveined
1 tsp. ginger paste
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. nigella seeds (kalo jeera/kalonji)
4-5 green chillies
2 Tbsp. black mustard seeds, soaked overnight in salted water
2 Tbsp. grated coconut (unsweetened)
salt to taste
Juice of 1 lime

Directions:
1. Grind drained mustard in a blender, strain and mix with lime juice.
2. Heat oil, fry green chillies until skins turn white, remove and set aside.
3. Add nigella seeds and wait until they sputter.
4. Add asparagus pieces along with ginger paste and fry for a few minutes.
5. Stir in coconut and shrimp and simmer until shrimp turn pink.
6. Pour mustard into pan, stir and adjust salt to taste.
7. Return fried green chilies to pan and transfer to a serving dish.

Serve on a bed of hot Basmati rice.

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Grated Cabbage with Eggs

Deem Diye Bandha Kopi

Credit for this recipe goes to Mum who used to cook shredded cabbage with black pepper and eggs. I find it easier to grate the cabbage in the food processor and do the same with the onions and garlic. Adding the shrimp powder (entirely optional) adds a lovely Burmese touch to this dish.

Mung Bean Lentils with Shrimp

Chingri Dal

When allowed to sit, the lentils thicken
and absorb most of the liquid

This recipe was given to my husband by his niece, Jayashree Banerjjee. 

Ingredients:

2 cups mung dal cooked

15 medium shrimp, cleaned, deveined and tossed with salt and turmeric

For the tempering:

1 tsp. ghee

1 tsp. vegetable oil 

1/4 tsp. nigella seeds (kalonji/kalo jeera)

whole green chillies

salt to taste

1/4 tsp. turmeric

green coriander/cilantro (chopped) 

Directions:

1. Heat oil, sauté prawns for 3 minutes on both sides and set aside.
2. To the same pan add  ghee, nigella seeds and green chillies.
3. When seeds begin to sizzle, return prawns to pan and add cooked lentils.
4. Adjust salt to taste and cook for 4-5 minutes. 
5. Garnish with cilantro and serve.