Ranchero Enchilada Casserole

Campbell's Kitchen sent me an eMail with the intriguing caption of 'Chicken Dinners in 3 Steps or Less!' Their recipe of the same name caught my eye. It was a cinch to make and delicious to eat! However, I had to adapt Campbell's recipe to the ingredients that were on hand. These ingredients have been provided below in the order in which they will be layered into the casserole dish.

Fresh Fenugreek Greens with Eggplant & Lentil Dumplings

Methi Shaak Begun Bori Diye

Fenugreek greens are frequently available at their peak of freshness in Indian grocery stores in my neck of the woods. I picked up two bunches that had roots in tact which had to be rinsed thoroughly in water to get rid of the grit that were clinging to the roots. The roots were removed, the greens chopped and the whole lot dumped into a sink half-filled with cold water. Once the sediment settled at the bottom of the sink, the greens were collected from the surface and stir-fried immediately. 

Lentil dumplings, known as 'Bori' in Bengali, are small stupa-shaped mashed and sun-dried lentils flavoured with asafetida and seasoned with salt. They are deep fried until golden brown and soaked in hot water to soften. Since some of the flavour leaches into the water in which they are soaked, I save this soaking liquid and add it back into the dish that is being prepared, to maximize on the taste.

Mung Dal with Cauliflower Garnished with Dried Fenugreek Leaves

I took one of Mum's recipes that was served when we had guests for dinner and took it up a notch with the addition of dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi). This gives a depth of flavour to the lentils that is hard to resist!

Stir-Fried Chayote Squash & Chickpeas

This recipe was inspired by one on Facebook with a few modifications. The original recipe used green papaya and kala chana. Neither are available readily, so I used chayote squash and chickpeas/garbanzo beans. It's a very simple stir-fry using very few ingredients and is quick and easy to make.

Fish & Potatoes with Lentil Dumplings in Ginger-Tomato Gravy

Tengra Maach Alu Bori

Tilapia Maach Alu Bori

This recipe was inspired by one I saw on Facebook. I've made very few changes to the original recipe which was made with Rohu fish or carp which is not readily available in my neighbourhood. I soaked the boris in hot water to soften them up, just because this is how it's done in my family. To make the gravy, I heated the water along with the boris in the microwave and added it to the pan. 

Why two kinds of fish? The top one's for me. Made with whole bone-in fish it has cumin and chili powder in the gravy. The other fish is for Hubby, made with tilapia fillets and without chili and cumin powders. Both are cooked in a ginger and tomato gravy with potatoes and lentil dumplings (bori in Bengali).

The tomato gravy is made with Campari tomatoes which are of medium size and so sweet that it's not necessary to add any sugar to the gravy. Campari tomatoes are grown in Mexico, shipped to Ontario, Canada (for packaging I think) and then reach our markets in Michigan. Kind of a circuitous route, don't you think?

Ohno Khauk Swe Made Easy

Coconut Chicken Soup

Lunch is Ready!

My bowl of Ohno Khauk Swe

I've made this meal many times and usually follow the recipe used by my family. You may notice that it's not a simple preparation, so this time I made several modifications to simplify the process. First of all, I planned ahead and did the shopping earlier in the week. Two nights before, after making sure that the ground chicken and chicken thighs had been refrigerated to thaw overnight, I made the onion-garlic-ginger-chili paste and refrigerated that also. The night before, I prepared the soup to which I made one time-saving change. Instead of roasting the half-cup of chickpea flour used to thicken the soup, I cooked half a cup of red lentils (masoor dal) in two cups of water and added it to the soup along with the coconut milk towards the end. This not only saved a whole lot of time, but also added a lovely flavour and creaminess to the soup. It also lightened the soup so it was not as rich as in the original recipe. On the day of the lunch, all I had to do was heat the soup, cook the noodles and prepare the garnishes. Using ready-made deep fried onions and garlic are further time-saving ways of simplifying the preparation of this meal.

Mutton Keema Mattar with Green Beans

Ground Lamb with Peas,
Potatoes and Green Beans

Our local grocery store sometimes stocks New Zealand lamb, and I was pleased to find ground lamb in that section. Keema Alu Mattar tastes really good with lamb and adding green beans to the mix was a big improvement.

Two pounds of this ground lamb preparation, as one of the items for dinner, fed a crowd of 6 people comfortably. I usually cook without cumin and coriander powder because of Hubby's acid reflux condition, but they can be added if you wish.

Bottle Gourd with Shrimp in Mustard Sauce

Lau Chingri Shorshe Bata

Lau Chingri is a favorite dish in our household. It is traditionally made with bottle gourd, but I prefer using chayote squash because it is more readily available and to me, they taste the same. To try something a little different, I added mustard paste and it tasted wonderful!

Spinach & Eggplant in Mustard Sauce

Palang Shaak Begun Shorshe Bata Diye

To try something different, I'd made Lau Chingri with Shorshe Bata which requires mustard seeds to be soaked and blended. The paste is then strained through a tea strainer to extract just the juice, so that the dish does not get tainted with the mustard seeds. Instead of discarding the remaining pulp, it was used to make this spinach and eggplant dish which added a tantalizing mustard flavor to otherwise bland greens. 

Yellow Split Peas Flavoured with Ginger & Tomatoes

Ada Tomato Diye Cholar Dal

These lentils are generally served with luchis (puffed bread that are made with white flour). Steamed rice or chapatis also work well. The dried peas look similar to chana dal, but taste quite different. They take about half an hour to cook and soften, so it's convenient to set this up to simmer while preparing other dishes for an evening meal.

Omelettes in Onion & Tomato Gravy

Omelette Curry

Another dish that brings Mum to mind! Wish she were here to coach me through this, but I think she would approve of my improvisation. 

Burmese Shrimp Fried Rice - Htamin Kyaw

Htamin Kyaw

What makes this fried rice Burmese? The addition of dried shrimp and fish sauce. Day-old white rice from the Chinese restaurant is perfect for making fried rice. A small portion of the sauces, along with dried chili flakes, mixed into the rice helps distribute taste and color throughout the fried rice. Dried shrimp imparts a lovely umami flavor to this dish.

To make a white fried rice increase the fish sauce to 4+1 tablespoons of fish sauce and omit the soy sauce. There's no need to add salt because both fish and soy sauce are loaded with salt.

Chicken Chow Mein

Mum used to make the most awesome stir-fried noodles! Here is my version that is dedicated to her memory.

Stir-Fried Eggplant & Potatoes

Begun Alu Bhaja

This is a very quick and easy vegan dish that is one of my favourites because of the eggplant and potato combination. It's versatile and goes well with rice or Indian bread of any kind. Great for lunch because it's so light, it's also perfect as a side dish as part of a more elaborate meal.

Stir-Fried Green Beans with Onions, Tomatoes & Black Pepper

The crowning touch to these green beans is the freshly ground black pepper cooked along with the green beans and used as a garnish. The green beans need to be blanched (step 1) only if they are mature. The young and tender green beans cook up really easily as they simmer. Adding water is not necessary because the onions and tomatoes release enough moisture to cook the beans.

Garlicky Red Lentils

Lasunwali Masoor Dal

This was one of Mum's favourite ways of preparing red lentils. It tastes great garnished with diced tomatoes, green chilies and lots of cilantro.

Mango Fish

Mango Fish

This dish is to die for! In Rangoon (Burma/Myanmar) this was made with whole Topshe maach (Mango Fish). I used filleted fish pieces which is not the same at all! Mum used to make it with Topshe maach, potatoes and wedges of green mangoes. I've used dried mango pieces here.

Asparagus & Shrimp in White Poppy Seed Sauce

Posto Bata Chingri & Asparagus

Shrimp and white poppy seed sauce go well with asparagus and a lot of other vegetables such as eggplants, potatoes, pumpkin, summer squash or sweet potatoes. Asparagus provides a crisp note when combined with shrimp in this dish. It also cooks very quickly which makes this so easy to prepare.

Ingredients:
2 bundles asparagus, trimmed and cut in 1" pieces
1 lb. medium shrimp (35-40 count), shelled & deveined
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
2 + 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. nigella seeds (kalo jeera/kalonji)
4-5 green chillies
2 Tbsp. white poppy seeds, soaked in boiling water for half an hour
Salt to taste
1 tsp. mustard oil

Directions:
1. Blend poppy seeds along with soaking water to a thick paste.

2. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil and stir-fry shrimp just until pink and set aside.

3. Heat remaining oil, fry green chilies until skins turn white, remove and set aside.
4. Sputter nigella seeds in oil in same pan.
5. Add asparagus pieces along with ginger paste and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
6. Stir in poppy seed paste along with shrimp and stir well.

7. Cover pan and simmer over low heat for 3 minutes until asparagus cooks.
8. Adjust salt to taste, return fried chilies to pan & garnish with mustard oil.

Serve on a bed of hot Basmati rice.

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Mung Dal with Tomatoes & Eggplant Flavored with Ginger

Mung Bean Lentils

Mung dal is quite often roasted before cooking, but it tastes very good without roasting. I try to add vegetables to any lentils I cook to increase my family's intake of vegetables. Today, I've added tomatoes and a diced Oriental eggplant to the lentils and flavored it very simply with ginger.

Ground Chicken with Chickpeas & Potatoes

Keema Cholay

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.

There's lots of texture in this main dish because of the ground chicken & chickpeas/garbanzo beans. Hubby requested this some weeks ago - it worked out so well!

Fish in White Poppy Seed & Mustard Sauce

Posto Bata Maach

Ground white poppy seed paste is combined with strained dark mustard seed paste and green chilies to make a delectable sauce in which fish pieces are simmered. Any white fish or small whole fish such as climbing perch (Bengali koi maach) and smelt are ideal for this dish. Fish and sauce spooned over freshly steamed Basmati rice makes a very satisfying meal. 

Cilantro or coriander leaves come in huge bunches at the market and inevitably, a large amount gets tossed because they spoil fast. I ground the remaining cilantro with tamarind paste and mustard oil, and that's what dots the tops of the fish pieces in the picture above.

Stir-Fried Spinach with Shrimp & Mustard Paste

Palang Shaak Shorshe Chingri

A popular condiment on the Bengali table is kasundi which is a mustard sauce that goes great with stir-fried spinach. Brown/red mustard seeds are ground to a fine paste, sometimes in combination with raw mangoes, and vinegar to make a sharp, fiery and tangy sauce. This sauce is served with greens or snacks and is unforgettable. The last time I bought a bottle in North America, it was most disappointing because the kasundi was made with acetic acid and burned my mouth. I threw the whole bottle away.

While stir-frying spinach the other day, I decided to try the next best thing. A package of salad shrimp mixed with mustard paste and added to the spinach at the last minute, gave me the desired and much-craved taste of kasundi with greens. This spinach dish was outstanding!

Minty Chicken Curry in Yogurt Sauce

Dadu's Ceylon Chicken Curry

Mum used to make this scrumptious recipe of Dadu’s (Grandfather). He was a

gourmet cook and loved International cuisine as much as Baangal (East Bengali) food. The combination of mint, cilantro and yogurt gives this chicken curry a very unique flavour.

Tahina Baingan - Stir-Fried Eggplant with Toasted Sesame Seed Paste

Baba Ghanoush and Baingan Bharta are some of my favourite eggplant dishes. Here I have combined the two and it tastes wonderful. The tahina or toasted sesame seed paste adds a creaminess and rich flavour to this dish. Tahina is apparently the same as tahini. The only difference I could see is that tahina is light brown in colour and tahini is white. I found the tahina in a Middle Eastern grocery store.

5 Mixed Vegetables with Crab Paste

Shukto with Crab Paste

The bitterness of the bitter melon is made more palatable with the addition of crab or shrimp paste. The cauliflower this time was really fresh and the outer leaves and stems were begging to be used, so I added them to this dish.