Patthar Mangsher Jhol (Bengali muttton curry)

This is a must have in most Bengali households on a sunday. Usually, the man of the house goes out after breakfast to procure the meat while the woman busies herself preparing the spices required to cook it. It is eaten with rice for lunch and rotis or luchis for dinner.

Ingredients

1kg leg of mutton

1/2kg potatoes

Paste made of 2 large onions, 1whole garlic, 4 green chillies and an inch of ginger

2 bay leaves

2 cardamoms, 2 cloves and 2 sticks of cinnamon(whole)

2 cardamoms, 2 cloves and 2 sticks of cinnamon(ground to powder)

1 large onion chopped

Mustard oil

Salt (to taste)

Turmeric

2 tsp chilli powder.

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp raw papaya paste

Method

Marinate the washed meat pieces in the spice paste, salt, turmeric,chilli powder, lemon juice, papaya paste, 1 bay leaf and 1 tbsp mustard oil for an hour.

In a pressure cooker, heat 1/2 cup mustard oil and add the whole dry spices and remaining bay leaf. Add the chopped onion and fry till golden.  Add the marinated mutton and cook till the oil separates from the meat and one is able to get the aroma of the cooked spices.

Meanwhile, in another wok, lightly fry the peeled potatoes that have been cut into half. Add them to the meat.

Add 500ml warm water and close lid and allow for 4-5 whistles.

When the pressure releases open lid and sprinkle dry spice powder and stir well.

Khejur Gurer Payesh. (Rice pudding with palm jaggery) 

I think all Bengalis eat this dessert, irrespective of their Eastern or Western origins. I remember growing up eating it at least 2-3 times a year. Since the khejur gur is mostly available in winter, its during wintertime that you get to eat this in almost every Bengali household. The gur is made from the sweet sap of the palm tree. The tree is tapped and the earthen pots put in place for collecting the sweet sap by evening and collected early in the morning to be drunk fresh or turned into gur. But in summer, the sap ferments and turns into toody! Hence, the availability of the gur in winter. But over the years I became clever and started keeping some gur in the fridge to last me through the year, to turn into payesh, especially during birthdays.My Dida, Mashi, Jethima, and Ma have fed it to me several times, but the recipe was always the same. Of course the quality of the payesh depended on the quality of the gur. And these ladies made sure they got the best. Last year I had taken a trip to Dawki and saw some of the best khejur gur from Bangladesh on sale there. I had never tasted a more aromatic khejur gur before! Even though our ancestors were from that land, most of us have never been to Bangladesh. But we still speak of 'Desher khabar,,,,,,desher ilish.......desher gur...... God Almighty, you only created a beautiful Earth for us..... It is we who have created boundaries. Shegufta.....this one is for you. In knowing you, I feel closer to the land I am supposedly from.

Ingredients

Milk: I lit, preferably Amul Gold
Bay leaves:2
Kishmish: a handful
Khejur gur: One 'dhima' or round, chopped
Joha rice: 1 cup

Method:
Bring the milk and bay leaves to a boil in any vessel. I prefer a wok as there is a lesser chance of the milk spilling over due to large surface area.
Slowly pour the washed rice and cook till the rice is done.
Put off the gas and allow the payesh to cool a little as the milk might curdle if kishmish and gur are added to it while it is too hot.
Slowly add the gur and kishmish and stir till all the gur blends with the milk
It is preferaby eaten cold. Tastes better next morning. :)

This is one thing you can be sure of with bongs. No matter where in the planet they are, they do not miss their festivals and the foods that go with it. And if some dishes are originally complicated, they will find a way to make an easier version. The original Pattishapta involves grinding rice to a flour done in a 'dheki' in the villages, grating coconut with a contraption which is part of the 'bothi da', ( I can proudly say I possess one) dehydrating the grated coconut in a brass 'korai' with sugar and elaichi or camphor and making the final batter very carefully to the correct consistency. If not, the pithas stick to the tawa and are a mess! I remember my aunts and grandmother doing all this. The recipe I provided is a 'short cut' recipe involving very little effort, but the pithas taste just as good and no Shankranti goes past without my family eating them by the dozen. I have friends in the UK and US who do the same and we often view each others uploaded photographs on FB or Instagram and feel mighty pleased and bonded!

Easy Patishapta. 

Come January and patishapta and shankranti are upon us. We love to eat it during this month. Sid can eat Patishapta all day. My nephew Saurav (Paplu) is also a big fan. He can eat 5-6 at a time. 

Maida 2 cups
Suji 1 cup
Rice flour 1/2  cup
Sugar I cup
Milk 250 ml


Make a batter with the ingredients. It is best to let it be overnight. In the morning, spoon out 1 ladle full at a time on hot tawa and spread, much like a pancake or dosa. You can put a spoonful of filling and roll it up.

My filling is special and rare. I collect the cream from my daily milk to make ghee with it. The milk solid left after separating the ghee is what is called 'shor bhaja' in Bangla. I add sugar, desiccated coconut and 2 spoons of milkmaid to it. My special filling is ready.

You can serve the patishapta with a spread of milkmaid on top.