Nabo Borsho means cooking up a storm and digging in without feeling guilty. From starting the day late with some luchi and chholar dal to swiftly making a coconutty and minty sorbet, an interesting pulao paired with a hot and happening mutton, and ending the saga with a delish halwa — now, that’s what we call a perfect Poila Baisakh.
So far the recipes are concerned, we’ve got your back. Scroll down and start prepping…
Coconut and mint sorbet
Coconut and mint sorbet Shutterstock (Representational image)
A refreshing sorbet to start with, the flavour of coconut and mint set the mood right before you dive into the other delicious dishes on the Poila Baisakh-special menu.
Ingredients
- Grated coconut: 1 large cup
- Green coconut malai: 8-10 pieces
- Finely chopped mint leaves: 3-4 tablespoons
- Lemon juice: 2 tablespoons
- Rock salt: 1 and ½ tablespoons
- Powdered salt: 3-4 tablespoons
Recipe:
- Put all the ingredients except the malai in a blender and blend for 1-2 minutes
- Now, roughly chop the malai
- Pour the mixture in a container and add chopped malai. Give it a quick stir
- Put the sorbet in the deep freezer for minimum 3 hours
- Take a scoop and dip in water and take out scoops of sorbet in a bowl and enjoy it chilled
Tip:
- You can batch cook this and savour for 2-3 days
Kancha aam aar amshotto diye pulao
Kancha aam aar aamshotto diye pulao Shutterstock (Representational image)
Making the right use of the summer favourite, aka mangoes, here’s a recipe that will be a perfect companion to the spicy and hot Mathania mutton.
Ingredients
- Gobindobhog rice: 1 medium cup
- Water: 4 large cups
- Grated raw mango: ½ of a small cup
- Finely chopped aamshotto: 1 medium cup
- Cashew: 8-10 pieces
- Raisins: 8-10 pieces
- Saffron: 1 tablespoon
- Cardamom: 3-4
- Cinnamon stick: ½
- Bay leaf: 1 large
- Powdered sugar: ½ of a small cup
- Turmeric powder:1 tablespoon
- Salt: To taste
- Ghee: 6-7 tablespoons for cooking
Recipe:
- Wash the rice well and strain excess water. Now add turmeric powder, 2-3 tablespoons of ghee and marinate well. Leave aside for 10-12 minutes
- Meanwhile, add the 6-7 tablespoons of ghee in a deep kadhai and heat well
- Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamoms and saute well
- Add the cashew and raisins too and saute until the cashews turn golden brown
- Now add rice and mix well with the ingredients in the kadhai
- Saute for 7-8 minutes on low flame or until the rice is translucent
- Pour water, add salt to taste and put on a lid. Cook on low flame until the pulao is ready, occasionally stirring and checking the water level
- Once the rice is almost cooked, add grated mango, chopped amsotto and mix well. Check the taste and then add sugar and salt Please note that the pulao will be sweet and tangy
- Cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle saffron and some ghee. Turn off the heat and serve hot
Tip:
- You can also use ripe mango or paka aam in this recipe if you are not a fan of tanginess. The best way to incorporate it is by taking mango pulp and giving a quick blend in the mixer before adding to the rice
- Add water in moderate portions, checking the status of the rice at intervals so that the pulao doesn't get soggy
Mathania mutton
Mathania mutton Shutterstock (Representational image)
Red, hot, spicy — this mutton curry recipe is something you’ll go back making several times.
Ingredients
- Mutton: 1 kg
- Mutton fat: 50gm
- Mutton liver: 5-6 pieces
- Finely sliced onions: 3 large
- Ginger and garlic paste: 3 tablespoons for marination; 2 for spice paste
- Mathania chilli paste: 2 chillies
- Tomato and Kashmiri red chilli paste: 1 small cup
- Hung curd: 1 small cup
- Roasted cumin powder: 2 tablespoons
- Roasted coriander powder: 3 tablespoons
- Sugar: 2 tablespoons
- Salt: To taste
- Mustard oil: 8-10 tablespoons
- Bay leaf: 1 large
- Whole garam masala: 1 tablespoon
- Garam masala powder: 1 teaspoon
- Ghee: 2 tablespoons
- Curry leaves: 8-10 pieces
Recipe:
Marination
- Marinate the mutton with ginger-garlic paste, add cumin and coriander powder, hung curd, salt and ghee. Keep in the freezer for minimum 2 hours and preferably overnight
Spice base
- Put mustard oil (about 2-3 tablespoons) in a kadhai and heat well
- Add some sugar and caramalise
- Put the onions first and saute till it turns golden
- Now, add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute or two on low heat
- Add the mathania chilli paste next and saute well for 3-4 minutes
- Now, add tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes
- Mix the spice paste well and turn off the heat once the paste leaves oil to the surface
- Cool the spice paste and blend in a mixer until smooth
Curry recipe
- Add mustard oil in the same kadhai and heat
- Now add bay leaf and whole garam masala. Saute well
- Add the spice paste and cook for 2-3 minutes
- Add the mutton and mix with other ingredients in the kadhai
- Cook on high flame for 5-7 minutes, stirring at regular intervals
- Now turn the heat to medium and cook for another 7-8 minutes
- Add a lid, turn the flame low and cook for 20-25 minutes, checking and stirring at regular intervals
- Once the mutton is cooked well with a thick spice base sticking to it, add required amount of warm water
- Add salt and sugar. Cover and cook until the mutton is ready
- Take a separate pan and shallow-fry some curry leaves in ghee
- Check seasonings and top off with the garam masala powder, the curry leaves and the residual ghee
Tip:
- The curry should ideally be red in colour. Bank on caramalising the sugar, the Mathania paste (don’t go overboard with the chillies), tomato paste and Kashmiri red chilli powder for the desired colour
- Removing curry leaves from the recipe is fine
- Mutton fat is essential to this recipe for the consistency
Badam aar paka aam diye halwa
Badam aar paka aam diye halwa Shutterstock (Representational image
A quick recipe that needs only a couple of ingredients but turns out to be a dessert that you can’t leave at one helping.
Ingredients
- Peanuts: 100gm
- Cashews: 50gm
- Raisins: 30gm
- Mango pulp: 1 large cup
- Semolina: 1 medium cup
- Condensed milk: 1 medium cup
- Saffron: 1 tablespoon
- Powdered sugar: 1 small cup
- Ghee: 6 tablespoons
- Cardamom: 2
- Full fat milk: 1 medium cup
Recipe:
- Dry roast peanuts and cashew and make individual dry powders of both
- Dry roast semolina and keep aside
- Blend the mango pulp until smooth
- Add ghee in a kadhai and heat well. Now, add the cardamom pods
- Add semolina, peanut powder, cashew powder and mix together with ghee
- Saute for 3-4 minutes on low heat before adding milk in smaller portions, stirring constantly to avoid lumps
- Add sugar and give a good stir. Cover and cook for 7-8 minutes, checking occasionally
- Once the mix starts leaving the corners of the kadhai, add the mango pulp and raisins. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes before adding the condensed milk. Check the sweetness of the halwa before adding the entire condensed milk
- Cook for another minute or two, add saffron and turn off the heat. Best to have warm but can be refrigerated too
Tip:
Taste the mango before adding to the halwa. If you find it tangy-sweet, balance with sugar and condensed milk