ITC Royal Bengal
Gajrela
Ingredients:
•Grated carrot: 3 cups
•Melted ghee: 1/4 cup
•Sugar: 5tbsp
•Crumbled mawa (khoya): 1/2 cup
•Cardamom (elaichi) powder: 1/2 tsp
For the garnish:
•Almond (badam) slivers: 2tbsp
Method
•To make Gajrela, heat the ghee in a deep non-stick kadai, add the carrots, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 6 to 8 minutes while stirring continuously.
•Add sugar, mix and cook on a medium flame for 2 minutes while stirring continuously.
•Now add the mawa, mix well and cook on medium flame for 3 minutes while stirring continuously.
•Add cardamom powder and mix well.
•Finally garnish with almond silvers, serve hot or store refrigerated.
“Gajrela — fresh red carrot cooked in milk flavoured with elaichi dana is garnished with slivers of almond and drizzled with honey. When I make this, nani ma ki yaadein dil ko chhoo jati hain,” said Varun Mohan,executive chef, Royal Vega, ITC Royal Bengal.
JW Marriott Kolkata
Nolen Gur Parfait
Ingredients:
Coconut cake
•Flour: 330g
•Castor sugar: 50g
•Nolen gur: 250g
•Baking soda: 5g
•Salt: A pinch
•Desiccated coconut: 160g
•Coconut milk: 300ml
•Coconut oil: 120ml
•Vanilla essence:10ml
Lemon cream
•Lemon juice: 120ml
•Lemon zest: 1
•Sugar: 80g
•Corn flour: 15g
Method
•First, cream the butter and sugar.
•Add all the dry ingredients.
•Fold in coconut milk and oil.
•Add nolen gur.
•Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius.
•Cool it and keep it in the refrigerator.
•For lemon cream, heat lemon juice along with sugar till 75 degrees Celsius.
•Remove from heat and add corn flour mix.
•Back to heat again and cook till the mixture gets a body.
•Remove and keep in the chiller for a day.
•Next day top the coconut cake with lemon cream; serve with some fresh strawberry.
“Reminiscing my childhood days, I remember when my grandmother used to make nolen gur’r pithe, a winter delicacy for Bengalis. Having carved my culinary passion to profession, I have withheld my roots and am proud to pay a tribute to my grandmother by making this recipe,” Ishan Pradhan, junior sous chef of JW Marriott Kolkata.
ITC Sonar
Subz Kofteh
Ingredients:
Kofteh
•Grated paneer: 200g
•Diced carrot blanched: 50g
•Diced beans blanched: 50g
•Boiled potato mashed: 50g
•Small floret cauliflower blanched: 50g
•Lauki diced and blanched: 100g
•Ghee: 20g
•Green chilli chopped: 20g
•Ginger chopped: 20g
•Corn flour: 50g
•Yellow chilli powder: 20g
•Jeera powder: 30g
•White pepper powder: 10g
•Black pepper powder: 10g
•Garam masala: 20g
•Salt: To taste
•Refined oil: For frying
For the gravy:
•Refined oil: 300ml
•Khada masala (Whole spice): 30g
•Ginger garlic paste: 50g
•Brown onion: 200g
•Tomato puree: 850ml
•Red chilli powder: 40g
•Dhania powder: 30g
•Black pepper powder: 20g
•White pepper powder: 20g
•Salt: To taste
•Cashew nut paste: 200g
•Water: 500ml
•Cream: 75ml
•Saffron: 1g
Method
For the kofteh:
•Add all the blanched vegetables in a mincer and coarsely grind.
•Add ghee in a kadai and saute the above mixture till the water evaporates, cool and keep aside.
•Add rest of the ingredients including corn flour and mix well.
•Make the dumplings of 20g to 25g each of the above mixture.
•Heat the oil in kadai, fry the dumpling and keep aside.
For the gravy:
•Heat oil in the kadai and saute the whole spices.
•Add the ginger garlic paste.
•Add the brown onion and rest of the spices.
•Add tomato puree and cashew nut paste and saute till the oil starts floating on top.
•Add little water to form a gravy, simmer and strain.
•Add the kofteh to the gravy till it turns soft.
•Finish with swirl of cream and saffron strands.
•Serve hot.
“Subz Kofteh is a family recipe using seasonal vegetables which we enjoyed during the winter months. Being born into a family of chefs, from an early age, my life was centered on recipes and mix of ingredients. It’s also one of the first dishes which I learnt while growing up from my grandmother,” said master chef Zubair Qureshi, Dum Pukht.
The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat
Notun Aloor Dum
Ingredients:
•Boiled baby potato: 500g
•Chopped onion: 1 cup
•Tomato: Small one
•Crushed ginger: ½ spoon
•Turmeric powder: 2 spoons
•Chilli powder: 1 spoon
•Kashmiri chilli powder: 1 spoon
•Dahi: 50g
•Salt to taste
•Mustard oil: 2 spoons
•Sugar: ½ spoon
•Chopped coriander for garnishing
•Bay leaf: 1 piece
•Roasted methi seed powder: 1 pinch
Method
•Heat the mustard oil in a kadai and put a bay leaf in it.
•Add onion, ginger, tomato and salt. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes on medium flame.
•Now add turmeric, chilli, Kashmiri chilli powder, sugar and stir well.
•When the gravy becomes thick brown in colour then mix the curd and potatoes. Let it cook for 5 minutes .
•Put a cup of water and cook for another 10 minutes.Turn off the gas, sprinkle a pinch of roasted methi seed powder and chopped dhaniya.
•Serve with puri or chapatti.
Kadaisutir Kachori
Ingredients:
For the peas filling:
•Fresh green peas: (net weight without the peels) 400g
•Salt to taste
•Vegetable oil
•Roasted cumin seed powder: 1 tbsp
For the kochuri dough:
•All-purpose flour/maida: 275g
•Wheat flour/atta: 50g
•Salt: ½ tsp
•Water as required
•Vegetable oil: ¼ cup + more for frying
Method
For the peas filling:
•Add fresh peas in a mixer/grinder. Grind until a coarse paste is made.
•Heat oil in a deep frying pan and add the green peas paste, salt and roasted cumin seed powder.
•Mix well and cook on medium flame. Stir continuously for 5-6 minutes or until the paste leaves the pan. Do not dry up the peas filling too much as it should be a little moist. Remove and keep aside.
For the kochuri dough:
•For making kochuri, the wheat flour part is completely optional but strongly recommended. It lends a much better taste. Knead until smooth, lump-free dough is formed.
•Make small balls and press each ball from the centre by using your thumb, and put 1 tbsp peas filling. Close the sides by folding them towards the centre and seal the ball.
•At the time of rolling, apply a few drops of oil on each ball. Do this for one ball at a time. And grease the rolling surface with a little oil too; you need to do this every time before rolling each ball.
•Start rolling evenly; the approx diameter of the kochuri should be 4 inches. It should neither be very thick, nor very thin. Keep the rolled kochuri aside separated from each other so that they don’t stick.
•Meanwhile, heat 3 cups of oil in a deep frying pan/kadai. The oil should be hot. Start frying kochuris on high heat, one at a time and serve with Aloo Dum.
“Koraishuti or green peas and notun aloo or new potatoes are a quintessential part of any Bengali kitchen on a foggy winter morning. Back then when frozen food was still a mystery in our home, we used to wait for the winter produce. The entire family gathered to peel a fresh vibrant green pod of peas that would be used to make koraishuti’r kochuri. Complementing the flavours of peas, new potatoes are prepared into alu’r dom with soft, sweet and earthy goodness,” said Susanta Kumar Dey, sous chef.
The Park
Hara Cholliya
Ingredients:
•Peeled and diced sweet potato: 80g
•Diced avocado: 20g
•Fresh green chickpeas, boiled: 50g
•Deseeded green chilli: 3g
•Red chilli powder: 3g
•Chaat masala: 5g
•Toasted crushed cumin seeds:5g
•Lime juice: 10ml
•Amchur powder: 3g
•Black salt powder: according to taste lPomegranate pearls: 20g lChopped coriander: 10g
•Sev: 10g
Method
•Roast the sweet potatoes till cooked, for 15 minutes at 160 degree Celsius.
•Peel the sweet potatoes when cooled and dice them into 1-inch cubes.
•Dice half an avocado into ½ inch cubes.
•Boil the fresh green chickpeas till tender.
•Now take a mixing bowl and add the above ingredients. Mix with all the spice powders, lime juice, black salt, deseeded and chopped green chillies.
•Plate the above chaat mix in a serving bowl. Garnish with pomegranate pearls, sev and chopped coriander leaves.
“I picked this ingredient because this was an important winter ingredient when I was a kid. We use to get this in Dehradun, Bathinda and Jammu when my dad was posted there. This was nostalgic and wanted to do something with green cholliya and has health benefits too,” said Balpreet Singh Chadha, executive chef.
Fairfield by Marriott
Beetroot Galouti
Ingredients:
•Beetroot: 150g
•Brown onion paste: 50g
•Brown cashewnut paste: 50g
•Red chilli powder: 10g
•Garam masala powder: 5g
•Small cardamom powder: 2g
•Keura water: 30ml
•Rose water: 30ml
•Saffron: 0.5g
•Ghee: 50ml
•Roasted channa powder: 50g
Method
•Roast the beetroot and make a smooth paste.
•Take another pot, the beetroot paste, mix with all the ingredients very well. Smoke it with the charcoal. Keep aside for an hour.
•Now make them into small balls, around 80g each piece.
•Take a non-stick pan and put some ghee, put four pieces of galouti and cook both sides very gently.
•Serve hot with Ulte Tawa Paratha, mint chutney and lachha onion.
“I was fortunate to be born into a family that grew vegetables in our backyard. Beetroot was my personal favourite of all the vegetables we used to grow because of the nutritional value. It adds to the plate. It not only adds vitamin C to your diet, but it also balances the amount of dietary fibre you need each day,” said Arabinda Seth, executive chef.
Hyatt Regency Kolkata
Bathua stuff in brinjal with tangy tomato gravy
Ingredients:
•Brinjal: 1 piece
•Bathua saag:150 g
•Onion:25g
•Tomato: 25g
•Chopped ginger:5g
•Chopped chilli: 5g
•Chopped coriander: 25g
•Ghee: 20ml
•Cumin seeds: 5g
•Cumin powder: 5g
•Coriander powder: 5g
•Turmeric powder: 5g
•Red chilli powder: 5g
•Amchur powder: 20g
•Roasted chana powder: 20g
•Salt
Method
•Take the long brinjal and scoop out its seeds.
•Fry the brinjal barrel and separately chop rest of the ingredients.
•In a pan heat the ghee then add cumin seeds, followed by tomato, ginger, and garlic.
•Separately saute Bathua and cook till it leaves the oil on sides of the pan.
•Add the rest of the dry spices and season the masala.
•Stuff the brinjal and sear it on a hot tawa and serve it with masala.
“Being from the northern part of the country, wheat and brinjal brings back nostalgic memories. I still feel that most people find solace and comfort in home-made food and these are the recipes inspired from my mother’s kitchen”, said Amandeep Singh, chef de cuisine.
Pictures by: B.Halder