The new whim....

I've been busy! Not the busy busy, but silly busy, but still busy!!

Confused? Of course you are.....

I started a new blog on COOKING!
Ma was pleasantly surprised as I was never famous for my LOVE for cooking like she or most women of my family are.
But the idea was triggered when I had to make a particular dish which I had made only once before but couldnt find the recipe when I needed it the most....
So I thought why not just maintain an online diary and make a blog out of it!
But who would know that a normal blog and a food blog were not the same ball game!!!
A food blog required detailed photographs of ingredients, pics of the in-process activies and of course, of the end product in a well presented way!
So while cooking, I had my faithful camera with me in the kitchen, right by the side of the vegetables-spices-knife-wok and was clicking away furiously while cooking and chopping! SD found it hilarious and called it my new craze. AD was perplexed and asked 'Ma, are you cooking the camera?'
Today dinner was served an hour late as my simultaneous activity of chopping-mixing-clicking-cooking took a tad bit long! And to add to the self-inflicted woe, M has gone off to Kolkata for ten days on an emergency visit to her village.
So pandemonium reigns supreme at home and more particularly in my kitchen as the new whim is on in full swing....let's see how long this lasts!!!

A First in my BlogLife....

This, as is evident, is not a FOOD BLOG.

This is a space where I indulge my WHIMS and WISHES...mollycoddle them and pamper them to the hilt.

While browsing through the blogosphere, I came across this food blog - Sudeshna's 'HERE I COOK' which had an event called 'HARVEST : THE FESTIVAL OF RICE'.

Suddenly a brainwave hit me and I thought 'Why not?'
I had a post on a similar topic (RAMBLINGS..) a week or so back....so why not just link it and give the recipe for the Patishaptas I successfully dished out.....

The reason why I chose to make Patishaptas on the Poush Sankranti, as I have already mentioned, was because it was the easiest of all the pitheys and I had all the ingredients at home
Patishaptas are folded Pancakes with coconut and jaggery filling (pur).

So here goes the recipe which is my contribution to 'HARVEST : THE FESTIVAL OF RICE' hosted by Sudeshna of 'HERE I COOK' :
WHAT I USED :
* 1 medium sized Coconut - freshly grated
* Patali Gur (DatePalm Jaggery) - 225gm
* Sugar- 1/2 Cup
* Flour (Maida)- 1 Cup
* Suji or Semolina - 1/2 Cup
* Rice Flour- 1/2 Cup
* Milk - 1.75 - 2 litres
Note:Khoa (dried or thickened milk) is normally used alongwith the Coconut and jaggery to make the filling. I did not have it at home and so thickened a litre of milk to half litre and mixed it while preparing the filling

HOW I PREPARED : Instructions are given in the sequence I prepared
-PATISHAPTA BATTER -Part 1:
I mixed the Suji and Rice Flour. Then soaked the mixture in adequate milk. Left it aside and got on to work on the Filling.

- PUR /FILLING :
Took the freshly grated coconut in a wok (Kadai) and added the sugar and 150 gms of jaggery. Stirred it around well. (Sugar provides the binding)
After mixing it considerably well, put the wok containing the mixture on fire and continued stirring.
Added the thickened milk gradually (I was thickening the milk on the other burner while I stirred the coconut, jaggery, sugar mixture) and NOT in one shot.
The stirring and mixing is the most important aspect of making the Pur.
I continued the stirring process for about 40minutes, till the coconut turned a rich brown and became sticky in texture.

-PATISHAPTA BATTER (Continued):Part 2
I added a spoonful of ghee to the Maida and mixed evenly.
Added this to the already milk-soaked mixture of Suji-Rice Flour. Had to mix it well as to ensure no lumps are formed. Added more milk to make the batter of medium consistency so that it spreads evenly on the tawa.
To sweeten the batter, add some broken pieces of jaggery. The batter should be of mild sweetness.

THE FRYING PROCESS:

1. I used a non-stick Tawa (a non-stick frying pan would do fine)
2. Smeared some oil/ghee (I used ghee....sinfully delightful!!) on the Hot Tawa. (I used the top of a brinjal cut horizontally, with the stalk intact..it makes the ghee smearing easy as the stalk acts as a handle)
3. Poured a ladle of batter and spread it in a circle by tilting the tawa.
4. Fried in low to medium heat to ensure the patishapta is crisp yet soft. Flipped it over.
5. Made a snakelike shape with a tablespoonful of Pur and laid it lengthwise as is shown in the pic.
6. Folded the patishapta and turned it around a bit to give a golden brown look to it.
7. Served hot!!!

Have a look at the pictures and also at the original post

Ramblings.....

At the onset wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Albeit a belated one..

Had been away from blogsphere the past three weeks. Reason? Nothing in general....didnt have the urge to peep into my cyberden. Not that there weren’t any topics to discuss....
Lot of events took place, especially in the India Inc scenario..and the skeletons continue to tumble out even as I write.. but I guess more than enough has been and is being written and spoken about the same.

Frankly I have nothing in particular to jot down.
A holiday midweek (Pongal) is indeed a bonus. So I guess I'll indulge myself and just ramble ....

Yesterday evening, as is my normal routine, I was talking to my Mother over phone and she was expressing regret that we were not around to have the goodies she was preparing on the occasion of 'Poush Sankranti'. As I kept the phone down, and continued with the normal chores, I kept thinking of the regret in her voice.....

Ours is a family where cooking is considered almost fine art. And in both my maternal as well as paternal sides of the family, there is an unwritten rule whereby cooking is not considered a chore but an art form which is ‘performed’ by the 'Kortree' of the family. Coincidentally both my grandmothers were famous in their respective extended families as great cooks and hostesses. My mother and aunts have upheld the tradition to a very large extent. For that matter I guess Bengalis, in general, are foodlovers and Cooking, Feeding others and Eating a wide variety of great food are intrinsic part of the Bong tradition. I guess none but Bongs will spend hours debating, analyzing and in general discussing the finer nuances of the culinary experience.

As for me, I have inherited the love for good food but unlike my grandmothers, mother and aunts, I do not love cooking to distraction. However, thank God that the genes did not desert me completely and despite my lack of fondness for cooking, I can dish out edible and at most times moderately tasty food!!!
Whenever I delegate a portion of the daily cooking to my maid, I do feel a twinge of guilt at not being 100% sincere in carrying on the family tradition..!!

Well, coming back to where I started .... yesterday's conversation with Ma brought back memories of the 'Poush Parbon' celebrations back at home.

What is Poush Parbon in Bengal, is Bihu in Assam, Lohri in the north and Pongal in the South... Traditionally a rural festival celebrated down the ages throughout India, whereby the winter harvest is ushered in with joyous ceremony, now these are social festivities celebrated in moderation in many an urban family.

In Bengal, on the ocassion of Poush Parbon (also known as Poush Sankranti), sweet dishes made of inherently agrarian ingredients like rice flour, coconut, sweet potatoes, datepalm jaggery (patali gur) are used to dish out mouthwatering delicacies. In various nooks and corners of the country, variations of such sweet delights are served during this time of the year. It is inherently a celebration of India’s agrarian roots.

As families are getting scattered, extended families gradually becoming distant memories, our children are growing up in a nuclear world. Rituals and traditions which we took for granted during our growing up years are becoming rarer by the day.

While we are busy embracing the world and are becoming global citizens, we are gradually losing our rich culture, tradition, folklore which lend India its distinct characteristic so unique in the whole wide world.

Being the impulsive person I am, it struck me, that as a mother, I HAD to do something to familiarize my child with atleast glimpses of the traditions I grew up with. This being my maiden independent effort, I was not too adventurous or ambitious. Hence I decided to try out the easiest of the lot of pitheys..i.e Patishapta. And incidentally I had all the required ingredients at home. Reconfirming the recipe from my mother, I got down to work.

Well….the day is over, the patishaptas having been gobbled up and here I am rambling away aimlessly..
But the satisfaction that we all derived eating the hot, moist and soft patishaptas was worth every minute of the few hours spent slogging in the kitchen,

Long live our exotic local delicacies!!!

Bibliography

Poush Sankranti - Poush sankranti or Makar sankranti is a nationwide celebration to usher in the winter harvest. It also marks the Sun's passage from Capricorn to Aquarius and is a very auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.

Kortree - First Lady of the Joint Family who reigns over the inner domains of the home

Patishapta - A sweet dish. Pan Cakes made of Rice flour+all-purpose flour with a filling made of coconut and jaggery