Bengali Thaali for a special occasion,Jamai Sashti

Authentic-Bengali-Food

Bengali cuisine is a culinary style which originated in Bengal and which carries its flavor & aroma across the globe. This cuisine is diversified between the boundaries of West Bengal and its neighbor, Bangladesh. With the prominence of fish, vegetables and lentils being the preferred food items for every Bengali household, Bengali cuisine is known for its simple and luscious flavor. The huge varieties of mouth-watering desserts make this cuisine very popular across the globe.

So when its the time for any such Bengali occasions the menu chart is sure to get filled up with lots of varieties. Today, I am going to talk about one such Bengali occasion, Jamai Sashti where the son-in-laws are treated with the best Bengali delicacies. Simple menu but with a innovation for a grand occasion for all the son-in-laws. Lets start off with lunch so that you can treat your ‘Jamai’ (son-in-law) with a innovative snack in the evening.

Lets take a look at the menu card:

• Luchi
• Sweet & spicy vegetable frazie
• Pea rice
• Prawn Masala
• Fiery mutton Chamat-curry
• Rasho-malai
• Misti doi

For the evening snacks serve the Crispy Veg Stuffed Cones with Capsicum Raita

So lets go through the recipes one by one.

Sweet & Spicy Vegetable Frazie

Sweet & Spicy Vegetable Frazie

Ingredients:
• 1 large carrot, cut lengthwise
• 1 cauliflower cut into medium sized pieces
• 1 medium red & green capsicums, cut lengthwise
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 2 potatoes, cut lengthwise
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 -3 green chilies, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons of coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 tablespoons of mustard oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Boil water in a large bowl. Add the salt and turmeric powder. Then add the cauliflower & carrots into it.
2. Let it boil for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes take out the cauliflower & carrots and put it into a bowl of ice water and let it cool. This wont let the vegetables get cooked further.
3. Heat oil in a skillet and fry the potatoes for few minutes. Add salt. Make sure you don’t make it crisp.
4. Heat oil in another skillet and add the sliced onions and sauté it till it turns light brown in color. Then add the capsicum and the tomato sauce and sauté for 2 more minutes. Cook till the oil disappears.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of honey to the mix and stir well.
6. Add the boiled cauliflower and carrots and the fried potatoes to the mix and cook well. The honey will add a different flavor to it. Then add the chopped green chillies. Add the red chilly powder along with it.
7. Add the sugar and mix it well with the vegetables.
8. Add the coriander powder to it. Add salt as per taste. Mix well.
9. Cook covered for about 5 minutes so that the masala mixes well with the vegetables.

Pea Rice

Pea rice

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 black cardamom seeds
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 2 cups uncooked basmati rice, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups water
• salt to taste

 Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a deep heavy skillet over low heat. Add the cloves, cardamom seeds, peppercorns and cinnamon sticks. Cook for a few minutes to bring out the aroma of the spices. Stir the garlic powder and 2 tablespoons of water together to make a paste; mix into the pan with the spices.
2. Add the green peas to the pan, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the remaining 4 cups of water and rice to the pan. Season with a little salt. Bring to a boil, then cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed. Taste, and adjust the salt before serving.

Prawn Masala

Prawn Masala

Ingredients:

Prawns – ½ kg, shelled and deveined
Onions – 2, medium size, finely sliced
Ginger – 1/2-inch piece, finely chopped and crushed
Garlic – 3 beads, whole, crushed
Curry leaves – a sprig
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder – 1 teaspoon
Green chillies – 4, fresh, medium size, medium hot, sliced length-wise
Yogurt/curd – 2 cups
Salt – 1 teaspoon or adjusted to taste

Method: Heat oil in a fry pan and when very hot put in the onions, ginger, garlic, and curry leaves. When onions turns limp, add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder and fry for a minute. Add the prawns and yogurt along with half a cup of hot water and stir well. Bring slowly to the boil; toss in the green chillies and salt. Simmer and cook the prawns for approx 5-7 minutes or until prawns are well cooked. Serve hot and enjoy!.

Fiery Mutton Chamat-curry

Fiery Mutton Chamat-curry

  Ingredients:

• 1 kg mutton (kid goat)
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 1 piece capsicum – finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 cups water
• 2 pc cardamom, cloves and 2 medium pieces of cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 medium pieces green chillies finely chopped
• 2 TSP chilli powder
• Salt as per taste
• 25 gms butter
• 200gms yoghurt (non-sweetened – preferably fat-free)

Preparation:

•    Marinate mutton with about 150gms of yoghurt, turmeric, chilli powder and a little salt and keep aside in the refrigerator in a large bowl for 4-5 hours to get the soft taste of mutton. After taking out keep it aside for an hour.
•    In the meantime grind half of the grated onion and garlic together in a grinder and keep aside.
•    Now place the mutton on a non-sticky wok from the bowl and start sautéing on low flame.
•    Now add the leftover yoghurt from the bowl to another non-sticky wok and add the cardamom, cloves & the cinnamon to it and sauté for 3-4 minutes till you get the beautiful appetizing aroma from it.
•    Stir the mixture continuously till you get the rich aroma of the spices.
•    Add the mixture to the other wok containing the marinated mutton and
•    Then fry the rest of the onions until golden brown.
•    Add the garlic and onion paste to the mutton and sauté for few minutes until the color of the mutton turns brown.
•    Now add the fried onions to the mutton and add 1 cup of water so that it starts boiling well.

•    Cook well so that all the ingredients get mixed properly. Keep stirring continuously.
•    Add the half of the finely chopped green chilies to the mix so that those get boiled too to develop a fiery taste.
•    Cover the lid and let it cook for some more time.
•    Once the water turns into gravy, add the rest 50g yoghurt and the 2cups of water to it and stir well till it forms nice thick gravy.
•    Keep the kadai / wok covered for some time, to get the taste and aroma of slow, covered cooking. It will enhance the rich taste of the mutton and add softness to it too.
•    Add the butter when you see the water boiling to develop the rich aroma of butter, and you can see the butter melting evenly. Stir very lightly for 2-3 minutes and let it cook for some more time depending on your timing and then turn off the flame with the lid on.
•    Once you get the rich essence of the mutton and the butter, empty the wok carefully into a large bowl.
•    Garnish with the chopped green chillies and bit of curd and serve hot with rice.
Your “Fiery Mutton Chamat-curry” is now ready to taste.

Now its the turn for the sweets which will make your son-in-law real happy.

Mishti doi

Bengal is famous for its plethora of desserts. Shondesh or Sandesh is made from sweetened and finely ground chhena (Indian cottage cheese). There are 2 major types of Shondesh – “kora pak” (hardened mixture of chhena) and “norom pak” (soft mixture of chhena). Misti doi (sweetened curd) is a must for every Bengali family after the main course and even tok-doi (bitter curd) is also loved by many.

Rash-malai

 

Roshogolla is the most favorite sweet-meat among the Bengalis and these white, sweet, round-balls are world-famous. People from all over the world come to Bengal to have the authentic taste of this delicious sweet. Roshomalai, Pantua, Chamcham, Pithe, Jilepi, Payesh, Langcha etc. are the other well-known Bengali desserts.

For the evening snack:

Crispy Veg Stuffed Cones with Capsicum Raita

Crispy Veg stuffed cones with Capsicum Raita

Serve this wonderful home-made snack in the evening and this will bring a smile on your son-in-law’s face. Have an eventful day and treat your son-in-law with these wonderful home cooked recipes..

Related articles

• Sweet & Spicy Vegetable Frazie
• Crispy Veg Stuffed Cones with Capsicum Raita (saastastebuds.wordpress.com)