Desserts and Sweets

Mango Mousse-eggless no cook recipe

10:15 PM

In our Santiniketan home, we have a Mango tree, not a very big one where you can hand a swing. but a small manageable one with bushy leaves and very very sweet fruits. Like all the other trees in the garden, it was planted by my mother quite some time back. The variety is called Mallika, a hybrid between two Indian varieties called Neelum and Dusheri. Not because it is in our garden but this by far is the best mango I have ever tasted. sweet, juicy, fleshy, fiberless and with a very small stone. The only problem is you cannot leave them on the tree for ripening. It is so sweet that the bugs and ants will definitely get them before you do. So every year these are picked just before they start to ripen and then they are rolled in pieces of newspaper and left on a bed of dried hay. 

Bengali

Aam Shol recipe Snakehead Murrel cooked with Raw mango

10:52 PM


...Barisha Kantak hin, amrojoge sholumin
khara lon ghana dia kati 
Randhilo Pankal Jhus, dia tentuler ros
kheer randhe jal dia bhati...
      -Atha Khullana'r Randhan Arambha
       Chandimangal Kabya
Bonik Khando



Am shol or Shol fish cooked with mango is a very old traditional dish of Bengal which even was referred in the 16th century Bengali Hindu religious text called Chandi Mongol Kavya. Chandi Mangal Kavya is one of the three important Mangal kavyas, the other two are Manasa Mangal Kavya and Dharma Mangal Kavya. Mangal Kavya which literally means Poems of Benediction were written in verses and for a long period of time these group of narratives were undocumented and narrated orally. Later in the Colonial era, they were written down by many poets like Mukundaram Chakraborty, Bijoy Gupta, Manik Dutta and many more.



Bengali

Beler Pana or Wood apple sharbat

11:01 PM


Beler Pana (Wood apple drink) is a drink that I hated with vengeance as a kid. and if I am a hundred percent honest, then I must admit that am still not a big fan either. I like the taste of this fruit and prefer to use a spoon to scoop the fleshy orange pulp from it and eat, but not the sharbat which gels easily and provides a weird texture.

But as a parent you are not supposed to tell truth all the time. So come every summer I bring these home dutifully and make this simple sharbat for the family. Especially for the men as it is extremely beneficial in aiding digestion and getting rid of constipation and ulcer. Luckily the kids drink them without any complain though the daughter demands it to be strained to get rid of the small white fleshy bits. 

Bengali

Lebu Lonka Murgi /Chicken with Gandhoraj Lemon and green chillies

8:00 PM


As much as I love cooking, eating and writing about Bengali food, it's a strict NO for me to go to Bengali restaurants when eating out. The reason being we eat Bengali food every day at home and when out I rather prefer to experiment and experience new cuisine. But that is not the case with my father, who lives with us. Every time he agrees to accompany us for a meal outside he would make sure that we head to a Bengali restaurant. Following the tradition he made us visit Bhajohori Manna this Nababarsho when I announced loud and clear that am not going to cook a five-course meal them to celebrate the Bengali New Year.

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