Bengali

Mourola Macher Bati Charchari

9:18 PM


It's been almost 10 days that I haven't stepped out of the house. 9th day without any househelp and 4th day of the nationwide lockdown. But I am not complaining. Rather I find ourselves fortunate to have a roof over our head, food on our table and the opportunity to work from home when we need it the most.

Bengali

Alur khosa bhaja /crisp fried potato peel

9:31 PM


One of my favorite books of all time is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Anny Barrows. The book is set in 1946, a time when the whole world was starting to recover from the devastating World war 2.

I should not be a spoilsport and reveal the storyline here but let me just tell you that the book gets its name from an innovative dish the islanders created during the time of War.

World War 2 brought in the rationing of staples around the whole world. Food was scarce everywhere, but it was more so on the island of Guernsey as the German outpost there took away everything the people produced. All they were left with were potatoes and seawater to season it. They could not afford to waste anything and came out with an innovative way to use up potato peels to replace flour and make a pie crust. This story always reminded me of my ma's alur khosa bhaja or crisp fried potato peels. 

Meat n Poultry

Egg Biriyani

8:36 AM


“The Indian subcontinent owes a deep debt to the Muslim community, for it is they who introduced the gamut of biryanis and pulaos to us.”- Pratibha Karan

My first taste of Biriyani was when I was 7.
and for that first time, I was lucky enough to taste the real deal- cooked by khansamah from Lucknow and served as a community meal.

Bengali

Shutki mach or Bengali style dried fish curry

6:23 PM


'Aj Shutki Mach banachhi. (today am making dried fish curry)' she called out as we opened the gate to leave. Maa looked back and Dida waved smiling from ear to ear.

I had no clue what it was but could understand it must have been something very good as maa scrambled to gather her things after finishing classes in the college.

I was around 4 then. Often accompanied maa to her Mastergrad classes. While she studied, I was left in charge of her other batch mates or often in the common room where the professors indulged me in stories and toffees. I was a  talkative kid and Maa was adored for who she was and also for how she strived to get her degree even after three kids.

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