A Bangladeshi Breakfast

সবজি-রুটি

Vegetables With Ruti

A healthy breakfast - a rare occurrence for me nowadays.

I don't have proper breakfasts anymore. It's not that I can't eat so early in the day like some - I just value the extra minutes of sleep I get by forgoing it. I know it's unhealthy so I'm not here to encourage anyone to do the same. I also try and make up for it during the weekends, and today I made an attempt to rustle up a traditional Bangladeshi breakfast. This was my first go at cooking all of this on my own, so it didn't go perfectly, but I've noted down tweaks to my method below to make sure the mistakes don't happen again. I should also point out that I don't have exact ingredients amounts for this recipe because it was the result of a quick phone call with mom - as is often the case!

Reviving Old Dishes

কেচাপ দিয়ে মুরগী

Chicken Ketchup Curry

My first attempt at the curry

This dish is one of my earliest food memories. When I was about four, we lived in Hong Kong, and I remember one day mom made this chicken with ketchup combo so that we'd eat something a little different. Mom used to experiment with food quite a lot back in those days, and unfortunately I get the feeling she doesn't quite have that kind of time any more. This dish actually disappeared from our table almost a decade ago, but I called her up and pestered her for the recipe. I've since made it a few times and served it to other people, and the feedback has been positive. A Bangladeshi friend did mention though that quite a lot of Bangladeshi families have versions of this dish - so maybe it wasn't as original as I thought!

A Belated Eid Mubarak To All (October 2012)

নানীর পোলাও 

Grandma's Polao

Eid dinner: polao-korma

I have a tendency to forget about Korbanir Eid (Eid ul Adha) until someone reminds me that it's coming up. Unfortunately for me this year I'd moved to a new city and a new job and there wasn't anyone around me to do the reminding. Hence when I finally did realise Eid was coming up, I'd already made work related commitments for half of the day. Oh well.

Thankfully, Eid was on a Friday here in the UK, and so I had the weekend off right after. I decided to cook chicken korma and polao, a very common combination for special occasions. The problem was I didn't remember my mom's recipe for polao, and I didn't want to call her up again to ask because I feel like I've been nagging her for recipes a little too much over the past few days. So I decided to bypass mom and go straight to my grandma, or nani as I call her. 

My nani's polao recipe below is one of the simple, classic ones. You'll find many other variations for polao of course, but I prefer mine uncomplicated.

I Need a Third Arm

মুরগীর কোরমা
Chicken Korma

My korma in 2018
(versus my korma in 2012 below!)

EDIT (17/02/2018): I've updated this post with with ingredient amounts and a method that works for me, and edited the original 2012 text considerably.

Chicken korma is a very common dish in Bangladesh, frequently making appearances at dinner parties or special occasions. Given my mom's recipe has so few ingredients, you might think it's a simple dish to cook. However, I found out the hard way that it isn't, especially if you're a novice trying to take pictures while cooking! The fact that korma relies on so few spices means getting the cooking method right becomes even more important. I got it wrong on my first few attempts, especially since cooking times for the chicken varies if it is on or off the bone, free range, conventionally grown etc. Hence I've updated the original post (and my mom's recipe) with timings and methods that have worked for bone-in free range chicken. 

The cinnamon powder I list in the ingredients is very non-traditional - and just a bad habit left over from my university days where I stocked the powder rather than solid bark. Usually korma would be cooked with pieces of cinnamon stewing with the chicken, which can then be removed before the dish is served. Of course, there are a lot of variations on korma out there, with recipes using coconut milk, nuts and even cream nowadays. Do go out looking for what you prefer, but this is what our family has always had at home. 

Local(ish) Ingredients, Bangladeshi Twist

Smoked Mackerel with Red Onions & Coriander

The coriander in the UK is so weak..

It's always interesting to see how people cook Bangladeshi food while they're not actually in Bangladesh. Granted, you can get a lot of imported ingredients nowadays, but being abroad results in a lot of improvisation and experimentation with local products. The end product is often very satisfying, as it was for me today.

In Bangladesh we have a variety of - for lack of a better term - mashed fish dishes. We cook the fish with a touch of spice, de-bone, mash and combine with various other herbs, spices, oils etc. Over the summer, I went to a house where I was served mackerel combined with red onions, coriander and mustard oil, inspired by this Bangladeshi way of serving fish. It worked really well, but unfortunately I forgot to ask exactly how the mackerel itself was prepared.  

Working from memory, I remembered the fish wasn't spiced like it would be in the usual Bangladeshi dish. Wanting something a bit different for lunch today, I decided to recreate a version of it. I couldn't get my hands on any mustard oil, so I substituted with olive oil. I also had no idea how to cook fresh mackerel, so I went for the smoked variety. I added a few more things here and there, and the result was as you can see in the picture above. I will, however, be trying this again with fresh mackerel and mustard oil.

The Iftaar Series: Part 2

Iftaar with Family

Okay, I realise it's not Ramadan but I did a part 1 to this a while ago and promised a part 2, so here goes. 

In Spain

Our table, with a close up of all the unhealthy but very traditional fried foods!

On my way to Bangladesh I stopped over in Madrid for a day, meaning I spent a day fasting and having iftaar there. Wherever our family may be in the world, our iftaars are still pretty traditional. So while there are tomatoes, cucumbers etc. on the table, we also do the more traditional fried foods. Looking to the picture on the right above, at the front left we have dal bora. Dal boras are usually served as snacks, and are made from lentils mixed with chilli and onion. This mixture is then covered in maize flour and deep fried. The shaag bora on the front right is similar except the lentils are replaced with spinach. Finally, in the background you have begunis, where the spinach or lentil is replaced with sliced eggplant. While it wouldn't be unusual to have these foods throughout the year, their popularity peaks in Bangladesh during Ramadan. 

From My Grandma's House

Coconut Sprinkled with Sugar

This is an old favourite of mine that I first had at my grandma's house in Bangladesh. It's basically freshly grated coconut sprinkled with (a lot of) white sugar. And no, it's just not the same with dried or tinned coconut!

This particular coconut came with us from my dad's ancestral home in Salop, Sirajganj - a rather interesting trip that I intend to blog about later.

More Fusion: An Experimental Sorbet

Spiced Tamarind Sorbet

Spiced tamarind sorbet with henna leaves (because we couldn't find anything else for garnish!)

Tamarind based drinks are pretty common in Bangladesh. They're usually served cold and spiced to provide relief from the summer heat. Summer temperatures easily surpass 35 degrees Celsius here (even though Google lies and insists it's 28 degrees!) and as such, I imagined a sorbet would be an even more welcome comfort. I've been looking up sorbet recipes from around the web, and I'm adapting this recipe from the Coconut Raita blog's Tamarind and Lime Sorbet post. I'm pretty proud of it - it's essentially replica of our family's usual tamarind drink in sorbet form, and it's even been given a thumbs up by my grandma who's notoriously snobby about good food!

Blogging From Bangladesh

I'm Praying For Internet

Some things in Dhaka, like traffic, have gotten slower.

Technology on the other hand, has gotten faster.
Much respect to this brave soul undertaking rickshaw computing!

I admit got a little teary when the plane landed at the airport in Dhaka. But then we stepped out of the lounge the 138% humidity hit me like a wet towel. Then it took us 3 hours to get home because of the traffic, and reality had begun to catch up with me again.

But I’m still holding onto shreds of optimism as I sit here typing this on a train headed from Sirajganj to Dhaka. I’m tethering my phone’s EDGE connection to my laptop, and hoping that it’ll be good enough to actually upload this post. This in itself is a major improvement as far as I’m concerned. I’m on my way back from Salop, the village where my parents’ ancestral home still stands (barely!).

Goodbye England

Fake 20 Minute Tandoori Chicken

It's not red because of no food colouring, and also because it's fake! 

I'm flying to Bangladesh in a few hours, and I thought I'd do a last post before I leave. I didn't want to spend hours cooking the night before my flight, but I still wanted something home made. Thus the 20 minute dish. I'm also (hopefully) moving to London in September, so I've been checking out some of the food blogs from around there. One of the writers from a blog I found, Dos Hermanos, talks about how classic recipes are "debased so they can be squeezed into the schedules of the busy and the lazy" in his post Mission Coq Au Vin: Serving Up A Dodgy Old Boiler. I completely agree with this sentiment. A recipe is as a recipe is. If you deviate from it, you end up with something different from the original. And while it is fine to deviate from the original for whatever reason, it is not fine to label the deviant as the original. It irks me greatly when restaurants do this and serve biriyani or beef bhuna that is obviously not real. Well, sure it's real in the sense that it exists, but it doesn't exist as biriyani or beef bhuna. It's fake biriyani or fake beef bhuna.

Hence the title of this post. I cooked chicken, and my leading ingredient was tandoori masala. But it was in no way authentic tandoori chicken - whatever that may even be. I was short on time but I wanted the comfort of home cooked food and this is what I went for. If you ever find yourself in the same situation, this is possibly the recipe for you. 

The Iftaar Series: Part 1

Iftaar Alone in Birmingham

It's Ramadan. The eighteen hour fasting time here in England has reduced my life to two meals a day - iftaar and sehri. Normally this would be fine as both these meals are special to me. They're both communal affairs where the whole family gets together, something which becomes especially meaningful in Bangladesh at my grandmother's. There the meals give way to impromptu reunions with aunts, uncles and cousins. Iftaar and sehri are also when certain Ramadan-only favourites like chaap (tenderised beef or lamb curry) and haleem make their appearance at the table, which keep me further placated. 

However, here in Birmingham I'm getting none of this! The family is currently scattered all over the world and my culinary prowess definitely doesn't extend to chaap or haleem. I've actually been eating pretty weird things for iftaar and sehri and now, I've decided to share these meals with you instead of my family. You should feel special. And yes, I think I've officially degenerated into look-at-what-I'm eating posts, but I promise they do serve a purpose. See the title saying this is part 1? Well, I'm flying to Bangladesh sometime in August, and hopefully part 2 will be a more interesting post on the traditional Bangladeshi iftaar. 

The Slightest Hint Of Fusion

Mom's Fish Fingers

Fish fingers, but a little more exciting than usual

Fish is an integral part of the Bangladeshi diet - probably something to do with the many rivers, lakes and ponds in the country. It's very common at our table too, but sometimes in surprising forms. I have no idea how actual fish fingers are made, but this is how mom makes them at home. She adds some spices to make the fish a little more exciting than your usual frozen supermarket fare, before . I have no amounts written down for this recipe unfortunately, as everything is to taste depending on how strong you want your marinade. 

Preparing My Own Spices

...Mushroom & Tomato Curry?

Yeah...this was lunch today.

I wandered downstairs to check the fridge today and saw I had nothing stocked except mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh chillies, butter and a bottle of milk. The spice cupboard was almost full though, so this was enough for me to attempt a curry. 

The Lull After Graduation

মুরগী আর টমাটো ভুনা

Chicken and Tomato Curry with Thick Gravy

Chicken curries are usually the easiest to cook

The title is a lie. 

Life is crazy right now, with having to sort out a new job and what not. I'm writing this post to see if it'll help me relax, in the same way cooking curry does. There's something about combining all the spices in a pot, blending and experimenting with ingredients to produce the perfect flavour, that melts all my stress away. Often enough you'd find me in the kitchen at 1 AM after an intense study session, defrosting chicken and pulling spices from the cupboard, wondering what vegetables I could cram into this dish to get out a balanced meal.

Really A Suggestion Rather Than A Recipe

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple

Sweet and spicy pineapple with chilli powder

I love pineapple. I'm actually trying to decide if it's my favourite fruit, but it's competing with mango in my mind right now. Anyway, I love pineapple in many forms, and one of these forms is the dried pineapple sprinkled with sugar and chilli I used to have in Thailand. Unfortunately, this isn't something I've been able to find in Birmingham so I've tried recreating something similar using fresh pineapple. The results have been satisfying enough for me, so I thought I'd do a post on it.

A Change From All The Curry

Crêpes With Vanilla Syrup & Ice Cream

I'd eaten quite a bit of it before remembering I needed to take a picture...

I've actually lived in France, but funnily enough I don't remember ever trying a crêpe while I was there. For me, it was all about the the waffles with Nutella or the mushroom and cheese pizzas sold by the Eiffel Tower. It was only after moving to England for university that crêpes registered on my radar. I like the fact that you can fill it with anything, and it happens to remind me of a similar Bangladeshi dessert that I must hunt down the recipe for soon. 

A Slightly Unusual Curry

চামড়ার তরকারী, বসানো রান্না

Slow Cooked Chicken Skin Curry

Chicken skin curry, served in a bowl

In our house, chicken would always be cooked skinless. Rather than wasting the chicken skin, my mom would occasionally cook this dish for me. It's not something she would do often, however, because skin is very high in fat - especially if it's coming from chicken that wasn't raised free range. I don't intend to cook this often either, but it is one of my favourites, and as such I can't not put it up on the blog!

Introducing: my love for chocolate

Toblerone

I've always been a big fan of chocolate. I like the taste. I like that I can just pop down to the local shop and buy some, instead having to cook it from scratch like so many other things! However, I don't like all chocolate, so I thought I'd do a few posts with my favourites. For today, I'm uploading a picture of Toblerone, one of my earliest and oldest favourites, probably since age four. And no this isn't a cop out, I promise I'll start work on a proper recipe post later today!

However, I don't like getting the nougat stuck between my teeth....

Reviews

I've decided I'm going to do them...

I've already updated my About Me page to say a few words on this. 

Reviews will be labelled "review" (duh!), although some will be complete reviews, and others will be from memory - shorter descriptions of what I recall of an experience. I'm not going to be looking to review each and every restaurant I go to. I'll concentrate on just those places that stand out to me, or the places I go to when I happen to have a bit of free time. A lot places I've been to should also be "student budget" friendly, so I'll tag those as such. And lot of places I remember just for a particular dish that I really liked, so instead of doing a review I'll mention the dish in question and put up a link to a dedicated post on my Personal Favourites page, tagged as "favourite foods". 

The First Recipe!

কষানো খাসীর মাংস

Dry Lamb Curry

Dry lamb curry garnished with caramelised onions

I'm a big fan of meat, so I thought I'd make my first post a meat dish. To be honest, I prefer beef over mutton, but we didn't have any at home when we were cooking this. However, the mutton can easily be substituted for beef in this recipe, and I'll write a few words about how to do this at the end. 

I've also titled the dish in Bengali, and put down what I think is an appropriate English translation. I don't like labelling dishes as just curries, because in my opinion it doesn't provide enough of a description. 

An Introduction

Why I'm blogging...

The notebook I use to record recipes.

I'm leaving the family home for good this time, which means I won't be able to run to my mom whenever I get a craving for one of the many Bangladeshi dishes that I love. Hence my mission this summer is to learn as much as possible from her, so that I can recreate these dishes whenever I want in my own kitchen.