#ProductReview - Chef's Basket instant Creamy Tomato Pasta

"We believe in the art of cooking. And we believe that with a little help anybody can cook. We put our all to create the freshest and the most authentic recipes from around the world so that trying new cuisines need not remain a restaurant affair. Our food is natural with no artificial preservatives or added colour and is prepared under the intricate eye of our chefs. The products we bring to you have come a long way. They have undergone rigorous research, repeated testing and continual improvement. They still do." - Chef's Basket

You might often get confused to choose the right band for instant meals. Personally, I don't encourage having instant foods. But our lifestyle is rapidly changing and driving us to spend less time in the kitchen. Even our taste buds often need a change that is the reason that almost every household kitchen pantries own a few collection of ready to eat meals to survive on at a desperate need. Though not as a daily practice, we all love to indulge in this guilt quite a few time. Now the question rises to choose the right brand that should qualify the taste, usage of less preservative and reaches a parameter to call it near to healthy. Recently I received to review the Creamy Tomato Pasta product from Chef's Basket.

Chef's Baskets started their new venture on providing instant meals which right now have two sections - Italian and Oriental. The oriental section comprises of Four types of ready to eat noodle boxes.The Italian experience is called as "Italian luxury with the finest herbs and Durum pasta" where they offer three types of Pasta flavours - Creamy Tomato, Cheesy Alfredo Pasta and Chunky Arrabiata Pasta. I received the Creamy Tomato flavour to taste and share my experience with it.

To be honest I am a bit choosy when it comes to ready to eat meal boxes. I have very few on my list to recommend to try out. Mainly because every instant food has a typical flavour that will not give you the feel of a comfort food or a homemade food. Ah, maybe I expect too much. But honestly, when I tasted this one, I didn't feel that I was trying an instant food. The first bite gave a feel of a homemade food. The taste, the spices, the seasoning all were balanced that enhanced the pungency of a comfort food. The portion was pretty good where one adult and a kid could easily adjust (mainly, a mommy and her kid - For the daddy one pack is more than enough.:) ).

The box comes with 5 items - Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Italian herbs, Chilli Flakes and Sea Salt. You have to add the Sea Salt along with the pasta to boil. In a separate pan add some oil/butter saute some vegetables and then add the pasta sauce. Simmer for some time and then add the boiled Pasta. Cook for a minute and your pasta is ready. It is simple to make. Adding vegetables can be skipped. It only helps to make the taste better, a feeling of home-cooked food that's all. I love garlic so I added some garlic and sprinkled some Parmesan on the top of it. I should mainly mention the sauce which is very different from the store bought sauce but very similar to what we make at home.

If you ask about the price it is 99/- (INR). It might sound a bit pricey in regard to the other ready to eat meals. But Chef's Basket gives you the assurance of 100% natural, no preservative and no artificial colour. But the ingredients contain gluten. Therefore, when you are getting good food the money doesn't matter. I even tried out their Cheesy Alfredo Pasta and I will again stick to my opinion. It is easily available in the markets like Spencers, In & Out in Kolkata. So first try out and then let me know your feedback too whether you liked it or not.

Mochar Ghonto (Dry Banana Blossom with coconut)

This year after almost 14 years I was in Santiniketan and became a part of Basantosav, one of the famous festivals of Santiniketan on Holi. To be honest, when my mother requested to visit Santiniketan, during this time, I was trying to avoid. I know it must sound very weird, but I never found Basantotosav interesting anymore. I never liked to accept the truth that I could not take part in the functions and I would be considered as a mere tourist. I never liked to enjoy Basantotosav without my friends. There was a time when I used to take part in each and every function of Basantotsav. Basantotsav was then an integral part of our life.  But this time, thanks to lil K who brought back the old memories and helped me to cherish them alive. When I reached Santiniketan the rehearsals were going on in full swinging. The Stage was getting constructed. All the more busy and festive scenario were seen all around.  I met the Lil K whom I wanted to see since she was born. After we stepped into Santiniketan, I hardly found her at home, rather she would be found engrossed watching the rehearsals of Chitrangada and other Basantotsav related functions. I used to get 3 hours break from my 10 months old's feeding hours. Within that break hours, I would rush to the rehearsals and invigorate those 3 hours to the fullest. Most of the time I felt an elated "I" inside me dancing with joy that rhythm often blurred my eyes in the form of tears. I started revisiting the memories that I locked inside me. The city life almost choked all the memories and I, too never wanted to dig them out. Again, thanks to Lil K whose spirited soul brought back my spirit again. Despite the huge crowd, despite all the restrictions that rudely forced me to accept, that I was not part of the Fest anymore, rather I was just a mere tourist who came to visit the Fest, I had fallen in love with Basantotsav again. And all the credit goes to lil K who infused the spirit of Santiniketan in her soul and enjoyed it from the core of her heart. The colour of Dol did emblazon my soul too.

Now let me come to the Mochar Ghonto recipe. Mochar Ghonto is a kind of dry dish made out of Banana Blossom. It is very common in a Bengali kitchen. I could still feel the taste the way my mamoni (My elder aunt) used to cook the dish. Till date that was the best ever Mocha Ghonto I have tasted so far. But I am pretty late to store the recipe from her. I had a distinct idea that she used to add a pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida in most of her dishes and Mochar Ghonto was no exception too. This recipe I have adapted from my mother. Ad I found my MIL also cooks in the same way. Enjoy the recipe here:

Mochar Ghonto

Ingredients:

Mocha (Banana Blossom) - 1 medium size

Potato - 1 medium size (optional)

Grated coconut - 3/4 cup

Whole Garam Masala - 2 each (Cardamon, Clove & Cinnamon)

Bay leave- 1-2

Oil - 2 tblspn

Ghee - 1/2 tspn

Turmaric Powder -  1/4 tspn

Salt and Sugar as taste

Method:

1. If you are using the whole mocha/banana blossom them you have to remove the blossoms after peeling away the outer leaves and clean. Then you have to take out a stem inside and chop finely. (See HERE how to peel a banana blossom)

2. Boil the chopped mocha for 15mnts adding little bit of salt and 1/4 tspn  turmeric powder.

3. Strain the excess water and reserve.

4. Cut the potato in cubes.

5. Take a Kadai and heat oil. Fry the cubed potatoes till they turn semi brown. Reserve them in bowl draining the excess oil. 

6. Now add the Whole Garam Masala and Bay leaves in the remaining oil. Once they start to splutter, add the boiled mocha. keep on frying for 5 minutes in a medium flame.

7. Add the coconut and the potatoes. Add salt and sugar as per taste. Then keep on sauteing till the texture become dry and you will get a nice flavour of cooked coconut. Add ghee and serve with rice.

Few more recipes with Banana Blossom:

Mocha Chingri (Non - Veg)

Mochar Paturi (Veg)

Mochar Phuler Bora( Banana Blossom Heart Fry)

Eggless Butterless Cake Rings Soaked in Strawberry Syrup

Now a day I am on an Eggless butterless cake baking spree. I made eggless cakes several times, mainly when the orders asked for. But I never dare to try eggless butterless cake thinking of the outcome - May be I have to trash it down. Being an ardent baker it is a shame for me if I don't expertise with all the versions that a baking pro asks for. So I buckeled up myself and started to experiment the Eggless butterless cakes in my kitchen. I started to make in a small amount with the minimum mesurments that a cake needs to be baked. To my surprise, I was super thrilled when I tasted one. It was soft, moist, spongy and hard to believe that it was an eggless butterless cake. I add a little bit of olive oil to make the texture more perfect. My walnut cranberry eggless butterless cake loaf was loved by those who bought in the KFB's Bakers Showcase 2016. So here is the simple version of making eggless butterless cake. I added strwaberry syrup to give it a more tastier version. Stay tuned I will be posting many more less calorie, Eggless butterless cakes.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

All Purpose Flour: 1/2 cup

Baking Powder: 1/2 tspn

Baking Soda: 1/2 tspn

Olive oil: 1 tblspn

Sugar: 1/2 cup

Yogurt: 2 tbspn

Milk - 1/4 cup (More or less)

Vanilla Essence: 1/2 tspn

For the Strawberry Syrup:

Strawberry - 2 cups chopped

Sugar - less than half cup (More or less - see notes)

Lemon juice: 2 tspn

Method:

Make the cake:

1. Mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Reserve.

2. Mix all the other ingredients under cake and make a smooth paste.

3. Add the flour and fold nicely. If you need more milk add. The batter should be semi-runny.

4. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C. 

5. Grease the cake ring moulds. Pour the batter in the cake rings and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. One can use cupcake moulds too. If using cupcake moulds then fill 1/4 of the cup.

Make the syrup:

Heat a pan and add the chopped strawberries. Cook in a medium flame with a lid on for 5 to 6 minutes. When the strawberries will start to loose its juice and become soft add the sugar. Cook till the sugar gets completely dissolved and the strawberries come to a mushy consistency. Add the lemon juice and stir. Now take off the pan and cool. Then strain the pulp and the juice out. Use the syrup. You can use the pulp too if you want.

Note: 

If you want to make it a chocolate Eggless butterless cake then add 1 tblsp cocoa powder to 1/2 cup flour.

#Lightmealchallenge - Pan Grilled Chicken Salad in Peanut Butter Sauce

 “You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” 

― William W. Purkey 

Almost every day I retire to my bed - tired, suffocated with a replete stomach - with the promise that tomorrow would be the new start for me. It is the high time to watch my diet now. And that day never arrives. Sadly this is the #Storyofmylife - Don't tell me it's yours too!!! I know many of us are walking on the same lane. So let us do one thing - let us join hands together to give a quick start to the #lightmealchallenge. (How? focus on the foot Note of the blog post).

Continuing to the  #Storyofmylife - Every day I wake up considering the day to give a quick start to my "lose weight" regime.  But every time I end up in a plateful of rice enjoying a typical Bengali full meal thali. I have a good reason for gaining weight (that is how I console myself) because of my post-partum starving twinges. Being a feeding mom, I am always alarmed by my hunger pangs and that leads me to gain some extra pounds almost every day. I was so proud after delivering my second baby that I came back to shape within a month and fitting into my old slim fit clothes perfectly. But then gradually I started to gain weight, as a feeding mom, my intake of plenty of healthy nutritious food to supply the baby proper diet started to increase day by day. In the last 9 months, I have gained almost 6 kilos extra because apart from living on healthy and nutritious food I am eating too much. And it is such a letdown for me. I was never a diet prone person or rather I can say dieting is not my cup of tea. Once I had visited a dietician 4 years back. Obediently I strictly followed the diet regime for 7 days after the dieticians food chart. On the 8th day, my desperate soul forced me to rush to a food court and gobbled up a bowl full of oily Chicken Haka Noodles (the portion was for two persons) all alone as if I was deprived of food for a long time. My husband and my daughter were totally surprised at my action. They kept on staring at me and to each other. When I was done, they burst into laughter. But I felt like I got all the happiness of life in that bowl of noodles. I felt nothing could be more blessed than that moment. And that was the end of my dieting session. I realised then that the greedy foodie with a big fat belly inside me would never allow me to win over a diet session. So I decided to have light meals mostly that should be tasty, healthy and less in calorie.

So the conclusion is losing weight is not a matter of joke. One has to dedicatedly and religiously follow his/her daily meal for months after months. There is a wrong conception I have seen mainly in the teenagers that dieting means to survive on one or two meals a day or hardly eat anything. But they remain totally ignorant about the fact that how much damages this is making inside their body. If one really wants to lose his/her weight one should visit a good dietician who will give a proper guidance to lose weight. If you don't want to visit a dietician then you can always watch your diet by creating your own healthy light meals avoiding all the junk, greasy calorie intake foods. This will help you not to gain the extra pounds rather if you maintain it on a regular basis with some 30 to 60 minutes work - outs - you are definitely going to shred some weight. It will also help you to stay healthy. Before my pregnancy, I love to wrap up my meals in a one pot healthy dish. And that not only kept me feeling light, healthy but energetic too. 

Few things I have learnt from my past experiences are:

i. Never skip the breakfast and have a heavy breakfast. Skipping breakfast leads one to gain weight remember that.

ii. Four meals a day is a must. Stay on light  meals but never skip.

iii. If you feel hungry often have some fruits or a cracker. Or make some healthy fat-free small bite-size snacks made at home.

iv. Work out for at least 15 minutes is a must. Just walk in the room for 15 minutes in that will be a big help for one.

So I decided to go back to my light meal habit again. Here I am sharing one such recipe that you can give a kick start with the #lightmealchallange regime as I did. Enjoy the recipe and know how you can also be a part of this #lightmealchallenge at the end of the post.

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Breast - 4

Olive oil - 2 tbspn  

For Marination:

Peanut Butter - 2 tblspn

Dark Soy Sauce - 1 tspn

Sweet Chili Sauce - 3 tspn

Rice vinegar - 1 tspn

Fish Sauce - 1 tspn (optional)

Honey - 2 tblspn

Brown Sugar - 1 tspn (optional - See Notes)

For salad dressing -

Peanut Butter - 1 tblspn

Vinegar/ lemon juice - 1 tspn

Soy Sauce - 1 tblspn

Warm water -  2 tspn

Olive oil - 1 tspn

Chopped garlic - 2 tblspn full (more or less)

For the salad -

Any vegetables after one's choice - Assorted that fill 4 bowls.

(I used Boiled carrots, boiled Broccoli, Cucumber  and Letus leaves)

Salt and pepper as per taste.

Method:

1. Mix all the sauce under marination nicely in a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper as per taste.

2. Prick the Chicken breasts with a fork and then add them to the sauce. Mix nicely so that the chicken breasts get evenly coated with the sauce.

3. Marinate the chicken overnight if possible. Otherwise for 2 to 3 hours.

4. Take a grill pan. Heat oil. Add the chicken breasts and fry both sides in medium flame till they are done. Don't over cook. Otherwise, they will become hard. It will take approximately  8-10 minutes for each side. Take them off on a plate.

5. Now strain the burnt residue of the sauce from the pan and discard. Add the remaining oil. Heat it.

6. Add the chopped garlic and saute till they start to change colour.

7. In a small bowl,  add all the other ingredients under salad dressing make a smooth paste.

8. Add in the pan and just cook for a minute in high flame and take it off.

9. Take a big mixing bowl and add the vegetables for the salad after your choice. Add the dressing and mix well. Add salt and pepper after your choice. Mix well. 

10. Serve the vegetables in four serving bowls.

11. Slice the pan grilled chicken breasts and top them on the vegetables and enjoy. You can mix it with the vegetable and then serve. 

Notes:

1. Brown sugar is totally optional. It will give the dish a colour and an extra tinge of sweetness which can be avoided always.

2. The chicken breast can be added with some sauteed vegetables too.

Now join me to this Stay Healthy, Stay Fit & Stay Lite - #LightMealChallenge:

Rules:

• Both bloggers and non - bloggers can participate.
• Please post recipes that help you to stay light, fit and healthy.
• Share your experiences on serving light meals.
• Bloggers please add the above logo and link your post to my #LightmealChallenge Post at silencesing.in.
• Both Non- bloggers and Bloggers, If you are sharing your post on social networks like FB, Twitter, Instagram then please add these hashtags #LightmealChallenge & #Silencesings and tag my FB page link along with your recipes so that I can keep on sharing your recipes on my page too..
• Please note my Facebook page is Here.
• My Instagram Id is - silencesings.
• My Twitter Id is - silence_sings
• Last date of posting all links is 24th March'16.

And also don't forget to visit our 2nd Annual Bake Sale by KFB.

Sajne Phuler Bora (Drumstick Flowers Fritters)

“Each day has a color, a smell.” 

                                                                           ― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mistress of Spices

It was around 7.30 am in the morning. I dropped my daughter in her school and headed straight to Lake Market. It's always a sheer joy for me when I visit the local markets. I feel nostalgic and miss my home. I visualise my garden and all the home-grown vegetables, fruits and flowers. I see my father or my mother busy in the garden, plucking up the vegetables and the joy of contentment in their faces. I smell back my home again. This time, in the morning, is kind of a blissful moment for me. It's like revealing a mystery box every time at my each visit. Say it like getting introduced to a new kind of vegetable/ fruit or flower or learning a new recipe from your daily vegetable or fish vendors. I love the mayhem of the market and exploring the nook and corner of this place. The fresh and colourful fruits and veggies will be seen inviting and seductively shining on the big bamboo baskets. People with their sneakers on will be seen busy with their daily marketing. The fish market will look totally chaotic. All set to fetch for the fresh fish at a bargain price. The flower sellers will be seen exhibiting their collection of vibrant flowers and bouquets. Every time I wander by the array of flower stalls on the pavement, I get a weird feeling. I feel happy to see the emblazoned pavements and the freshness that infusing a kind of purity in the heart. On the other hand, I feel hollowed from the bottom of my heart as again I miss my home, my blooming flower garden. I pass by the chaiwalahs and see them busy in crouching over their stove, hurrying to satisfy the impatient customers. I love to pass by the dust, dirt, flies and diesel fumes swarming in from the main road. And again every morning I fall in love with the city ignoring all the negative sides that convince my mind every night to leave the city forever. I fall in love with Kolkata again and again.

 So the other day I found my daily vegetable seller was selling a bag full of Sajne phul or Drumstick Flowers. He might be selling quite often but I never paid that much attention to it or it always skipped by eyes. Now a day, I am introducing different kinds of vegetables to my daughter which have more food values. And at the same time, I have restricted our lunch meal to typical Bengali meal that should start  with Something bitter and ends with something sweet. You all must be knowing that a Bengali platter would not be completed if there is no Bhaja (some deep fried items) to accompany with the Dal. Therefore to go with the Bhaja (some deep fried items), we have always some vegetables to fry or edible leaves or some edible flowers. Recently I have started collecting the edible flowers and introducing them to my daughter. So when my eyes got fixed on the Sajne phul or Drumstick Flowers, I didn't hesitate for a single second but bought some. I started to recollect the memory of the big Drumstick or Moringa tree at my home, which every time gets bloomed with the profusion of white flowers and then with the drumstick pods. The long pods hanging down from the tree were always a cause for celebration time for my parents. But for me, it was like a nightmare as I never liked Drumsticks and moreover what used to annoy me more were the hairy stinging caterpillars what we call in Bengali - ShuoNpoka. Once the tree is all bloomed with flowers the caterpillars will nestle up clinging to the tree bark and then it will swarm around/ inside our house. It used to get found in our clothes or on our books and almost everywhere. One single contact with the singing caterpillars means to end up itching and scratching yourself for hours. But my parents would never cut the Drumstick/ Moringa tree. What the gardener used to do, he used to set fire on a stick to burn the caterpillars. And I used to dislike so much that site. Anyways, the flower and the pods from the drumstick tree were religiously and ceremoniously used to get cooked in my mom's kitchen,  but I never allowed them to reach my plate. Even I had never paid any kind of interest to know how those used to get cooked. Cooking is my passion since childhood but that is only restricted in making some jazzy party dishes or the dishes after my taste. Now when I became a mother, I stepped in my mother's shoe and trying each day to replicate my mother's kitchen in my kitchen. Moreover, the food blogger inside me is always tending to try out new things every time and to learn more of the food culture. So when I cooked the Sajne Phuler Bora (Drumstick Flowers Fritters) {which is one of the common items in a Bengali kitchen}, to my surprise I loved it and my daughter enjoyed it. I was thrilled with the fact that I had introduced Sajne Phul (Drumstick Flowers) in my kitchen. But my parents had a shock to believe that their daughter had changed so much. To talk about the nutritional value of  Sajne Phul (Drumstick Flowers), it is high with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, selenium, and magnesium. (Source -Here).  

 

 Sajne Phuler Bora (Drumstick Flowers Fritters)

{Yeilds 14- 15 Fritters}

Ingredients:

Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers - 100gm

Rice Flour - 2 tbspn heaped

Besan / Bengal Gram Flour - 2 tbspn heaped

Turmeric Powder - A pinch

Baking Soda - a pinch (Optional)

Salt as per taste

Kalo Jeera/ Nigella seeds - 1/4 tspn (See notes #2)

Mustard Oil - enough for deep frying

Water as per requirement

Method:

1. Wash the Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers thoroughly.

2. Take a bowl add all the dry ingredients. Mix well. Then add water slowly to make a semi thick batter mix well. Make sure that there is no lump remaining.

3. Now add the Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers mix well. The mixture should not be very dry or thick. If required then add some more water. 

4. Heat enough oil in a Kadai so that you can deep fry the fritters. Make sure the oil is piped hot before you start frying. Take a small ping-pong ball size portion of the batter and gently put in the oil. Keep on adding more portions to feel up the remaining space full of oil in Kadai.

5. Fry in medium flame until those turn brown. Take them out and put them a kitchen Towel to absorb the excess oil. Serve hot with the lunch meal or as a tea time snack.

Notes:

1. Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers can be cooked in many ways. One can make curry out of it by adding mustard paste and cubed potatoes. It goes well with the prawns. And one famous dish out of it is Bati Chachari (cooked with seasonal vegetables.)

2. I have used here Nigella Seeds. But I prefer Ajwain or Caraway seeds in the fritters.

Please do visit-

Bakers Showcase 2016 

Date: 13th March'16

Time: 12 - 8 pm 

Venue: Uday Sadan

Golf Green

(Near Doordarshan Kendra Kolkata)

#EasyRecipe : Strawberry Yogurt

"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another."

                                                                                       -Thomas Merton

Didn't I say that I would not be blogging for 2 months? Yes, I of course did. My daughter is having her Annual Examination. The lil one is getting day by day a fully hyper-active kid who needs continuous attention and more over organising the upcoming Bakers Showcase 2016 with team KFB is really an arduous task to concentrate and blog. 
Then why am I here today with you all?
 Hello !! Hello!!
Today is Valentine's Day. 
And it gives a good reason to celebrate here. And I have a story behind it too.
I bought few packets of strawberries. Washed, patted dry and reserved few of the fresh ones in the freezer to use them in future. Now I kept one packet of strawberries in the Fridge and decided to experiment on something new soon. I started looking for recipes on  the internet. I searched, saved, pinned endless recipes. Then totally got confused to start with which one. I didn't have too much time to spend for one. So the recipe should be easy and takes very little time (read labour) to make. Suddenly the other day One of my blogger friends, Chandrima who blogs at Not Out Of the Box, posted a picture on Instagram of Strawberry Yoghurt. (Read her recipe HERE.)
Bingo !!
I love baked yogurt (mishti doi) mainly with fruits. I made Mango Yogurt, Apple Yogurt and Chocolate Yogurt. I thought this will be the easiest recipe to do the justice with the strawberries. So I didn't waste much time made the dish. Once you make some dish you can't sit relaxed unless and until you will be clicking some pictures of the dish - Story of a Food Blogger's life. I poured my heart out and enjoyed the photo shoot of Strawberry Yogurt after a long time. I kept on tapping my feet with the click, click shutter sound. My heart melted down when I downloaded the picture, looked at them like a mother keeps on gazing at her kids. Then put them in drafts and thought of blogging on them once I will be active again. But when I saw everybody is celebrating Valentines Day, I couldn't resist myself. I thought it will not be justified if I don't celebrate it with my blog and my readers. So here I am wishing you all a very Happy Valentines day with a simple but healthy and exotic recipe to celebrate this special day where everywhere love is in the air, love is everywhere... 

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 1 cup (chopped)

Yogurt- 1 cup

Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C for 5 minutes.
3. Pour the mixer in a baking dish / ramekins or cupcake moulds and bake at 140 degree C for 40 to 50 minutes.
4. Keep in the oven till it gets completely cool.
5. Chill for 6 to 7 hours. Then serve and enjoy.

Note:

1. Those who are on a diet, please don't add the condensed milk but plain sugar. Or you can absolutely omit the sugar.

2. You can store this flavoured yogurt in the fridge for 4-5 days. Just put it in an airtight container.

3. One can prepare it in single cupcake cups/ ramekins and wrap it with cling fling and store.

Please do visit-

Bakers Showcase 2016 

Date: 13th March'16

Time: 12 - 8 pm 

Venue: Uday Sadan

Golf Green

(Near Doordarshan Kendra Kolkata)

Will be on Two months Leave

I am taking an off from blogging for 2 months. In between please keep on following my FB page Here. Will try to keep on updating if something special food related things happen in my life. Hope you all are also following me on Instagram.

And most important don't miss us on 13th of March,2016 at our (KFB) Annual Bakesale: Bakers Showcase 2016 & lots of Fun with Food.  You will get to know almost 20 Home Bakers from all over Kolkata and get flooded with the sweet and savoury baked goodies - cakes, cookies, breads, pies , tarts and chocolates and many more.

Address:

Uday Sadan

Golf Green

Kolkata-95

Time:

 12 noon to 8.00pm

Date: 

13th March'16

Stay well and keep following.

Happy Blogging.

Baked Gondhoraj Chicken

Recently I am digging up all the recipes from my draft folder and blogging on them - the dishes which I have cooked almost 2 years back. Now a day the cooking part is though going on in full swing but clicking is like a nightmare for me. Preparing a whole set up for the photo shoot, then download them, if required going for editing- ah it’s better I should get some sleep saving that time. All new moms couldn't agree more that few extra hours sleep is like a cherry on the top of a cake. It's like cooking a dish is therapeutic, but wrapping up the meals, cleaning the kitchen and retiring to the bed as soon as possible to get some good hours long sleep is nothing but a boon. My elder one has become suddenly a grown up girl and quite matured who always stays with me like a shadow to help me out whenever I need. My little one is proving to be a good girl till date as she doesn't bug me much, loves to stay by her own. So I get a call only when she is hungry, sleepy or needs to change her diaper. Slowly I am stepping back in my old shoes, by starting up what I used to love most. I am cooking, baking and actively started to move around. But when it comes to clicking pictures I feel like I am having a split with my camera. There was a time I couldn't think my life without my camera and now I try to run away from it. May be everyone faces some phase like this when you need a break from which you covet most. The ardent photographer in me is still sleeping and I don't have the urge to wake her up too. So I am enjoying my camera less phase pretty well. But yes I miss that uplifting attitude of a photographer me and often feel that I am drowning away from the engrossing and enthralling food blogging world. I want to be active again but I am enjoying this phase too... So I guess I need to give myself more time to wait for the right time --Should I or not??..- I am confused...

Now coming to the dish I was pretty inspired by two recipe posts on Gondhoraaj chicken by my fellow Kolkata Food Bloggers Anwesha and Pritha{Click on their names to visit their recipes}. So I decided to try it out. Both the recipes ask for frying but I preferred to give it a baked version. So here is my version of Baked Gondhoraj Chicken. Try it out and I am sure it will be a winner.

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs - 6 pcs

To Marinate:

 Onion - 1 medium

Garlic - 5-6 cloves 

Ginger - 1 inch long

Green Chili - 1 -2 (As per taste)

Juice of Gondhoraaj Lebu - 1 big (3/4 of the juice will be required for marination and 1/4 of the juice for basting)

Zest of Gondhoraj Lebu - 1/2 tspn

Black pepper powder - 1/4 tspn

Salt and Sugar as per taste

Ghee - 1 tbspn (optional, one can use olive oil or white oil)

Method:

1. Wash the chicken thighs and then pat it dry with a kitchen towel. With a sharp knife slit both sides of the flesh of the chicken thigh so that the marinades incorporate well.

2. Now prepare the marinade - Paste the onion, garlic and ginger together and strain out the juice as much as you can. Add the juice to the chicken and all the other ingredients that comes under the marinade section. Mix well and keep for and hour or two to rest.

3. Pre - heat the oven at 200c for 5 minutes. Take an oven proof tray and place the Chicken Thigh pieces on it. Bake it for 20 minutes.

4. In the meanwhile take the Ghee/ Oil and add the remaining 1/4 of the juice of Gondhoraaj Lebu.  

5. After 20 minutes turn the thigh pieces, brush the juice mixture on each and bake for another 20 minutes.  

6. Turn them over again apply the remaining juice mixture and bake for another 10 minutes. If you feel you need to bake more then turn over and bake for few minutes more.

7. Take them out from the oven and serve them hot with some boiled vegetables, bread and some dip. If someone needs more of the flavour of the Gondhoraj Lebu, then one can squeeze some juice on the top of the baked chicken thighs.