Bengali Sweets in Kolkata, India

Girish Ch Dey & Nakur Ch Nandy... Sounds crazy and I have absolute no idea what it means but I came across this place while looking on trip advisor. As it was rated as the number one place to eat sweets in Kolkata I couldn't miss it!

I was a little wary at first as I am not a huge fan of the traditional Indian style, milk powdered, buttery, spiced sweets, and after having a ridiculously violently ill experience after eating the deep fried, sugar syrup soaked Jalebi and Gulab Jamun, I usually avoid them at all cost! However, these sounded different with a description entailing a combination of a cottage cheese type of milk product and jaggery (rapadura sugar).... Thankfully they were! 'Mishti' means sweets and there are most likely hundreds mishti shops around Kolkata that sell something similar but I wanted something trust worthy, highly recommended and popular to make sure I wouldn't be spending my night on the train hugged around a filthy toilet.

Apparently established in 1251, this place has had a long lived reputation! There were middle class Indians crowding around the counter and one customer who (thankfully!) spoke English was buying a huge shopping bag full of them to take back to Mumbai.

With a selection of sweets all same same but different, butterscotch, raisin, chocolate, rose water and a pink one (!) all balls and squares. They were soft and squishy with almost a cookie dough type if texture and super sweet but delicious! However eating too many of these could make you sick pretty quickly!

Kati Rolls in Kolkata - India

When I think of Indian food in Kolkata I think of the delicious Kati Roll. Like no other Indian food I've tasted before the Kati Roll is a Bengali speciality found in small little 'hole in the wall' style eateries around Kolkata. They are fast food, Indian style.

Dough balls are manipulated and gently tossed to form a circle of flat paratha like bread and are then placed on an oily hot fry pan. An egg is then cracked on the base and mixed until it coats one side of the flaky flat bread and it is flipped and fried until the whole thing is golden. This is then piled with lashings of finely shaven sweet red onions along with your filling of choice - mine was paneer which is spiced and fried and vegetables (more like curry spiced mash potatoes). They then top it with spicy tomato sauce. The hole thing is then rolled into a wrap style role and kept together with paper... Yum! I want one now! :)

The Cake Lady of Darjeeling - India

Sticky Date Cake with Palm Sugar Icing

I heard about Helly the cake lady from an article in Sbs food magazine, Feast which made me even more sure that I had to visit the hill station of Darjeeling in India's North east. You won't find cakes this good anywhere in India let alone your local coffee shop at home!

Helly, originally from New Zealand moved to Darjeeling 3 years ago and has started a business baking the most beautiful moist cakes and selling them to the tourists and coffee shops.

There is no better way to enjoy a freshly brewed Darjeeling tea than with one of these! :) Helly uses local and organic ingredients wherever possible so the cakes often come with new and interesting decorations using special types of seeds and all sorts of special stuff she sources from the hills of Darjeeling.

We tried the Chai Carrot Cake, the Lemon Syrup Cake with Lemon Cream & the Sticky Date Cake with Palm Sugar Icing... Mmmmmmm

Home Made Pumpkin Pizza

 

I am always nervous when it comes to dough, kneading it until elastic but not until it is rubbery seems to be a 50/50 gamble I take each time. Likewise I gamble on whether the dough will rise or not. When I make shortbread I end up with the worlds shortest shortbread... And I'm not sure why... I have tried more than a few different recipes!

I would like to say though that this dough was easy to make and came out great. I hope it is the recipe and not chance that is the reason. Give it a try and let me know!

This dough recipe is by Manuela Darling-Gansser  taken from Delicious Magazine October 2011 issue.

The topping is one of my faves. But feel free to add whatever combo you love and whatever you have on hand. I often make use of whatever dips and cheeses I have in the fridge and simply add some herbs or greens to lighten it up. A combo like this usually makes for a colorful and delish pizza.Think chunky roast capsicum and cashew dip with Queso Manchego..topped just before serving with rocket. Or Roast Pumpkin Hummus, mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic, spinach and basil. Or Baba Ganouj, ricotta, parsley and ajvar. Or course if you are more organized you can shop for your dream pizza!





The dough needs to rest for 2 hours in total so try to prepare ahead. You can make the dough a day early and let it sit in the fridge in a bowl covered with cling wrap. Be sure to remove it from the fridge and let it come to room temperature before you roll it out. If you are short of time you can let the dough rest for just 1 hour and i will still be delicious.



Makes 2 Pizzas

Pizza dough

500g Plain Flour, preferably Italian type 00 (i used regular plain flour and it worked great)
1 x 7g sachet dried instant yeast
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 - 1/12cups warm water

Topping

* 1 eggplant diced and baked until browned and creamy inside.
* 1/4 pumpkin (approx) cut into thin wedges and baked until soft
* 125g feta diced or crumbled
* 1/2 bunch chives
* 2 tbs capers
* 1/3 Spanish onion slices VERY thinly
* 4 tbs caramelized onion marmalade
* 4 tbs tomato paste (or Ajvar or passata or pasta sauce)
* 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated (in a pinch i use tasty cheese)

Method

Dough
Mix Flour, yeast, oil, 1tsp salt & water to form a soft dough.
Knead for 8-10mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic, shape into a ball
Place in a bowl and sprinkle with a few drops of olive oil and cover with a tea towel.
Stand in a warm place for approx 1 hour...or until doubled in size.
(i have been given the tip to fill the kitchen sink with hot water and place the bowl in the cupboard directly under the sink)

Once the dough has doubled in size punch the dough down knead again for a short time and roll into a ball, sprinkle with oil and cover with a tea towel and put somewhere warm again for another hour.

Pizza
Pre-heat the oven to 240 degrees
Roll the dough out to 1/2 to 1cm thick bases, place on t baking tray topped with a piece of baking paper.
Smear tomato paste over the base being sure to leave a clear crust around the edge
Sprinkle some grated cheese over the bases
Top with onion marmalade, eggplant, pumpkin, feta & capers.
Make sure not to top the pizza too thickly. Nothing worse than a soggy pizza! make sure you leave the very center of the pizza quite sparse too...this is where any excess moisture will end up and it is important to have a nice crunchy pizza base all over.

Place in oven and bake for 5 minutes, after 5 minutes slide the pizza off the tray and leave to bake for another 2 minutes.

place on a chopping board cut into slices and scatter with the thinly sliced onion and chives

Serve with Tabasco sauce for those who like it spicy

enjoy!

Ba x

Eggs Alhambra

I made this Spanish inspired brekkie a few weeks ago, it's something a little bit differed from the usual eggs on toast. It is gluten free and also a nice hearty brekkie for a hangover cure.


Eggs Alhambra
Serves 2

Ingredients
* 4 eggs
* 1 tin diced tomatoes
* 2 tablespoons Ajvar
* 1/2 onion diced
* 2 cloves garlic crushed
* 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
* 2 table spoons diced char-grilled capsicum
* 1 tomato diced
* 1 chilli finely chopped (or a sprinkle of chilli flakes)
* 1 handful herbs (i used coriander but parsley or dill would also work great)
* Zaatar, cumin, paprika, lemon myrtle (just a selection of spices to taste don't worry too much if you don't have all of these...just cumin would work )
* table spoon red wine or balsamic vinegar

* 3 Potatoes diced, par boiled
* cumin, salt, pepper, ground coriander seed, paprika, chilli flakes or powder


Method

Par boil potatoes and set aside. Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius

saute onion, and garlic in a sauce pan with the oil. add the vinegar and let reduce for a few minutes.
Add the tinned tomatoes, ajvar & capsicum and let simmer for 5 mins.

coat the potatoes in oil and sprinkle with spices, spread onto a baking tray and bake until browned crunchy (15-20 mins)

when the potatoes are 5-10mins from done you need to complete the final step of the eggs,
divide the most but not all of the tomato sauce mix between 2 oven proof flan dishes or large ramekins, add 1/2 a chopped tomato to each ramekin.
Crack 2 eggs into each. gently spoon over the remaining tomato sauce to partly cover the eggs
Place the dishes into the oven until the eggs are cooked (5 or so mins)

serve the eggs with a side of the potatoes and sprinkled with herbs
add a dollop of sour cream if you wish.

enjoy!

xx BA

My Food Safari

As some of you may know, we are huge fans of Maeve O'Meara's Food Safari show on Sbs. Over the next four months (when I have wifi access), I will be bringing you my very own food safari. I will be blogging about lots of the yummy things I will be eating on my travels starting in... Nepal :)

Posts will only be short snippets and photos so I can recall and perhaps recreate some of these recipes when I return to my own kitchen. I hope you enjoy and it gives you some inspiration to try something new at home :)

Kaju Fried Masala - Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal

Pre-dinner snack. Cashew nuts fried with ground cumin, ground coriander, tomato, onion, radish, carrot served with coriander.... This would be so great served as an entree in a lettuce leaf! Fresh, flavorsome and yummy!! :)