This is the 500th post on my blog and it has to be special something. wow, what a milestone., I am feeling really happy that I could share 500 recipes on this blog. And wish to continue and reach to another milestone sometime soon. Thanks for all the support and love from all of my visitors, readers and blogger friends who were always by my side showing their support someway or other.


       So, today's recipe is a baking recipe as I love to bake. I love tarts and I make quite often at home but this time I have baked with Plums, a not so common fruit in India but nowadays readily available in all the supermarkets.

      
Plums, also known as Stone fruits, are juicy and delicious fruits that belong to the genus Prunus of the Rosaceae family which also includes peaches, apricots, and nectarines. They exist in diverse colors and shapes with over 2000 different varieties. Plums contain an assortment of healthy components, vitamins and minerals. They have no saturated fats and an excellent source of vitamins such as vitamin A, C, folate and vitamin K.  They are also a good source of vitamin B1(thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B-6 and vitamin E. The minerals present in them include potassium, fluoride, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc. They also supply dietary fiber and offer very low calories without any harmful fats. In Short, Plums are beneficial for

• Maintaining healthy skin
• Beneficial during pregnancy 
• Effective in treating digestive disorders
• Boosts immunity, heart health and bone health
• Improves sleeps, concentration and appetite
• Helps treat obesity and diabetes
• Prevents Cancer

This tart recipe I found in a baking book and was really easy-to-make and taste delicious with a up of coffee or tea.

You Need : {Makes 12-15 servings}
For Pastry :
All-purpose Flour(APF) : 1 and 1/4 cup
Sugar : 1/3 cup(powdered)
Baking Powder : 11/4 tsp.
Butter : 75 gms./1/2 cup
Egg : 1, slightly beaten

For Filling :
Butter/margarine : 3 tblsp.
Sugar :1/2 cup, powdered
Ricotta Cheese/Paneer : 1 cup
Cornstarch : 1 tblsp.
Egg : 1
Milk : 2 tblsp.
Lemon extract : 1 tsp.
Plum : halved and pitted(deseeded)
Almonds(whole) : 12-15

For Topping :
Butter : 2 tblsp.(melted)
Sugar(powdered) : 2 tblsp.
Cinnamon(ground) : 1/4 tsp.
Blanched almonds : 1/3 cup



How To :

• Preperation :: 1) Soak Almonds in hot water for about 1/2 an hour. Then you can easily peel out the skin of it. 2) Cut Plums into halves, take out the seeds and keep aside.

• To make pastry :: In a medium bowl, blend flour, baking powder and sugar. Add butter in it and mix with flour mixture till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat the egg slightly and add in the flour crumbs and toss until mixture binds together and form a dough. Pat or press dough into an ungreased tart pan(dough is enough for a 7" tart pan). Prick pastry with tines of a fork. Preheat your oven to 180 degree C and bake for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. 
• To make filling :: In a medium bowl, beat butter or margarine and sugar until creamy. Beat in cornstarch and milk. add ricotta cheese/paneer, egg and lemon extract. Here I have used Paneer instead of ricotta cheese. Just crumble the paneer and add in the bowl. Beat until blended. When baked pastry is cool, Spread filling over it. Arrange plums, skin-side down, in a floral pattern over the filling. You can arrange any way you want. Then place a whole almond over each plums. Slice rest of the almonds in thin slices. in preheated oven (in 180 degree C, bake the tart for 30 minutes or till browned. 
• To make topping ::  Remove the tart from oven, drizzle butter over plums. In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and sliced almonds. Sprinkle over the plums.

  Serve with a cup of Coffee or tea and enjoy the deliciousness 

Sending this Plum tart  to Kolkata Food Bloggers' ongoing event, "Summer Fruit" 

    Summer being pick right now around me, I am always feeling thirsty and always looking for something cool. During summer, I don't feel like eating anything, but just to drink something cool. Litchi being my one of the favorite fruit in summer, I always bring a big bunch whenever I go for shopping, even my kids love them. After plucking and eating them from the branches, I decided to make some popsicle. To add some color to my popsicle, I decided to make them bi-color, by including papaya in my popsicle. Both the fruits are very healthy and tasty and a must have during summer. Now let's see how you can make this Litchi n papaya popsicle in no time.
       You can make popsicle from any fruit juice during summer season, specially which fruit your kid don't like, make it in popsicle form and they'll love it. 


Ingredients : (Yields 7-8 popsicles)
Litchi : 10-12, peeled and de-seeded
Papaya : 1, small, peeled, de-seeded and cubed
Sugar : 2-3 tblsp.
Lemon juice : 2 tsp.
also Need a popsicle mold

How To :

• First, take cubed papaya, 1 and 1/2 tblsp. sugar and 1 tsp. lemon juice in a blender and blend till smooth without adding any water. when done, remove in a bowl and mix a little water (~1/2 cup) into it just to thin up the papaya pulp.
• Next, wash the same blender and add litchi pieces in there. Add 1/2 to 1 tblsp. sugar and 1 tsp. lemon juice in it and adding a little amount of water, blend till smooth. For Litchi, you have to strain the juice. Collect the juice and keep aside. You can liquidise the juice a bit, if you want.
• How to prepare the popsicle mould :: Take your popsicle mould, first add the Litchi juice upto 1/2 of the mould and put the mould into freezer for 1/2 an hour to 1 hour till the litchi juice sets a bit. Then pour the papaya juice over the litchi juice and put the popsicle stick over it and put in the freezer to set it completely.It may take 6 to 8 hours to set completely.

Sending this summer treat to Kolkata Food Bloggers' ongoing event," Summer Fruit" .

         The nutritional  value of Bottle Gourd is known to us all. The fruit is a store-house of Vitamin C, Thiamin, Niacin (vitamin B-3), vitamin B-5, vitamin B-6 and many other nutrients. It also contains minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, sodium, manganese and magnesium. Bottle gourd is one of the lowest calorie vegetables and contains 95% water. Therefore, it  keeps your body cool in summer. Bottle gourd tender leaves and stems are also edible and contain higher concentrations of vitamins and minerals than its fruit.

           Because of the richness in terms of vitamins and minerals, in Bengali Cuisine, we have recipes for every part of the plant - fruit, the green part of the plant - leaves and tender stems and with skin of the fruit, too. I have shared many recipes with the fruit or bottle gourd and even two recipes with the skin of the bottle gourd(check below). But never shared any recipe with the bottle gourd greens.
          So today is the day when I will share a delicacy with bottle gourd greens, i.e., leaves and tender stems. This dish is called " Lau Shaker Chorhori". The word ‘ Chorchori’ in Bengali means almost fried or dry vegetable dish made with just a tempering and minimal spice added. We, Bengalis  make Chorchoris from all all the vegetables like ‘Kumro chorchori’(Pumpkin fry) , Aloo chochori (Potato fry) or ‘Dharos chorchori’(Lady’s finger fry) and many more but sometimes prawn or tiny fish is added to enhance the taste.

            In Lau Shaker Chorchori, few selective vegetables goes into this with bottle gourd leaves and tender stems and a little mustard and poppy seed paste added at the end of the dish, to make this dish taste finger-licking good with hot rice. If you are non-vegetarian, try adding medium or small sized prawns into this dish. You can make this dish without prawns too.

You Need :
Bottle gourd leaves and stems : 2 stems with leaves, chopped
Prawns(medium) : 9-10
Potato : 2, medium, cubed
Pumpkin : few, medium sized cubes
Pointed gourd/patol : 1/2 cup, cut into circles
PanchPhoton(Bengali five-spice mix) : 1 tsp. [mix fennel seed, mustard seed, cumin seed, black cumin seed and fenugreek seed-mix into equal quantity and USE]
Dry red Chilli : 1, whole
Turmeric powder : 1-2 tsp.
Green chilli : 2-3, slitted
Mustard  seed : 1 tsp.
Poppy seed : 2 tsp.
Sugar : 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil(preferably mustard oil) : 1 tblsp.(oil for frying prawns ) + 1 tsp. (for cooking)

How To :

• Preperation : Cut bottle gourd stems into 2 inch long pieces, and chop the leaves into big pieces. Separate the stems and leaves as we are going to add them in different times in the dish. Also because stem needs more time to cook than leaves. Wash carefully in a big bowl of water.
• Cube all the other vegetables. Make a smooth paste of mustard and poppy seed, adding a pinch of salt in there. Keep aside. Smear little salt and turmeric powder over prawns and keep them marinated for at least 15-30 minutes.
• Cooking : Heat 1 tblsp. oil in a pan, fry the prawns in medium heat on both sides till they turn slightly brown. Remove and keep aside. If you're not using prawns, skip this step.
• In the same oil, all 1 tsp. oil and heat again(if you are using mustard oil, you have to wait till smoke comes out from the oil). Temper with dry red chilli and 1 tsp. panchPhoron, when seeds crackle, add potato, patol(pointed gourd), pumpkin cubes and bottle gourd stems. Saute adding little salt for about 2-3 minutes. Then add turmeric powder and slitted green chillies at least 2 or more if you want. Add fried prawns also at this moment.
• Saute everything together in medium flame for another 2 minutes. Now add another 1 cup of water to cook the vegetables. Cover with a lid and let them cook. After 4-5 minutes, when there is little water left, add leaves and mustard-poppy seed paste. Mix the paste well with everything. Add sugar and salt to taste. 
• When all the water eveporates and veggies are cooked, remove from heat. Serve with warm freshly made rice and enjoy the deliciousness.................
• Try it to believe me. :)

    Chicken Tikka or kebab is one of the famous starter or appetizer in any Indian restaurant or parties. There are quite a few varieties which are equally popular, like Malai tikka, Hariyali tikka, Reshmi kebab etc. My whole family are very fond of these kebabs , so I often make these kebabs at home on special occasions or on demand by kids. I posted Chicken Malai Tikka already but never posted Hariyali Chicken Tikka, so thought to post the recipe today.
       In Hindi, Hariyali means green and in this recipe small chicken breast pieces are coated with fresh mint and coriander leaves paste along with some other spices and grilled on fire for that smoky flavour. The mint and coriander paste gives a beautiful green color and nice flavour to the grilled chicken. Just love them with green chutney and some salad by the side.


  There are many ways you can make soft and moist Chicken tikkas at home. You can cook the chicken  in oven and then keep under grill for 5-10 minutes to get the grilling effect. Chicken gets cooked well and stay moist that way. Second option, you can grill the marinated chicken tikkas on a grill pan directly. Third option, You can also make tikkas in Air Fryer too. Chicken cooks faster and needs less oil but I found that Chicken doesn't stay much moist when cooked in Air Fryer. Therefore, I love to prepare my chicken tikkas in Oven first and then I keep them under grill option for 5 minutes on both sides.

You Need :
Chicken breast or boneless chicken pieces : 500 gms.

For marination :
Ginger-garlic paste : 2 tblsp.
Lemon juice : 1 tsp.
Thick yogurt/curd : 2 tblsp.
Full-fat Cream : 1 tblsp.(optional)
Salt to taste
Oil : 2 tsp.(for marination)+2 tblsp.(for cooking)
Turmeric powder : 1 tsp.
Cumin powder : 2 tsp.
Coriander powder : 3 tsp.
Kasuri Methi(dried fenugreek leaves) : 1 tblsp.
Mint leaves : 1 big cup(chopped)
Coriander leaves : 1 big cup(chopped)
Green chillies : 2-3, chopped(accord. to taste)

How To :

• Wash the chicken pieces, drain on colander to remove the excess water. Then take a big bowl, marinate the chicken pieces with oil, salt to taste, turmeric powder, cumin and coriander powder and ginger-garlic paste for for 15-20 minutes. Keep aside. Meantime, prepare the green paste. 
• In a mixer, take all mint and coriander leaves and green chillies, make a smooth paste using less water as possible. Keep aside. In the marinated chicken, add green paste, kasuri methi, curd and cream. mix everything well. Keep it marinated longest time possible, 6 hours to midnight if possible. Keep the marinated bowl of chicken in refrigerator if marinating for more than 1 hour. 
• After marination, on an oven-proof tray arrange the chicken pieces nicely coated with marination. Pre-heat oven on 190 degreeC. Drop little oil on every piece of chicken and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, flip the chicken pieces, drop little more oil and bake for another 30 minutes. By this time, chicken will be cooked but won't get that burnt look. To get the burnt look, turn the grill mode on in your microwave oven or grill. Grill for 5 minutes on each side of the chicken. 

Serve with freshly made green chutney and some thinly sliced cucumber, beet, carrot and onion slices. 

Green Chutney (Mint and Coriander Chutney)

You Need :

Coriander leaves : 1 cup
Mint leaves : 1/2 cup
Green Chillies : 2
Ginger : 1/2-1 inch piece
Salt to taste
Lemon juice : 1/2 tsp.
Vegetable or any white Oil : 1 tblsp.

How To :

• Wash and clean the coriander leaves and mint leaves and set aside. Take a blender/mixer and add in all the ingredients except the oil to the blender.
• Grind everything together without adding water. Blend till smooth. Add in the sunflower oil or vegetable oil. Taste for seasoning. Give it a mix.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can use this chutney for sandwiches, pakoras or kebabs etc. 

   On the 4th floor of Diamond Plaza mall, amidst many small food joints and a food court, there is one newly (almost 1 year old) opened restaurant, who wants to serve Kolkata people their second most favorite Indian food, Punjabi food, more specifically dhaba food. Therefore, they call themselves Rang De Basanti Dhaba. Though in close room, they kept a real-size tractor inside the restaurant to bring the "Dhaba Feel".

    I was there representing my foodie group, Kolkata Food Bloggers, on invitation from them to taste and review their newly launched Menu. They serve very authentic Punjabi food from different regions of Punjab, which most of us never heard about and want to include more new dishes time to time. I was totally overjoyed when I got this invitation, because I love Dhaba food, so there was no chance I could avoid this invitation and another plus point was, this place is quite close to my home. with loads of excitement when I reached there, I was heartily greeted by PR Santoshini and GM Rajdwip, they offered me a seat and while I was just checking the interior, welcome drink was served. Takdewali Chanch, which is plain buttermilk seasoned with roasted spices, chilli flakes, coriander etc. The drink was an immediate thirst-quencher on a hot and humid day.


    I had a nice chat with GM, who was a great host and eagerly telling me about their Restaurant. Diamond Plaza Mall outlet is their second outlet after Salt Lake Sector 5 Outlet and they are soon going to open another outlet in Kolkata. Their motto is to serve authentic Punjabi food to Kolkata people because nowadays what I get in the name of Punjabi food is just plain North Indian food, authentic Punjabi food is far more interesting and different and is available in hundreds of varieties. According to him, they are going to bring authentic punjabi dishes from all regions of Punjab for Kolkata People. Their menu is full of kebabs, tikkas and tandoori dishes along with some North Indian fares. Menu card is full of options for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians in every category.

     When it comes to food, there must be a big mention of the Chef of RDBD, Chef Siddharth Joardar, who was graciously taking care of us, all the bloggers invited for the event and making sure that we are feasted well even though the restaurant was full of visitors that time, He joined us and chatted with us about his so long food journey and about his plans for RDBD. He was a great host and I must admit a great cook too. He has joined RDBD just around six months ago, after serving his career in many five-star hotels outside Kolkata. As he is new to Kolkata food market, he wants to explore Kolkata Food market more and wants to bring authentic Punjabi delicacies with local twist to RDBD. Each and every dish we were served was extraordinary, with full of flavours and not so very rich unlike other restaurants serves North Indian fares.

Cutleries : Another instant love for RDBD was the cutleries for me.

Decor : When it comes to full-service restaurant, inside decor is very important to many visitors. Here in RDBD, they tried to bring the "dhaba feel" in desi style off course, using traditional milkcans as hanging lamps, huge center cendeliar using spoons and forks and funny Punjabi quotes framed as a wall-decor. And a life-size tractor welcoming you inside the dhaba, will give everyone a desi dhaba feel for sure, not much over-the-top decoration makes the place look bigger and brighter. There are about 45-50 seat arrangements in this outlet and it is always full with visitors.


Now the newly added dishes to the RDBD existing menu, for what we were there....

Starter ::

After the welcome drink, two starters were served immediately. One Veg and One Non-Veg. In Veg., they served Moong Dal Ki Phillori, which was small round shaped ball made with yellow moong dal along with some aromatic spices well-blended and deep-fried to perfection. These were something I never had before and just loved them with mint chutney and salad by the side. A must-have in RDBD.

In Non-veg., there was Phagware ka Murg, small bite-size chicken pieces with bones, seasoned  with again loads of assorted spices and deep fried to crisp yet tender Chicken pieces. It was absolutely finger-licking good with again mint chutney and salads by the side. A must-have in RDBD.


Main Course :
To accompany the main course dishes, RDBD served a Veg Masala Pulao, which is their new addition and 3 sorts of rotis. The Pulao was just lovely loaded with vegetables, very simple but aromatic pulao, it was just marrying each dish like match made in heaven. And in rotis, they served Tandoori roti, Lachchha Paratha and Naan. And we all know punjabi dishes always go well  with tandoori rotis. Chef Sidhharth Joardar is absolutely opposed to serve Biriryani with Punjabi dishes. According to him, Punjabi dishes don't go well with biriyanis and I totally agree with him.


    In the main course, they are adding Daal Angara. Chef and GM Rajdwip both were recommending to try this daal first and I did. As the name suggests, this dish is quite spicy but blended so well with flavours that you won't realize its spiciness instead you'll crave for more and more of this creamy daal, made with Black Urad dal. We all were licking the daal off our plates, this was so finger-licking delicious. A must-have in RDBD. Another veg dish they are adding is Paneer Lababdar, paneer pieces dunked in a creamy gravy dish loaded with flavours typical to Punjab cuisine. It was going great with both Veg Pulao and rotis.


Next was Railway Mutton Curry, at first it looked really spicy and oily, with lots of red oil floating over the mutton pieces. Chef Joardar understood our concern and showed us that those oil was just seperated from the spices and it was not an excess oil from the curry. It was really flavourful, not at all spicy or oily, very simple but aromatic mutton curry. Really recommended to try out when visited. In Chicken, their new addition is Methi Chicken, an absolute favorite Punjabi dish of mine but it is quite difficult to bring the perfection in this dish. But I totally loved Methi Chicken here in RDBD, creamy fenugreek leaves nicely coating succulent chicken pieces in a fenugreek flavoured curry. In one word, awesome it was with rotis. A must-have in RDBD.


Dessert ::
After all these yumminess, when we were all full till our throat, there came the new dessert in the menu, Shahi Tukda. I just thought I would skip this dessert as I know it is quite heavy and loaded with sweetness. But after Chef pushed to try a bit, we all could not stop ourselves to lick off the whole plate in no time. It was in one word, "divine". The bread slices were still crispy even after soaking in the thickened milk. I never had so tasty and yummy Shahi Tukda in my life. It was just so perfect, though it was quite sweet but it was divine. A must-have in RDBD.


Final word/verdict ::
Loved the ambiance. Loved the hospitality of everyone serving in that place. Loved the food and mostly, loved the passion of Chef Sidhharth Joardar. The interesting fact about all the dishes I tasted was none of them was over-the-top rich and spicy, was perfectly balanced with flavour and taste. And for me this is a sign of a good Chef and where the chef is so balanced, that place is worthy of paying a visit. 100% recommendation from my side, if you love Dhaba food yet very health conscious, this is the right place for you.

Hope RDBD will keep their passion intact for many more years to come and will serve Kolkata People what they desire to serve, authentic Punjabi food, which is my second most favorite cuisine after Bengali cuisine.

Have you ever thought to cook a Biriyani in only One-pot? Or with just a few common ingredients which you always have in any Indian Kitchen? Even I thought it was impossible till I tried to fulfill my daughter's wish to have Chicken Biriyani with just a few hours notice? First, I thought it's not possible, then I thought to give it a try even though I didn't have those exotic spices needed for Biriyani in my pantry. Over that, I was so squeezed of time that day. But the food blogger spirit in me forced me to go ahead and give it a try. And It was equally delicious like the biriyani I made before with elaborate recipes and exotic spices.
No, I'm not telling you all to not try out those elaborate biriyani recipes ever, but you can make this biriyani when you are constraint of time and ingredients. So, without much edo, here are the ingredients and recipe.......


Ingredients :
Basmati Rice : 2 cups
Chicken : 750 gms.
Potato : 2-3, cut into halves/fours
Onion : 2, thinly sliced
Green Chillies : 2, chopped
Ginger-garlic paste : 3 tblsp.
Yogurt/dahi : 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder : 1 tblsp.
Coriander powder : 2 tbsp.
Cumin Powder : 2 tblsp.
Red Chilli Powder : 1-2 tsp. or as per your taste
Garam Masala Powder : 1 tblsp.
Biriyani Masala(store-bought) : 1 tblsp.(optional)

Salt to taste
Oil : 2 tblsp.
Ghee : 2 tblsp.
Fresh Coriander leaves, chopped : 1/2 cup
Kewra Water : 1 tsp.
Meetha Attar : 4-5 drops

For tempering :
Bay Leaves : 2
Cardamom : 3, Cloves : 3-4, Cinnamon : 2 sticks(1") [all crushed a little in mortar & pastle]


How To :

• Cut whole chicken in medium bite-size chunks. Marinate them with yogurt, 2 tblsp. ginger-garlic paste, little salt and turmeric powder for at least 1 hr. More is merrier. 
• Take the rice in a bowl, wash and then pour about 1 cup water over it and let it soak as long as chicken marinates. 
• Heat 2 tblsp. oil on a wide bottom pan, fry the potato pieces, adding little salt and turmeric powder. Fry till they are golden brown, keep them aside. 
• In the same oil, temper oil with pounded bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, then add sliced onion and saute till they have started browning. Then add chopped green chillies and 1 tblsp. ginger-garlic paste, saute for 2 minutes, then add marinated chicken in the oil. Add all the powdered spices except garam masala powder. 
• Cook stirring till the oil and spices separate. Add fried potato pieces and mix with the chicken. Add 3/4 cup warm water in the curry. Add salt as needed, cover with lid and let the chicken cook till they are just done. By now, all the moisture from the chicken will be gone. 
• Add soaked rice along with the water it was soaked in the same pan. mix well with the chicken. Add ghee, garam masala and Biriyani masala(if you're using) over it. Mix again. Add water just till the layer of rice and chicken in the pan. Add salt carefully as we had added the rice now. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on top. Close the lid and in medium heat and let it cook for 5-6 minutes or till the moisture in the pan is evaporated. Stir time to time to avoid rice sticking to the pan and burning.
• After this, place a tawa on heat and place the pan over it, where you were cooking the biriyani, Sprinkle kewra water and meetha attar on top and close with a lid as tight as you can or you can seal the rim of your pan. Now lower the heat to low and let it cook for another 10-12 minutes or till rice is fully done. We are doing this as there is no moisture in the rice and we can't keep the pan in direct heat. So, we are cooking it in DUM. 
• Finally, remove from heat and fluff rice and chicken together and give it a good mix. 

• Serve hot with freshly cut salads and any kind of raita by the side. 
• Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!