Mere Paas (Up)Ma Hai!

It's that part of the year in Bengal - The Durga Puja is finally here. As I type this post,it's Maha Shashthi early morning,and I'm clad in a black china silk saree,practising how to sit and walk in it,so that the almost out of touch with wearing sarees me can carry off my prized possessions in the next 5 days fashion frenzy that Calcutta becomes for us girls, age no bar.But more about my secret trials later,this post is about the Upma, as the title puts it,albeit in a very non-subtle and filmy way!

I made two different kinds of upma today,both with the same sets of vegatables and basic ingredients with one slight difference in them, the major ingredient.Now for the naive,Upma is traditionally a South-Indian much loved savoury food item that is basically Semolina(Sooji) stir-fried and cooked with an assortment of vegetables,nuts(optional) and seasoning.You could consider it an alternative of the Rice Pilaf,with Semolina replacing the Rice and the basic idea remaining the same.It makes for a healthy and heartening mid-day light brunch as well as a very tasty breakfast.

Before I turned food-blogger myself,I was an avid food-blog reader for many years and that's where I came across the other Upma , the one which uses Vermicelli ( Sevaiyaan/Semui) as the chief source of carbohydrate.Since then I have made both versions at home over and over,and have developed my own style of making them,albeit keeping the basic format intact.Since these are festive days,and unexpected guests are expected to drop in without informing,the traditional household custom is to cook/stock a lot of sweet and savoury food so that we are always prepared to tackle any amount of people,atleast food-wise!

Here are my versions of the Upmas, the semolina first:-

SEMOLINA UPMA

(serves: 4-6)

Here's how I did it:-

1.Chop 1/2 medium carrot,1/2 medium potato,and about 8-10 french beans into bite sized pieces,like this. These are the colours of the Indian Tricolour,and it has been a marvellous journey for India at the Commonwealth Games so far :-)

2.Slice 2 medium onions finely.

3.Heat 4 tsp white oil in a pan and stir fry 1.5 cups of semolina on medium heat till it acquires a light brown colour.Take care not to fry it to too brown,because semolina tends to change colour very fast when it's heated to a certain temperature,before you can say sooji!

4.Heat 2 tsp white oil in a pan, and temper with 1 tsp black mustard seeds and 4-5 curry leaves.

5.When they splutter,add the onions and fry on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

6.Add the vegetables along with 2-3 slit green chillies and stir fry continuously for the next 5-6 minutes .

7.Add the semolina to this, add salt to taste and mix well.

8.Add 3 cups of water to the semolina. I add 1 tbsp of tomato ketchup at this stage,but that's because I'm perennially obsessed with ketchup.You can totally omit it if you want to.

9..The semolina will now start to form little volcanoes of steam and puff out hot water so carefully put a lid on the pan.

10.The Upma will be ready in the next 4-5 minutes once the water dries up and the semolina and vegetables are cooked.Serve hot!

The Vermicelli Upma (pictured above) is identical to the recipe above,right down to the exact quantity of ingredients and the number of people it serves.The only difference is that instead of the semolina,I used 2 cups of vermicelli. Vermicelli is usually available in pre-roasted versions,hence saves me a lot of time.Frankly speaking,frying the semolina till it acquires the necessary light brown colour tests my patience,which is why I prefer the vermicelli upma.But then again,nothing comes from nothing,and so for special festive occassions like Durga Puja,I don't mind labouring in the kitchen for a few extra minutes.After all,there are few pleasures as wonderful as making food from scratch and sharing it with the ones we love,even though it is a humble, simple dish of Upma :-)

Alu Chochchori : a simple potato stir fry

One of the classic breakfast combinations loved and relished all across Bengali households is this simple potato stir fry called Alu Chochchori. As I understand,it is common to both the East as well as West Bengali households,usually served with pale golden fluffy breads called Luchi in Bengal and Puri in most of North India. Luchi is mostly made with all purpose flour though whereas Puri can be made with wheat flour. There are other finer nuances of difference but I will get into those in a latter post. For the time being, I made the chochchori a few nights ago to have with Rotis for a simple dinner at home. This is one classic recipe that requires basic pantry staples and can be made in a jiffy! As with most of my cooking where I tend towards moderately easy and fast to cook recipes,this one is no exception.



Alu Chochchori
( Potatoes stir-fried the Bengali way)
Serves : 1





You will need 2 medium sized potatoes per person you wish to serve.
Peel the potatoes and cut them in uniform sized strips.
Heat 2 tsp white oil in a pan and temper with 1 tsp nigella seeds.
Add 2 slit green chillies.
Reduce the flame to medium immediately ,taking care not to burn the chillies.
Add the potatoes and stir well for the next 3-4 minutes till they are well coated with the oil.
Season with salt according to taste.
Add enough water to cover the potatoes,put a lid on the pan and cook till all the water is abosrbed and the potatoes are done, 5-7 minutes at most.
I like them well-cooked yet firm, some people prefer them to get a little mushy.
Serve hot with puris,parathas or even plain rotis like I did.


There is a reason the humble potato is the most popular vegetable the world over. Not until you have made this will you believe how good this actually tastes. Very few vegetables can match up to the heavenly taste of perfectly cooked,well-seasoned potatoes. Plus,since this recipe uses neither onion nor garlic,it is a good one to go to for the days we need to eat vegetarian food for religious purposes.

a lil' quiz!

Hello!
Here are 5 questions that you need to answer in order to win the couple passes as promised on Facebook.Be specific in your answers,explain connections clearly. Mail me your answers with your full name here:- silverwhitewinter@gmail.com. This quiz ends on the 10th of Oct' 9:30 pm IST. I will choose 2 winning entries and announce them on Facebook.

1.Connect the movies Dhoom 2, Endhiran, Jeans, Kajraare and Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya.

2.It is called Janamaaz in Persian.What is the Arabic equivalent name for it which has become fairly common in being used in hindi film lyrics? The Arabic word may have multiple meanings in Islam.

3.Complete the list: The Sacrificial Altar,The Fortress Rebuilt,The Central Hall,The Mechanical Tower,The Garden Tower,The Garden Waterworks,The Prison,The Library,?

4.Literature: In which contemporary English work of fiction do all these characters
appear:-Genghis Khan, Machiavelli, Abul Fazl and Pope Leo X?

5.What vegetable comes in varieties like Beefsteak, Oxheart, Grape and Campari?

Best Wishes :)

Healthy Snacking : Chick Pea Chaat

For those of you not familiar with the word Chaat,it is a Hindi word which literally means to lick and it refers to a broad genre of essentially street food items found in the Indian subcontinent,where a variety of raw/boiled vegetables,legumes or fruits are dressed up with hot,sweet,spicy or tangy sauces/chutneys and the zing quotient is upped even more with a horde of spice powders or masalas. Added to that is a generous dose of lemon juice and seasoning to make the dish truly lip-smacking. There is even a special powdered spice mix called the Chaat Masala (the spice for licking) sold by various Indian companies under various brand names like Everest,MDH among many others. A chaat is something you can buy off the street for as less as 5-10 rupees or you could walk into shops that specialise in these items, good examples being the Haldiram and Ganguram branches found all over the country. Being mostly no-cook,no-oil,they make excellent low-calorie high on health and nutrition snacking alternatives.And yes,they taste incredible and are pretty easy to put together as well.If you've never had a chaat before,go ahead,make one today.I assure you,you will be hooked. And if you like me,have grown up on chaats,then you know what i'm talking about and hopefully this post will tempt you enough to make yourself some chaat today.

Chickpeas are called Kabuli Chhola in my part of the country and are an absolute favourite with most bengalis who use it to make a spicy dry curry called the Ghoogni,which is served on special festive occassions.Today I used them to make this chaat for some evening snacking.It was put together in a matter of minutes,and was gobbled up by my family in even lesser time.That's the way it should be with chaats,they should be finger-lickin' good,and this one sure was.



CHICK PEA CHAAT

(Serves:3)





1.Soak a cup of chickpeas overnight.Boil them once they have soaked up the water and become bigger.Set aside.
2.Finely dice 1 medium tomato,1 onion,half a cucumber and a few sprigs of cilantro.
3.Boil one medium potato.Dice into small pieces.
4.In a bowl,combine all the above ingredients from steps 1-3.
5.Now comes the horde of spices that will jazz the salad up to a chaat.To the items in the bowl,sprinkle:
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp cumin powder ( freshly roasted and ground works best)
1 tsp aamchoor ( dry mango powder,available in most Indian grocery shops)
1 tsp chaat masala ( I'm partial to Everest,but you can use any available brand)
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
6.Toss all the ingredients and coat well with spices.Taste and adjust the seasoning according to your taste. Enjoy the chaat with friends and family over an evening of fun and relaxation.


It is the 2nd of October today,the birth anniversary of one of the greatest leaders that the world has seen and our very own Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Wishing every Indian everywhere a very happy Gandhi Jayanti. May peace,non-violence and love of your friends and family guide you today and throughout the year.