Mint pesto

Ingredients 1 cup mint leaves 1/2 cup roasted peanuts or walnuts 3 tbsp oil (olive oil best) 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional) Salt 2 tsp Chilli flakes 1 tsp Lemon juice 1/2 lemon Garlic 4 pieces Pulse in mixer till smooth paste. Add 1 tsp olive oil and refrigerate. Use with pasta, crackers, chicken etc. Quite as good as the basil and pine nuts pesto.

Ninav : The nameless dessert

Ninav is a traditional Maharashtrian dessert (well, to make it even narrower, a traditional CKP dessert), made on the day which is called the Data (no not as in data collection). The name ninav literally means no name. The recipe here is not our family recipe, which I only know how to eat. This is a low cal version of a you tube high cal version. It's been modified to use the microwave and hence takes 20 minutes from start to finish. Take besan (gram flour) and wheat flour or maida in the ratio 2:1. Roast with some ghee till golden, or if microwave till golden and redolent of ghee and roasting. Add sugar/brown sugar/jaggery to taste. Add coconut milk (tetra pack or home made) to half the measure you used for the maida. Mix with milk till the whole mixture acquires the consistency of cake batter. Add caradamom powder, nutmeg powder, and optionally, saffron and dry fruit. Pour into a greased pan and microwave for 2 minutes, or till a knife comes out clean. That's it. Enjoy.

Sodyache Kaalwan (Dried prawn curry)

Ingredients (Two servings):

1 small bowl or katori  of dried prawns (sode)
1 large potato
Ginger garlic paste 3 tbsp
Coconut milk (1 bowl or katori)
Chilli powder 2 tsp
Turmeric powder 2 tsp
Coriander leaves one small bunch
1 medium onion, chopped fine or ground to a paste
1 tomato (or tomato paste), optional
Salt to taste.
1 bowl water

Break the dried prawn by hand to 1/2 inch pieces. Soak for 1/2 an hour. Meanwhile chop or grind the onion and tomato. Remove the skin from the potato, and cut to 1/2 inch cubes.
Remove water from the prawns, mix with half the ginger garlic paste, and half the chilli powder and turmeric. Allow to stand for 15 minutes.

Take oil in a kadhai and fry the potato slightly. Fry thoroughly the onion, tomato and remaining ginger garlic paste. Add the prawn and fry, add the potato. Pour the coconut milk (or ground coconut) and fry everything together. Mix with water to the desired consistency for the curry. Adjust the salt.
Bring all ingredients to boil, and add the coriander leaves. Turn off the heat.

Serve with rice (good quality, but not long grain).

Thanks, Purva, that was a delicious lunch.

Venetian Risotto

Ingredients:

Shelled and deveined prawns,  1 cup
Rice 1 and 1/4 cup (arborio)
Stock (1/2 cup), stock from the prawn shells is best.
Onion 1/2
Garlic 6 cloves
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Saffron 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf, one
Salt
Black pepper
Butter 2 tbsp.

Method

Soak rice and set aside for 10 minutes. Chop onion and garlic. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add peeled chopped garlic, onion and bay leaf. Fry till translucent. Add prawn, salt and pepper and fry till the prawn turns translucent. Add the rice and stock and adjust the water. Stir when nearly cooked and add saffron and butter.

Variants: Add 1/2 cup of white wine. Substitute 1 tbsp tomato puree instead of saffron.

Zucchini bread

This is a U.S. recipe arriving to this blog via Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Thanks, Meena, Vasudhaben and Aparna.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup cream cheese, 3 eggs, 1tsp vanilla essence, 2 cups grated zucchini, 1 cup walnuts.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder, baking powder together and keep aside. Beat the oil, sugar, eggs, cream cheese and vanilla essence. Fold in zucchini, flour and walnuts. Put in baking tray (or two trays) and bake at 180 degrees C for one hour.

Cream cheese substitute: Mix home made paneer with Amul cream.

Tawa Fish Fry

Ingredients:

Fish fillet (any white fish)
Ginger garlic paste
Mustard oil
Mustard paste
Chopped green chillies
Chopped Coriander
Coriander powder
Jeera powder
Pepper powder
Lemon juice

Make a marinade of all ingredients and lemon juice, and marinate the fish for about 30 minutes. Grill on a hot plate.

Shared by kind permission of the inventor, the chef at the Lemon tree hotel, Gurgaon.

Brain Fry

Ingredients

250 gm brain (goat)
One onion
One tomato
Ginger garlic paste (2 tsp)
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Red pepper (chilli powder) 1 tsp
Garam Masala 2 tsp
Coriander for garnish
Oil (2 tsp)
Salt to taste


Boil the goat's brain in water till completely cooked.  Marinate with ginger garlic paste, haldi, salt and red pepper for 15 minutes. Chop onion and tomato finely,  the mixture can also be put through a mixer and liquidised. Fry the onion and tomato paste in oil for a few minutes. Put in the marinated brain and fry. Add garam masala and fry again. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

The pakistani versions add methi seeds. This provides an interesting bitter variation.
The water in which the brain is boiled makes nourishing stock, which can be reserved for invalids or for soup.

This dish was always made for Rahul, on the grounds that he liked it specially. He always stoutly denied this, and swore that he liked it as much or as little as anything else.  The curious may check it out. Needless to say, only for hard core NV-ians.

Modaks

Yes, the best authentic modaks, even if it is a bit late to make them for Ganesh Chaturthi. This recipe is from my friend Sulabha Kulkarni who is an acknowledged expert on the subject. This recipe is for Meena and Lavanya, who missed their quota this time.

The dough:
--------------

Rice flour 1 cup,  water, ghee, peanut oil .

Mix in *cold*  water until the flour has the consistency of batter for pakodas. Add ghee and 2 1/2 tsps of peanut oil. Cook on stove top till translucent. The mixture should be steaming well, for at least 5 to 10 minutes.  Let the steamed dough sit till it is cold enough to touch. Knead to a stiff dough. The dough should be stiff enough to roll out. Add more rice flour if necessary. Roll into rounds.


Stuffing:
-----------

Mix grated coconut 2 cups, cardamom powder 1/4 tsp, roasted ground poppy seeds and grated jaggery (1 1/2 cup). Cook on stove top and cool.

Put the stuffing in the  rolled out dough and shape as in the picture above. Put them into a container with holes at the bottom and steam for ten minutes. Eat with ghee, of course after offering them to Ganpati Bappa, as below.

Here is a microwave version.  Mix the ingredients for the stuffing in a bowl. Microwave on medium power for 3 minutes. Then stir and microwave on high power for 2 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to dry out.

Mix the ingredients for the dough with one cup water and knead into a ball. Sprinkle some water on the kneaded dough and microwave on high power for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave, knead again with oil and water. microwave on medium power for 30 seconds just before rolling out and forming into modaks with the stuffing.

Put the modaks in a plate, cover with a paper plate and microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes.
Meena, tell me if it worked out. It should, it even worked for me. I had the best P.G. Vaidya flour, from Pune, however. It helps!

Goan fish curry

Here is a staple of Goan as well as restaurant food. However, the homemade version has an entirely different taste. This version is from a newspaper cutting and has been contributed by Ms Diana Raja. It has a few variations by us.

Ingredients
------------

Fish (Sliced 400 gms ) (Best with pomfret)
Onion - 1/2 -1
Chopped tomatoes- 2
Green chillies- 2
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

For the paste
-------------
Dry chillies- 8-9 nos
Corriander seeds 1-1/2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp
Chopped ginger-1/2 tsp
Tamarind paste-3/4 tbsp
Turmeric powder -1/2 tbsp
Water - as required

(Grind to a fine paste)

Method:
--------
Clean the fish fillets thoroughly with water.
Rub the fish slices with salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder (one pinch each). Set aside for 30 minutes.Grind the onions to a paste. Fry in oil till the paste turns pink and add the rest of the masala paste. Fry the mixture and add the chopped tomatoes (tomato paste is fine, too). Fry for a few minutes, and then add coconut milk and water and allow to boil.

Add the fish, green chillies and salt. Cook till the fish is done and the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Garnish with green corriander leaves.

(Leave out the tamarind paste if you don't like it, but I don't think Goans would do that. Again, curd can be substituted for coconut milk, but the same warning holds.)


Short cuts:
------------

You can buy standard Goan fish curry masala. Some versions do not require you to add anything other than fish and water. Parampara has a good version, but use 1/3 what the packet recommends.

Nothing gives the taste that fresh extracted coconut milk does, but the standard versions in tetrapacks are not bad at all. In fact, nothing gives the taste that fresh ground masalas do, if you can do it, and that starts with ginger garlic paste.

Chocolate log

Many years ago, Kasturba Nagar in Adyar used to boast of a Gourmet club, which assembled every Saturday to cook assorted delicacies, and polish them off. This Sunday, a truncated version of this club assembled to remember old times, and also Rahul on his birthday. Meena dug out this hoary recipe for chocolate log for the dessert. It worked pretty fine and also came out really pretty as you will see in the photos.

Meena says:


This is a major assembly job. You have to make a filling (can be
warmedup jam, but we made chocolate custard), a frosting, and a sponge
cake sheet, and then you have to assemble it all at the right times.
The end result is worth all the trouble!

I made things in the following order: first the custard, then the
sponge, then the assembly. While it chilled, I made the frosting, and
put it over an already chilled log.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The chocolate custard filling (about 1 cup)

3/4 cup milk
1/2 cap vanilla essence
5-6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 egg 1 yolk
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tbsp butter

Scald milk + vanilla + chocolate. Blend and mix over very low heat
(the recipe calls for heating over, not in, water in a double boiler,
but I can't be bothered with that) the sugar, flour, and eggs. Cream
until light. Add scalded milk gradually, stirring, and cook until
boiling point, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and continue
stirring until all steam is released.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The roll cake (10.5 x 15.5 x 1 inch pan)

4 eggs, separated.
3/4 cup powdered sugar.
1 tsp vanilla essence.
3/4 cup maida
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Place a butter paper sheet on the pan and grease it well.

Beat egg yolks until light. Add sifted sugar gradually, and beat until
creamy. Add the vanilla.

Sift together the maida and baking powder Add gradually to egg mixture
and beat until smooth.

Whip egg whites until stiff, not dry. Fold lightly into batter with
the chopped nuts.

Pour the batter onto the greased butter paperin the pan. Spread it out
to cover the surface. Bake for 13 minutes in a preheated oven.

Keep ready a damp tea towel on which another butter paper sheet is
spread out. Sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on the paper.

As soon as the cake is done, invert it onto the towel+paper. Peel off
the butter paper from the cake. With a sharp knife, trim off any
crispy edges of the cake. Using the towel for support, roll up the cake
(from the short side, to get a 10 inch long roll) while still warm,
and keep rolled for a minute. The cake will be about half an inch
high, and may crack a bit while you roll it, but hopefully will not
crack through. Now unroll, spread with warm filling (stop an inch from
the edge), and re-roll. Place the roll, seam side down, on the serving
dish and let it cool.

Spread the frosting evenly all over the roll. Cover up the sides
too. Let the roll chill for a while. Then, using a fork, score lines
in the frosting to make the cake resemble a log.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fudge frosting (makes 1 and 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup cocoa
5 tbsp butter
1 cup finely powdered sugar

In a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, combine the cream and
chocolate. Stirring constantly, heat just until melted and
smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the powdered sugar.

Fudge Brownies

I don't remember which book this is from, but I suspect I got this recipe from Meena. Anyway, for what it is worth, here it is. It makes the riches, moistest, chewiest brownies I know, and I wish some of the so-called bakeries here would use this recipe.

Ingredients:

Butter 10 1/2 tbsp or 2/3 cup
Chocolate (cocoa powder) 7 1/2 tbsp or 1/2 cup
Eggs 2
pinch of salt
Sugar 7/8 cup
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Flour 1/2 cup
chopped walnuts

Method:

Melt the butter in a heavy bottom saucepan or skillet. Remove from heat, add the cocoa powder and smoothen the mixture. Combine the eggs and salt, in a bowl, and beat with an electric beater till very light and fluffy (this should take about 5 minutes, with short breaks). Add the sugar and beat another two minutes. Add the chocolate mixture and the vanilla and mix gently. Mix the flour in gently with a spoon. This is important. Heavy strokes while mixing will collapse all the bubbles in the beaten eggs and make the brownies hard and heavy. Add the chopped walnuts, pour into a buttered baking dish and bake at 160 degrees for about 30 minutes. Do not overbake so as to dry out the brownies. A knife passed through it should come out almost but not quite clean.
Cover with fudge frosting and refrigerate.

Fudge Frosting

Cream 1/4 cup, sugar 1/3 cup, cocoa powder 1/2 cup, butter 2 1/2 tbsp.

Powder the sugar in a grinder (you can buy confectioners sugar but it is unnecessary). Mix the butter, chocolate and sugar over a low flame. Add the cream. The mixture should be smooth and spreadable. Spread over the brownies before refrigerating.

The fudge frosting should be smooth and glistening after it is set. However it is customary to make a few streaks in the frosting with the back of the tines of a fork.

Yakhni

Yakhni is a kind of mutton stew from Kashmir. It is simple to make, probably the simplest mutton recipe I know. It was taught and in fact, demonstrated to me by a Kashmiri known for his culinary skills and so the recipe I give you here is about as authentic as you are likely to get. You will need a couple of slightly non standard ingredients -- soont which is dry ginger powder (it cannot be substituted by fresh ginger!) and powdered fennel seeds (saunf). You will also need the big black cardamon, not the small green one. Also, note that Yakhni is always made with meat from the seena i.e near the breast because it is fatty. However, if you are making it in the warmer plains, like me, you may want to go easy on the fattiness of the meat. Soont and fennel powder are ubiquitous in Kashmiri cooking so if you plan on branching off in that direction, keep these handy in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

Mutton 1/2 kilo, usually from near the breast
Dry ginger powder - 2 tbsp
Fennel powder (ground saunf) -- 2 tbsp
Black cardamon - 4
Cinnamon stick - couple of 1 inch sticks
cloves -- 4-5
Black peppercorns (optional) -- 1 tsp
Yoghurt - 1 large cup, beaten smooth
Oil -- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

In a large pot or pressure cooker, place the mutton, add water to just barely cover it, add all the above ingredients except the yoghurt. As I said, this is a stew and the usual paraphernalia of frying meat and spices is skipped. (Trust me, it tastes great nonetheless). Boil this whole combo till the meat is cooked (about 15 - 20 minutes if using a pressure cooker). Let the cooker cool, then open it. If there is too much water, reduce it till it barely covers the meat. Cool it again and then slowly add the yoghurt. (As I have noted earlier, adding yoghurt to the hot pot makes it split). The gravy is not thick, but it should not be watery. Adjust the salt as needed, give it one final boil and serve with plain basmati rice.

Eggplant in Yoghurt Sauce (Doi Boingano)

This is a very popular recipe from Orrisa.

Ingredients:

1 cup yoghurt
2 medium eggplants
1 medium size onion
3 green chillies
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
pinch of curry powder if available
1/4 inch piece of ginger
1 clove garlic
bunch of curry leaves
salt to taste

Method:

Beat yoghurt to make it smooth and add 1 tsp salt to it. Add oil to a kadai (wok) add mustard seeds and when they pop, add cumin seeds, chillies, ginger, curry leaves and garlic. Fry for a short time and add to the beaten yoghurt.

Cut the eggplant lengthwise, mix with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chili powder, a pinch of generic curry powder if you have it, and turmeric. Fry in oil till cooked. (It is usually deep fried but if you want a healthier version, shallow pan fry is also fine).

Remove with a slotted spoon, drain the excess oil and add to the spiced yoghurt mixture. Allow to soak for about half and hour before serving.

Fish from the East and the West

Last week I again missed my date with this blog so here are two recipes -- both for fish, since I haven't 'done' fish yet on this blog - one from Western India and the other from the East.

Prawns in mustard and coconut

This recipe is inspired by a rather fanciful dish called Daab Chingri (made popular by Oh! Calcutta)cooked inside a hollowed out coconut shell. This version dispenses with all these unnecessary flourishes and can be made at home in about fifteen minutes (not including standing time). It also tastes somewhat different and better! Credit for this goes to my wife who is from Western India but this recipe is pure Eastern. It is best made in the microwave!

Ingredients:

Prawns (cleaned and deveined) -- 1/4 kilo
Mustard seeds -- 3 tbsp
Green chilly - 1 medium size
Coconut cream -- 1/2 cup
Kasundi (if available) -- 2 tsp
Turmeric -- 1/2 tsp
Mustard oil -- 1 tsp
Chilli powder -- 1/2 tsp or more if preferred
Coriander leaves for garnish
Salt to taste

Method:

Sprinkle the salt, turmeric and chilli powder on the prawns, mix well and keep aside.
In the small container of a blender or mixie, add the mustard seeds, a bit of salt and one green chilly, a tablespoon of water. Grind to a smooth paste.

Note: Grinding mustard in a mixie usually produces a bitter paste. The trick is to let it stand for an hour or more so it is best to do this early. Or even make it and keep it in the refrigerator the previous day for later use though that tempers the sharpness (some people prefer that).

Mix the mustard paste and the kasundi with the prawns and mustard oil, add the coconut cream and necessary salt in a microwave proof bowl. Make sure it is well mixed. Let it stand for about ten minutes (the longer the better). Microwave on high for 3 minutes (longer will make the prawns rubbery). If you use more prawns, be sure to increase microwave time but not too much. You will need to experiment with your microwave but generally prawns cook very fast. In fact, if you have got it right, it should almost melt like butter.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve. What could be simpler!

If the mustard smell is too strong for you, replace the mustard oil with some other refined oil (sunflower, peanut ...).

Warning: Many people, particularly those from the South have a marked aversion to the smell of mustard. Don't try this recipe on them.

And here is my second recipe.

Patrani Macchi

This is my simplified Patrini Macchi, a popular Parsi dish. You will need to procure some banana leaves -- it is possible to use aluminum foil but the taste is not the same.

Ingredients:
Pomfret fish -- 1/2 kilo whole with deep gashes made in the body (you can use seer/surmai but this is best made with white pomfret)
Pudina (spearmint) - 1 cup loosely packed
Coriander leaves -- 1/2 cup loosely packed
Whole Jeera (cumin) -- 2 tsp
Garlic -- 2 -3 pods depending on size
Ginger - one inch piece or so
Black pepper whole -- 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp or vinegar
Green chilly - 2 medium sized
salt to taste
sugar - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius.

Wash the pomfret, smear with salt and a little bit of the lemon juice and keep aside for about half an hour, then wash it and pat it dry (this removes the fishy taste and smell).

While the pomfret is sitting, grind all the ingredients (pudina, coriander leaves, cumin, garlic, ginger, pepper, lemon juice, green chilly, salt, sugar) above in a mixie or blender to a fine paste. It should give out a heady smell of pudina, garlic and coriander leaves. Empty out the paste into a bowl, and mix with about 1/2 a tablespoon of oil. Cut the banana leaves into squares large enough to contain one piece of pomfret. Smear the dark green side of the banana leaf with a small bit of oil, place one piece of pomfret, wrap the sides of the banana leaf around it so that it is completely enclosed and tie it with string (it is possible in the wrapping to make a little pocket and tuck the ends of the leaf into it - then you don't need a string but you need to know how to do this which I can't explain here). Do this for all the pomfret pieces. Place them in an ovenproof casserole, and place it in the oven for about 40-45 minutes.

When you take it out, the banana leaf should have slightly charred or discoloured quite a bit. Open one packet gingerly and check if the fish is done, otherwise put it back for another 10 -- 15 minutes (this is very unlikely if your oven heats properly). Take all the pieces out and serve each packet as an individual serving (let your guest unravel the string). If some ignoramuses ask you if they should eat the 'leaf' keep mum -- they will figure it out soon enough!

Shukta

Shukta is a quintessential Bengali dish that marks out a typical Bengali meal. It is often claimed that each Bengali family has its own unique recipe for Shukta. While this may be an exaggeration (the basic structure is similar across families), there are indeed many minor differences which are quite noticeable in its taste.

Shukta is presumably best described as a medley of vegetables. It is always had in the beginning of the meal, with rice, even before the dal (Bengalis eat sequentially -- dal, vegetables, fish, chicken, meat...) and is never eaten too hot. I was also told it is never eaten at night, though never the reason!

Here I give my aunt's recipe, handed down through my father, and transcribed from his handwritten recipe by my wife into our scrapbook.

Ingredients:

A bunch of vegetables in small amounts, a handful each, of eggplant, potato, radish, bitter gourd (karela), green banana, flat beans adding up to about half a kilo. This set of vegetables can be changed, but the bitter gourd and green banana are usually considered essential. All vegetables are cut into bite sized pieces.
Oil 3 tbsp
Bay leaf 1 large
mustard seeds 2 tsp
ginger paste 2 or 3 tsp
red pepper 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

In a kadai (wok) fry the vegetables separately in the oil, so that they are half cooked. The green banana should not be fried but peeled and cut and dropped into water along with some turmeric.
After the vegetables have been fried and taken out, in the same oil (add some more if it is too reduced) add mustard seeds and the bay leaf and wait for the seeds to sputter. Put the vegetables back as well as the green banana, the ginger paste, salt, turmeric and red pepper and fry for a short while so that the vegetables get cooked.
Usually water should not be added, but if you find the vegetables sticking to the vessel, add a teaspoonful of water at a time if needed. Make sure to add the eggplant last so that they do not get overcooked. Shut off the flame. In a small bowl add a little bit of milk, some water and some flour to form a thin paste and add it to the gravy to thicken it. Boil once and remove from the heat.

Variations: Use panch phoron instead of mustard seeds. Dissolve some mustard powder in water and add it at the end. Traditionally, shukta is made without turmeric but some families do add it, though personally I am against it since I think it changes the taste too drastically.

Mutton with Mushrooms

This week's recipe violates my maxim of not just reproducing recipes from standard cookbooks. There is a reason for this. This recipe appears in Madhur Jaffrey's first cookbook -- An invitation to Indian Cooking written in the late 70s for American readers, giving detailed instructions on how to cook Indian food as well as tips for substitution for Indian ingredients that weren't easily available in the US in those days. It was a god-send for us graduate students in the US, since most of us had only the vaguest notions of cooking. Moreover this book appears to be out of print, at least in India, which is a pity because it has/had some excellent recipes. I choose one which I have unleashed on perhaps every guest who has visited us, with phenomenal success. Moreover it is extremely simple and uses totally non-standard spices for a meat dish.

Ingredients:
Mutton 500 gm
Mushroom packet 1 (about 150 gm)
One large onion
Jeera seeds (cumin) 1 tsp
Methi seeds (fenugreek) 1 tsp
Kalongi (onion seeds) 1 tsp
Saunf (fennel seeds) 1 tsp
Red pepper to taste
Salt
Oil 3-4 tbsp
Yogurt 1 large cup beaten smooth

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker or pressure pan. Add the whole spices, jeera, methi, saunf and kalonji. Wait till
they splutter, add the mutton and fry well till it is browned. (Ideally if you have the time, fry the mutton separately and add it to the spluttering spice mix). Add the red pepper powder, fry for a couple of minutes to take off the raw powdery taste. Add about a cup of water, and salt, cover with the lid and cook under pressure for about 15 minutes or whenever the mutton is almost cooked.

2. Let the cooker cool, in the meantime wash and chop the mushrooms. If they are small, dice them otherwise quarter. In this recipe you can be thrifty and chop the stems too.
Open the cooker lid, add the mushroom to the mutton, and let this mixture boil together (without pressure!) for a few minutes. The mushrooms will tend to give out a lot of water so you need to reduce this. Hence it is best not to have too much water in the mutton to start with.

3. Chop the onion in thin slices and fry in oil till translucent but not brown. Drain and set aside. Once the mushroom and mutton are cooked and excess water boiled off, let it cool and add the beaten yogurt slowly. This part needs to be done carefully otherwise the yogurt will split. Two simple tricks are to make sure the mutton is not too hot and secondly, to mix a bit of the gravy into the beaten yogurt so that both come to a similar temperature. After the yogurt has been added and mixed together, put this whole combo on a very slow simmer to reduce the gravy to a thick consistency. This is a gravy dish but it should not have a watery gravy.

4. Finally add the fried onions to the dish mix together and serve hot. It's best eaten with rice though I suppose you could eat it with chapati. It's an ideal dish for many Westerners as well as people who cannot handle spicy food.

Bengalis will have noticed that the recipe uses four out of the five spices of panch phoron which is usually a no-no for meat dishes. However this recipe uses it in a very innovative way.

Legendary Cheese Cake

I am not sure why this is legendary but the original author called it thus and in deference to him I have kept the name. I am inaugurating my Recipe site with this for a reason. In the years when the internet was in its infancy and there was no web, there was the usenet -- a worldwide internet discussion system for different topics, where like-minded people could, you guessed it, have a discussion. The usenet closed down recently and so in it's memory, here is a recipe from 1986, posted by a Rob Pike of the equally defunct Bell Labs. It works very well, but you need cream cheese which is not easily available in India (except in speciality stores at inflated prices), so as a somewhat imperfect substitute I suggest chakka -- hung curd drained of all water but not to the point of dryness.

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups Graham cracker crumbs (you can even use Marie biscuits)
6 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp white sugar (not if you are using Marie biscuits)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Filling:

700 gm cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Combine crust ingredients. Press crust on bottom and sides of buttered 10" springform pan and bake 5 minutes. Allow to cool.

2. Bring cheese to room temperature and beat till soft. Add sugar and blend. Add beaten eggs slowly. When well mixed, mix in very slowly (to prevent splitting) lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Pour into pre-baked crust and bake 35 minutes.

3. Take it out and allow to cool on a rack.

4. Add toppings to taste -- thinly sliced strawberries arranged in a fan, or kiwi fruit or other soft fruits that can be thinly sliced for decoration. (Hard fruits like apples are not suited for this). Refrigerate.

Note: Good cheesecake does not require gelatin. Restaurants use it to guarantee the process of setting but those are short cuts of inferior cooks. Gelatin also makes the cake harder, making it loose that soft melt in the mouth character. Needless to say gelatin is very popular with Chennai restaurants.

Eggless cheesecake: How do you set it -- I haven't a clue and I don't want to know.