Wat's cooking?

'Wat's cooking?', is what I am quizzed by my friends every now and then. Growing up I remember Mom springing some surprise or the other on us on holidays with delicious mouth watering treats. So followed up with the trend and and dished out two Bengali mouth watering delights for the winter evening. Something spicy and something sweet to titillate those taste buds. Dimer chop or fried egg pakora and a sweet to please all Bengali sweet tooth elo jhelo. But as I cannot endure a long stint in the kitchen so they are abridged versions of the long recipes and you can try it too at home.

Here are the recipes.

Dimer Chop
Preparation time - 20 minutes; Cooking time - 5 to 7 minutes

Ingredients:
Boiled eggs - 4
Mashed potato - 3 large
Dry spices - cumin powder, corriander powder, ajwain (dry roasted and crushed), salt, green chillies to taste. (1 teaspoon each)
Crushed garlic - 1 Tea spoon
Vegetable oil - for shallow frying
Chick pea powder and water
Pinch of aesofetida

Procedure: Boil the eggs and cut it length wise in two and keep aside. In a wok add two tea spoons of vegetable oil add the garlic, add the other dry spices as soon as the garlicy aroma engulfs you and fry lightly, add the mashed potato and make a smooth dough till all are combined well. Keep the mixture aside and let it cool down a bit. Make a batter with chick pea powder with salt and a pinch of aesofetida.

Now cover each half an egg with the mashed potato to well cover the same and roll out the chops. Dip each chop in the chick pea batter and shallow or deep fry till they are golden brown (see picture below) and they are ready to served. Taste best with mustard sauce or Bengali 'kasundi', in case you don't have mustard sauce at home plain tomato ketchup would do just fine.

Elo Jhelo

Preparation time - 20 minutes; Cooking time - 5 to 7 minutes

Ingredients
Maida - 250 gms
Ghee - 2 table spoons
Water for kneading
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Sugar syrup
Refined Sugar - 300 gms
Water just enough and little to cover the sugar

In a heavy bottom pan add the sugar and water and put it on a high flame, stir and the sugar will melt. Let it come to a boil and reduce till you have a thickish sugar syrup. In the meanwhile knead the maida with ghee and water and make a soft dough. Roll out a large roti, roll it up, cut it in slices. Now take each slice and roll it in a elongated shape and make incisions with knife in the middle; twist both the edges a bit and you will have jangly elo jhelos. Deep fry the bunch and dip it in sugar syrup which will be ready by now and serve. (picture below)

Bon apetite!

Coming soon: Eternal Bengali winter treat - Korai shutir kochuri (Green pea kachoris) and Aloor dom (Dum aloo).