As we are half-way through the 21 day lockdown, I am sure you all must have become a little restless. Staying home all day can be tiresome especially to youngsters who are used to stepping out of home everyday. While some of us are working from home, there are health workers, cops, journalists who are at the frontline of this war against the novel coronavirus are going out to work everyday.

Share Market Live

NSE

Amid this lockdown, when your cook is not coming home, you are left with only one option: MAKE IT YOURSELF!!! I am sure by now you must be tired of having Maggi & anda bhurji ( scrambled eggs)

Fikar not! I have some old but good tricks up my sleeve that I would like to share with you.

Curious???!!!

Okay then, let’s get down to business

I am what you may call a quintessential Bong at heart and in stomach when it comes to matters of food. When I am too tired or lazy (which is mostly the case) I resort to the quickest dish, THE KHICHDI

.

It is filling and at the same time brings back memories of home. It takes exactly 20 mins to cook.

Disclaimer: This is a Bengali version of khichdi

Gear and ingredient:

A pressure cooker

A skillet (karahi)

One and a half cup of masoor dal

Two cups of Rice

1 tomato, cut in half

Two chillies (split in half)

1 onion, cut it in half

1 potato or 2 ( I love potato, so I usually go for two) cut in half

One tablespoon of ginger paste

One bay leaf

Turmeric powder

Cumin seeds

Dried chilli

Mustard oil

Ghee ( I use Jharna ghee. It has the smell that takes me back to my childhood, when my grandmother used to make khichdi and add an extra spoon of ghee on the top. But you can use any ghee of your choice)

Salt & sugar ( I generally add sugar to everything I cook, it brings balance to the dish)

Now, let’s get cooking. First, put the dal and rice in the pressure cooker. Wash them thoroughly. Rinse the dirty water & then add three cups of fresh water to it.

Start adding the veggies one by one. Then add the ginger paste, turmeric powder, a little bit of mustard oil, salt to taste and a little bit of sugar. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and set it on medium flame.

After four whistles, turn off the flame and set the pressure cooker down. Let it cool down a bit and open the lid.

Now, place the skillet (kadahi) on the flame and put one and half tablespoon of ghee on it. Heat the ghee a bit and then add half a table spoon of cumin seeds & one dried chilli. Toss it a bit. Don’t bun it. Then gently pour the boiled dal & rice mixture into the skillet.

A word of caution here: DON’T BURN YOURSELF while pouring the mixture. Now, just mix the whole thing nicely in the skillet and turn off the flame. You can add a bit of water, depending on how you want the consistency of the khichdi to be.

The khichdi is now ready. You can now serve it with papad or pickle. I like to have by khichdi with fried pumpkin & potatoes.

The next recipe is an oldie but a goodie, ‘GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH’.

For all those who love cheese, this is for you. It takes only 15 minutes to prepare

Gear and ingredients:

A non-stick frying pan

4 slices bread ( or more depending on how hungry you are)

Butter

Grated cheddar or any processed cheese will do

Let’s begin cooking. At first, you need to preheat a small non stick frying pan on low heat.

Spread butter over one side of each piece of bread and place buttered side down in the frying pan.

Now, put the grated cheese on top of the bread and cover it with another piece of bread.

Grill the bread until golden. Then flip and grill the other slide.

Your grilled cheese sandwich is now ready. The cheese has melted nicely and the bread is crispy and golden. Cut the breads in half and serve it hot.

The final recipe is very close to my heart, PEYAJI (Bengali onion fritters or pakoda, as they are commonly known).

I remember, back at my home in Kolkata, it was hard to think of monsoon without a plate of steaming peyaji within your reach. The fritters are a perfect evening snack and nothing like a cup of hot tea to wash it down. Peyaji takes only 20 minutes to cook.

Gear and ingredients

A non stick skillet

A mixing bowl

5 red onions sliced ( it really depends on how many fritters you want to make)

4 green chillies (chopped). If you like spicy then 4 chillies are good but if you can’t have much spicy food then you can just do with two.

salt to taste

A pinch of sugar. It just adds balance.

One and a half cup of besan (gram flour)

Half a cup of maida (plain flour)

Half a cup of rice flour if you have it at home. It just makes the fritters more crispy.

Half a tea spoon of turmeric

Mustard oil

Water to make the batter

Now, let’s get down to making those crispy onion fritters. First, take a bowl and put the onion slices and chillies. Add some salt and and a pinch of sugar and mix it well. Cover the bowl with a dish and let it sit for 5 minutes. This helps the salt and sugar to draw moisture out from the onions.

Meanwhile, add some mustard oil in a non stick skillet for frying and set the flame in medium.

Now add besan (gram-flour), rice flour, plain flour and turmeric powder to the bowl. Mix them well into a slightly thick batter. If the mixture appears to be too dry, just let it sit for a few more minutes.

Now take some of the onion and chilli mixture, dip it in the batter and make flat patty with your fingers. Drop them gently into the hot oil. Don't overcrowd the pan.

Fry the fritters on low flame and turn every 30 seconds for even cooking. The fritters can go from beautifully brown to burnt and bitter in no time.

Drain the excess oil and serve the hot & crispy fritters with some black salt or chat masala sprinkled on top.

So, go ahead and put on your apron & start cooking. It is the best time to enhance your cooking skills and impress those who said that you cannot cook.

First Published:Apr 6, 2020 11:51 AM IST