Amer Chatni

One of the popular recipes of Bengalis, Amer chatni is prepared from green mangoes.

Ingredients:

• Two table spoon of oil
• Salt to taste
• ½ kg of green mangoes
• 1 cup of jiggery or sugar
• ¾ table spoon of panch phoron
• Two red chilies whole

Preparation

• Take the green mangoes and cut them with the skin and make them into boat shapes.
• Heat up the oil in a pan
• Mix ½ table spoon of panch phoron and then the dry red chilies to the oil
• Once you hear the crackling noise, mix in the green mangoes
• Mix in some warm water
• Mix in sugar or jiggery
• Mix in salt when the green mangoes are cooked and the syrup looks thick
• Roast about ¼ table spoon of panch phoron on the tawa and then grind it to powder
• When the chutney cools down, sprinkle this powder on the top.

Cholar Dal- another Bengali recipe

Cholar Dal

Ingredients:

• Raisins- one table spoon
• Salt to taste
• Cumin powder- one tablespoon
• Bengal gram divide or chana dal – 250 grams
• Sugar- two to four tablespoon
• Turmeric Powder- one tablespoon
• Chilli Powder – one table spoon
• Coconut -1/4th
• Bay leave-3
• Coriander powder- one tablespoon
• Garam masala powder- one table spoon
• Ghee- one table spoon
• Green chillies slit- four to six

Preparation:

• Wash the dal and then boil with four cups of water.
• Mix in cumin, turmeric, silt green chillies and garam masala.
• Mix in sugar and salt to taste.
• Mix well and then stir fry till the time the dal is thick and soft.
• Heat up some ghee in a pan or kadhai.
• Now mix the garam masala and bay leaves
• When it stops spluttering then mix in it to the dal.
• Mix it thoroughly
• Cut coconut into tiny dices and then fry them in ghee till they turn light brown
• Mix in the coconut fry into the dal and stir
• Serve hot with luchi

Aloo Phulkopir Dalna - A Bengali Recipe

Aloo Phulkopir Dalna is an easy and simple Bengali recipe.

Ingredients:

• One kg of cauliflower
• One table spoon of turmeric powder
• One tablespoon of red chili powder
• Four medium tomatoes
• Two table spoon of coriander powder
• Two table spoon of ghee
• Potatoes- 500 gms
• One table spoon of whole garam masala
• One table spoon of cumin powder
• Two onions (medium size)
• Two bay leaves
• Oil to deep fry
• Four table spoon of mustard oil.

Preparation

• Peel off and cut the potatoes into quarters. Cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets. Now cut the tomatoes into quarters.
• Take off the skin and mince the onions.
• Heat up the oil in a pot and when hot, light fry the potatoes and drain.
• Fry the florets of cauliflower till they turn out a little brown.
• Remove and keep it aside
• Take off the oil.
• In the same pot heat up the ghee and then mix in the bay leaves and the whole garam masala. Stir fry for about thirty seconds
• Mix in the cut onion and then fry till it turns golden in color.
• Mix in all the masala powders and stir fry for about a minute while taking care that the masala does not stick to the bottom.
• Mix in a table spoon of water if required.
• Now mix in the cauliflower, potatoes and the tomatoes
• Stir fry for some time
• Mix in once cup of water, cover and then stir fry over a medium heat.
• Continue stirring from time to time
• Take off from the heat up when the veggies are cooked and nearly dry.

Bengali Recipe - Aloo Posto

ALOO POSTO

Aloo Posto is one of the popular recipes of Bengal. Bengalis love aloo posto. It goes well with rice and roti or parathas.

Ingredients:

• Five to six medium size potatoes
• Two green chillies
• 1 table spoon of pure ghee
• ½ table spoon of sugar
• Salt to taste
• ½ table spoon of onion seeds or kalonji
• Two table spoon of poppy seeds of khuskhus
• 2 table spoon of mustard oil.

Preparation:

• Peel off the potatoes first and cut them into 1 inch or sized pieces
• Now keep them in a bowl of water.
• Soak poppy seeds in 1 cup of luke warm water for about 15 or twenty minutes.
• Now remove and grind them to fine paste
• Once you bring the poppy seeds into fine paste, heat up a pot of mustard oil till it reaches the smoking point Now remove and cool and heat up the oil once again on a medium heat.
• Mix in the kalonji and then stir fry briefly
• Mix in the potato pieces and then stir fry on the medium heat for up to five minutes, stirring quite frequently. Mix in poppy seeds paste and stir mix in half cup of water, cover and then stir fry on the low heat up till the potatoes are almost completed.
• Take off the lid and then mix in sugar, salt and slit green chillies.
• Continue to stir fry for about a minute more or till the potatoes are fully cooked and stir in desi ghee and serve hot.

Beautiful places in Kolkata

I have been staying in this nice city 'Kolkata' since last five years. Though due to my busy professional life I get hardly enough time to roam around the city but still then I managed to visit some wonderful places in this 'City of Joy' in my spare time.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple

Dakshineswar Kali Temple is situated in Dakshineswar close to Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal. It’s a Hindu place of worship located on the eastern bank of River Hooghly. Bhavatarini is the presiding deity of this temple. Bhavatarin is an aspect of Kali. Constructed by Rani Rashmoni, a devotee of Goddess Kali and a philanthropist in the year 1855, the temple is popular for its association with Ramakrishna, a mystic of the 19th century Bengal.

The compound of Dakshineswar temple consists of a huge courtyard which surrounds the temple with rooms along with the boundary walls. Together with the 9-spired main temple, there 12 shrines dedicated to Shiva located along the river front, a temple dedicated to Radha and Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river and a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. A chamber located in the north-western corner beyond the Shiva temple is said to be the place where Ramakrishna spent a significant part of his life.

Birla Mandir

Birla Mandir is a Hindu Temple constructed by the distinguished industrialist family- the Birla. The temple is located on Asutosh Chowdhury Avenue, Ballygunge and is one of the most visited tourist attraction of Kolkata. Every day the temple remains open from 5.30 am to 11 am in the morning and then 4.30 Pm to 9 PM in the evening. Every Janmashtami, on the birthday of Lord Krishna, many devotees comes to visit the temple from different places to pay their tribute and respect to the deities.

The construction work started in the year 1970. It took about twenty six years to complete this entire structure. Finally on February 21, 1996, Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj did the Pran Prathistha in the morning. Dr. Karan Sigh inaugurated the Birla Mandir on the same day.

Victoria Memorial

Officially known as Victoria Memorial Hall, is a memorial building constructed in memory of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. This memorial building is located in Kolkata, India which is the capital of the state of West Bengal. At present, Victoria Memorial Hall serves as a museum and is ranked amongst the most popular tourist attractions of the city.

Sir William Emerson who was the then President of the British Institute of Architects had drew up and designed the plan of this memorial. The whole construction work was delegated to Messrs. Martin & Co of Calcutta. The superintending architect in charge was Vincent J Esch.

History:

In January 1901 after the death of Queen Victoria, the then Victoria of India, Lord Curzon suggested the setting up of an appropriate and fitting monument which would be colossal, airy, splendid and grand bounded by gorgeous garden.

Lord Curzon suggested it would be a ‘historical museum’ where public would see before them the statues and pictures of great men who played an important role in this country, especially the history of Calcutta. People of India and the princes responded bigheartedly to the appeal made by Lord Curzon and the cost in constructing this monument which amounted to 1 crore and 5 lakhs of rupees was wholly derived from the voluntary contributions.

On January 4, 1906, King George V, who was the then Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone. However, it was officially opened to the public in the year 1921.

Birla Planetarium

Birla Planetarium is one of the biggest museums in Asia. This museum is a prominent attraction of Kolkata, the “City of Joy“. It was in the year 1962 when Birla Planetarium came into existence. All credit to Birla Education Trust for constructing this beautiful center of communication, science, and environment.

Birla Planetarium is located at the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass of the city of Kolkata. It offers a platform where various astronomical presentations take place. It offers valuable piece of information about the galaxies, solar system, life span of the star, planets and the other heavenly bodies in the most interactive manner via the use of audio-video aids.

Alipore Zoo

Alipore Zoo, also known as Alipore Zoological Gardens is one of the oldest zoological parks of India. This is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Kolkata, West Bengal. The zoo was opened on May 6 in the year 1876 and it covers about 46.5 acres of land. It is best known as home to few captive breeding projects including the Manipur Brow-antlered Deer.

Alipore Zoo is a popular tourist attraction not only of Kolkata but of the state of West Bengal. You can find a great variety of animals like Jaguar, African lion, Royal Bengal Tiger, One horned Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, zebra, dromedary camel, elephant, African Lion, jaguar that has been recently taken from Australia. There is a collection of some rare species of birds like Macaw, parrots, touracos, Swinhoe’s Pheasant, Amherst’s Pheasant, hornbills and some of the largest flightless birds like Ostrich, Cassowary and Emu etc.