Rosgulla

This recipe is for my non- Bengalee friends. We need only few ingredients. They are as follows:-
1...cottage cheese or paneer...............made from one litre milk
2...sugar. ...............3 cups
3...water. ...............3 cups
4...lemon juice ...............made from one and half lemon
5...flour. ...............1 teaspoon.

First boil the milk to make paneer or cottage cheese.( You can also buy the paneer from stores,but make sure it is made from cow's milk). Add the lemon juice slowly to the boiled milk till all the milk curdles. Now keep the whole thing covered for 5 minutes.Then strain the curdled milk through a piece of cheese cloth and hang the cloth bundle for one hour to strain away the whey. Now take out the cottage cheese or the paneer onto a plate and mash it very nicely with the flour. This is important . There should not be any clump in the mashed paneer. Divide the mashed paneer into 10 parts and make smooth balls out of them. Meanwhile boil 3 cups of water with the sugar. Drop the paneer balls into the boiling thin sugar syrup and keep boiling for 15 minutes on slow fire with a cover. See that all the balls are nicely covered by the syrup during boiling. It might take little more or less time depending upon the quality of milk. At the end Rosgulllas should be firm to touch yet soft inside.

Easy vegetable Macaroni

This recipe is for my non- bengalee friends. We need only few ingredients. They are as follows:-

Paturi, Stemed dish in banana leaf packet

This can be made as a vegetarian dish or a non-vegetarian dish . It goes very well with steamed rice.

1...main ingredient                 .................200 gms
     cottage cheese or paneer/
     soaked lentils/ flat beans/
     soft leaves of gourd/
     prawn/ hilsha fish/
     bhetki fish
2...mustard seeds               .....................3 tbs
3...poppy seeds                ......................1 & 1/2 tbs
4...grated coconut            ........................1/2 cup
5...green chillies              .........................3- 6 ,as per taste
6..turmeric powder         .........................1/2 ts
7...salt                            ..........................as per taste
8... mustard oil               ...........................2tbs
9...banana leaves           ........................... 6 (5'' x 5'') pieces
10..twine or thread         ...........................6  (12'') pieces

First grind ingredient no.  2, 3, 4,5,6,7  to make a paste with little water. If you are making lentil or dal paturi then make coarse paste of the soaked lentils. If you are using any other material of 1 , then make 2''x 2'' pieces of them & mix with above paste nicely .Add the mustard oil mix again & marinate for 10 mins.
Now pass the banana leaf pieces over high flame for two second to make them non-brittle. Next put 1 tbs of marinated paste of lentils  or 1 piece of marinated any other main ingredient you have taken along with some marination paste in a piece of banana leaf & fold the leaf neatly into a packet & tie with a piece of twine.
In the meanwhile boil water in a steamer or a big vessel with cover. When the water starts boiling , decrease the flame to sim   & put the steamer plate or a smaller vessel in the steamer pan with your prepared leaf packets. Put cover and steam for 10 minutes.Your paturi is ready.
Serve each packet with hot steamed rice . You should take out the twine or thread but can serve the pieces in the opened leaf packets. Banana leaf adds a wonderful leafy flavor to the paturi pieces. You can use cabbage leaves in place of banana leaf and ccan eat the cabbage leaf too along with the paturi. "pata" means leaf in Bangalee. That is why this dish is called "paturi".