Steamed Yoghurt - Bhapa Doi, A wonderful Alternative To Mishti Doi.

Bhapa Doi

It is a long time since my last post. In the meanwhile I did upload two recipes on my YouTube channel during the lock down. The lockdown did not help matters, my blog and the channel did take a backseat. Anyway, one thing that I did realize was that, lockdown or not, comfort food does uplift one’s spirit and Bhaapa Doi or steamed yoghurt is just such a dessert.

Bhaapa Doi is extremely simple to make and it serves as an ideal alternative to mishit doi (sweetened yoghurt).

My channel and blog is called It is Tasty Ma!, so no prizes for guessing that my Ma made it just the way I have demonstrated it in the video. Incidentally I never saw my mum make this, it invariably magically appeared on the table. She always prepared it whenever we were away at school or college. It so happened my mother was once explaining to a friend’s daughter how to make it and I listened to the instructions attentively and retained it in the deep recesses of my brain. After Ma’s demise, I dug into that memory and decided to give it a try and was quite thrilled to find that it turned out so good.

Shorshe Illish - HilsaFish in mustard sauce/gravy.

A true fish eating Bengali will undoubtedly agree that, the fish to die for is Hilsa. A Bengali from West Bengal will insist that if you are going to eat hilsa or illish as we Bengalis call it, it should be cooked with mustard paste or shorshe baata as we call it in Bengali.

 However, there is a problem with grinding the mustard seeds, there is a chance of it turning bitter. There are various theories regarding the grinding process, one of them being that it is better to grind it to a fine paste in one shot, if you grind it repeatedly in order to get that fine paste, then it is bound to get bitter.

Foodie Jaunts - Bento Box- A Complete Takeaway Meal at Oh! Calcutta, Mumbai

I am sure, like me many of you may have found yourselves in the unenviable position of trying figure out what to eat while you are travelling or maybe you are not travelling but are working outdoors in your hometown or city and scratching your head during lunch time wondering what to do. It has happened to me several times irrespective of the fact whether I am alone or with a family member. The problem that I have faced when alone is what do I order. The problem persists even if I am with a friend or a family member as portions at restaurants are too large. The large portions restrict us from ordering a variety of dishes. There are times when I have felt tempted to try out some dishes, particularly starters,but I have been compelled to drop the idea. Well now in Mumbai at least Oh! Calcutta’s Bento Box comes to the rescue.

Foodie Jaunts - TIMES Litfest 2018, Mumbai

Food For Thought, Thought For Food

Lit Fests definitely provide some food for thought. We have been visiting the Times Litfest since 2015 and surely enough some of the sessions did satiate our hunger or to be more appropriate our need for the occasional intellectual stimulus. However, as Swami Vivekanand rightly pointed out that religion cannot be preached to empty stomachs, likewise we realized soon enough that it is a little difficult to pay much attention to any session if you are hungry. An empty stomach makes your mind invariably race towards food. In these past three years the Times Litfest has not disappointed us on the food front. I say three years because in 2015 the food court was a vegetarian food court, since 2016 we found a good blend of vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare.

Foodie Jaunts - Autobahn

Autobahn –Tech Meets Taste On This Food Highway

The German highway system is called Autobahn. No, this post is not a review of the German highway system. It is a review of Autobahn, the restaurant located at Phoenix Market City in Pune, Maharashtra (India). In this food highway you will find technology and taste making for a perfect combination.

When I entered the restaurant, it did not remind me of a highway, but there was this sense of déjà vu. I felt as though I was at the airport waiting for my luggage. At the airport, however, expectantly looking at the luggage carousel hoping to finally see your luggage arrive safely can, sometimes be quite a frustrating exercise; but what if a similar conveyor belt at a restaurant tempted you with delectable looking starters the moment you took your seat? Confused? 

Tomato and Date Chutney (Tomato aar Khejurer Chaatni)

It has been a while since I have posted on my blog. Personal matters kept me away and as a result I was unable to post this recipe during Durga Puja.  Tomato and date chutney is a must have accompaniment with the bhog during Durga Puja.  If you have ever had the good fortune of partaking of the bhog during the Durga Puja celebrations of the Bengalis, then you may have had the pleasure of enjoying this chutney. So try out this simple but delicious chutney, I have added dried figs to the chutney to further enhance the flavour of the chutney.

Melt in the mouth—Malpuas. (Pancakes dipped in sugar syrup).

This blog was started to keep a record of my mum’s delicious cooking. One of her popular dishes was malpuas. I use the word popular because there were some diehard fans of her malpuas; these fans would drop all their dietary restrictions just to eat her delicious malpuas. Why were her malpuas so popular? Well the answer is simple — they would just melt in the mouth.