The Second One (originally meant to be the third one): Heck, I’ll go sweet today! SHONDESH

Buoyed by the phenomenal success of the first installment of my recipe blog (YEAH RIGHT!), here’s the next one. It was supposed to be chicken and rice, but let’s go with shondesh! It’s simple and can be made by a lazy graduate student or postdoc, or anyone else really! Best part about this dish is that it can be made using just a microwave oven and takes less than 2 hours to make from start to finish!

Ricotta Shondesh

Sweets are not really my strong point (coming to think of it, what IS my strong point?), but I learnt this from someone and put my own touches to it. As I mentioned before, it’s simple and tasty. Try this. I apologize for not having a photo of it, so please bear with me!

Ingredients:

· Ricotta cheese, 1 large container, or 2 small containers. You can use your tried and tested chhana (cottage cheese) as well.

· Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk, 1 small can

· Nolen gur (liquid jaggery) this is completely optional, but if you can get some nolen gur, your shondesh will be out of this world!

· Ground green cardamom powder (chhoto elacher guro) – a pinch

· Slivered pistachios or almonds, for garnishing

· Ghee or melted butter, for greasing

Method:

1. Take the entire amount of ricotta cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 10 minutes. Take it out, mix it all up and then put back in the microwave and microwave again on high for 10 more minutes. Take it out again, mix it all up and then, yeah you guessed it, put it back in for 10 more minutes and mix it all up. So you need to microwave the ricotta for 30 minutes in all, at 10 minute intervals and don’t you dare forget to mix it all up when you take it out. If you have done exactly as I suggested, you should be left with something that has the texture of our familiar chhana or cottage cheese. This step basically is needed to get rid of the water present in the ricotta.

2. Cool the microwaved ricotta slightly and then add the ground green cardamom powder. Mix well. The green cardamom is pretty much a MUST in any dessert you make!

3. Slowly add the condensed milk to the ricotta stirring constantly making sure to break up any lumps. The amount of condensed milk to be added really depends on the texture of your ricotta; my suggestion is to add a little, mix, check he texture and add some more. It shouldn’t be watery as cake batter, nor should it be as tough as dough. In case you are fortunate enough to have some nolen gur in your kitchen, keep the mixture dry rather than wet. Taste the mixture to make sure it is sweet enough for you. If you have added the right amount of condensed milk (and nolen gur) you should not have to add any sugar.

4. Once you think you have the right texture, add the nolen gur to the mixture, mix well and then microwave on high for 5 minutes. Take it out and stir well.

5. Cool the mixture slightly. Grease a flat rectangular dish with some ghee or melted butter, just enough to make sure the shondesh does not stick to the dish. Spread the ricotta mixture on the dish, making sure you keep it as level as possible. Put it in the fridge and chill for at least 1 hour so that the shondesh sets. The best choice is to let it set overnight.

6. Cut the shondesh into shapes of your choice – rectangle, square, rhombus or anything more creative! Garnish with slivered almonds or pistachios and serve!

Remember:

Ø The kicker in this dish is how well you dry your ricotta. Also, be careful about how much condensed milk and/or nolen gur you put it; you don’t want your shondesh to be runny. This is shondesh after all, not chhanar payesh! So I’d have the mixture dry rather than wet. You can make it wet if it’s too try, the other way round is WAY tougher to get done.

Ø Don’t be scared if you see your ricotta turning all watery in the first microwave step or you hear it sizzle; it’s all part of the game.

Try it and let me know how you liked it. I am always available to answer your questions.

Cheers.

Salmon in Mustard Sauce

The First One: Salmon It Has To Be

Ok I really don’t know how this is going to pan out. I mean I am supposedly a good cook (okay, I am an AWESOME chef) but actually writing down my recipes? That’s scary, especially given that I don’t always follow the exact same recipe for a dish. But I’ll try to be as honest and consistent as possible. Oh by the way, I am not very good with exact measurements (which is kind of ironic given that I am a professional scientist ); but once again, I’ll try to be as good as possible. Anyway, enough preaching, let’s get cooking.

Salmon in Tomato Mustard Sauce

Every time I think of that one dish that I’ll send to a cooking competition (to WIN, of course) I get into a fix. I guess I don’t really have a signature dish, but if I had someone point a gun to my head, I guess this salmon dish would probably be the closest to it.

Ingredients:

• Salmon, cut into steaks (with or without bones or skin, whichever way you like your fish); let’s say you have 16 pieces of fish
• Tomatoes, freshly chopped and pureed (it’s okay to use canned tomato PASTE but for whoever’s sake, DON’T use tomato PUREE) – 4 medium tomatoes, scale up or down based on the size of the tomatoes you are using.
• Mustard paste (this is where it kind of gets hairy: if you are Bengali and want to use your traditional shorshe bata, you are welcome to use it. If you don’t have easy access to shorshe bata, you can use kashundi like I do . You can also use Creole or Dijon or English mustard, just remember those have quite a lot of vinegar in them, so be mindful of the extra acidity.
• Plain yogurt – 2 teaspoons
• Mustard Oil (white oil is also more than okay)
• Green chilies or Jalapenos – 4, slit
• Sugar – a pinch
• Salt – to taste
• Turmeric Powder
• Onion seeds – the friendly Bengali KALOJIRE
• Red chili powder – a pinch
• Warm water

Method:

1. Rub the fish pieces with salt and turmeric powder and fry them till light brown in mustard oil. Retain the oil after frying the fish. (Remember that salmon cooks quite fast, in fact it should be cooked only till medium rare, so don’t over-fry it, especially given than the fish will also be simmered in the gravy.

2. In the same oil in which you fried the fish pieces, put the onion seeds and fry till they crackle and then put the slit green chilies in.

3. Once you smell the chilies frying add the tomatoes and cook on high heat (this will take a while) till the fat leaves the sides. While it cooks, add a pinch of salt, turmeric, a pinch of sugar and the red chili powder. Depending on how red your tomatoes were to start with, you should see a beautiful rich red colored mass in the pan.

4. In a small bowl or cup mix together the mustard paste (whatever form you are using it in), the yogurt and half a cup of water. Add the mixture to the tomatoes in the pan and stir well to mix. Cook till you can’t smell the raw yogurt anymore.

5. Add the warm water and bring to a boil. How much water you add should depend on how much sauce/gravy you want. Add the fish pieces GENTLY (salmon is soft and might break, depending on quality) and let the fish pieces simmer in the gravy for about 8-10 minutes. The dish tastes best if you actually go for a sauce (less liquid) as opposed to a gravy (yeah you guessed it right, more liquid), but I will let you be the judge.

6. Check the seasoning and serve hot with white rice. You can do things like drizzling some raw mustard oil over the fish or adding a couple of more slit green chilies – your choice really.

This dish can easily be made with other varieties of fish as well. You can use rui, katla, tilapia, cod or any other type of white fish, depending on your palate, your geographical location and the availability of raw materials. Try it and let me know how you liked it. I am always available to answer your questions.

Cheers.