Bengali cuisine : Dinner at Joey's :)

Ghar ka khana : Foodies, as we are, we love to gorge on different cuisines. Being Maharashtrians, all that we have eaten of Bengali food is at specialty restaurants. So, when our Bengali friends in Delhi invited us for dinner, we jumped at the idea!!! Bengali food, cooked at home, that too with a touch of "Maa ke haath" ( Mom's food )... it all sounded a perfect Sunday evening.

Woofs from Joey : I had mentioned about "Aloo Poshto" to my friend just last month, and she had promised me then, that she will make it and invite me for dinner. So this was definately on the menu :) After a warm welcome from all of them ( we were meeting their parents for the first time, who are basically Bengalis from Bihar), and lots of licks and jumps from our sweetheart Joey-Poey ( My client from pet sitting ), we had some dhoklas as a starter.

Minimalism is not lack of something, Its simply the perfect amount of something : As the saying goes, we loved that the dishes were minimalistic...That way you get to taste it wholeheartedly and it lingers on your tongue for quite a while ! The main dishes.... Chicken ( for hubby dearest, who loves it to the core ), aloo poshto ( specially for me ), Chane ki daal, salad and Jeera Rice followed by the desert of the evening - Gur ki Kheer .

The Nolen Gur( new jaggery) or Gud, as it is called is Jaggery made from Khajoor (Dates ). It is known as Bengali's jaggery, as it is made from the sap of date palm trees found in Bengal. It tastes different than the normal jaggery, the aroma is heavenly and is slightly costlier than the original jaggery. Though a winter speciality, is found these days all year round with a special technique of preserving the jaggery in solidified form for months. 

There is also a different type of rice that is used for making the kheer. It's tiny and aromatic. Looks like this :

So, the basic way to make the kheer would be :( As told to me by aunty )

Ingredients :

Milk - 1 litre
Rice - 3/4 cup ( 2 handfull)
Nolen Gur (Jaggery) - Add according to taste
Cardamon powder - 1 tsp
Cashews/ raisins - chopped  to garnish

Recipe :

Boil Milk and rice together. Cook till the rice becomes soft and keep stirring in between.

Then add the jaggery and mix it all well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lastly add the cardamon powder and cashewnuts.

If you find it too thick, add a little milk, or else it can be eaten thick as a pudding too.

Refrigerate if you like to have it cold. 

With our tummies full, we came home and went off to bed to have some "Mishti " ( sweet ) dreams !!! :))

The Chefs of the evening : 

Thank you for such a wonderful meal !!