Maroi Nakuppi ga Khajing Kanghou (Chinese Chives and shrimps fried)

Maroi Nakuppi is an important part of Manipuri cuisine, we use it as an alternative to onion esp for tempering in vegetarian dishes and many people from the older generation prefer this than onion. This recipe is an age old recipe and one of my all time favourite, my mother makes it really well like more other things but since I love to eat, this was one of the first things I learned to make on my own. Its easy to make and taste really good. If you are in Delhi you can buy it from the INA market and if abroad most Asian food and grocery stores sells it. In Sweden I buy it from the Asian store which is a bit expensive but during summer we get the locally grown chinese chives which is not only cheap but taste far better.  I am looking forward to next month when we will get it in the local market. The ingredients bellow will serve about 2 people. 

Ingredients:

1. A small bunch of chinese chives or about 250 gm.

2. 2-3 green chillies 

3. Few garlic cloves 

4. Shrimps ( I used the dried shrimps, soaked in water for 10 mins and drained , one can always use the fresh ones as it tastes better)

5. 2 tbsp mustard oil.

6. Turmeric powder

6. Salt to taste 

Steps:

1. Take a frying pan and put it on medium heat, add the mustard oil and once it is smoking hot add the crushed garlic and chopped chillies. Fry for 2-3 mins and add some turmeric powder and stir it well.

2. Add the shrimps and mix it well, fry for another 5 mins on medium heat.

3. Add the chopped chinese chives and mix well. The chives gets cooked real quick so continue cooking on medium or even low heat. Mix it well with the other ingredients. 

4. Dried shrimps are normally salty so don't add a lot of salt. If you are using fresh shrimps you can add little more salt. Taste and remember never to cover it while frying this will retain all the moisture and make it a bit soggy. 

Serve hot with steamed white rice and with some eromba will be really good. 

To eat or not to

Last summer I decided to stop having chicken not completely but cut down as much as possible, I allowed myself to have a chicken dimsum/wantons that I made myself at home but other than that I mostly ate fish, lentils and vegetables. Summer in Sweden is awesome for vegetarians we get all kinds of greens and greens I like starting from hangam (mustard leaves), leibak kundo (purslane),  amaranth, methi leaves and many other varieties of greens we eat in Manipur.

One of the most interesting greens I found was leibak kundo, a vegetable not commonly known to even fellow manipuris. My mother once made kangsoi with some nga ayaiba (smoked fish) and I still remembered the taste, from my days in The Hague I knew that it is available in Turkish vegetable  stores but here I buy it from stoles owned by people from Arabic speaking background. One can even make kanghou with come potatoes and leibak kundo but kangsoi taste the best.

It is much easier to stick to a meat less diet in summer but I do need my daily does of fish and Sweden is Salmon heaven  :) thanks to the neighbouring country Norge we get both farmed and wild caught salmons but also several varieties of sea food.  I was anyways never a fan of meat and since the only meat I ate was chicken it was easy to give it up and for some weird reason whenever I used to cook chicken it used to taste horrible so I stopped cooking chicken long time back. My husband makes really yummy chicken but I normally eat just the gravy.

With summer on the way I plan to continue my meat less diet and some interesting recipes will be uploaded soon.

Purslane (Leibak kundo)

#Dinner # Momos # Steamed Spinach # HAPPINESS

The combination momo's (Dimsums are popularly known as Momo's in India) with steamed spinach was really good, add a glass of sparkling wine if you want to make it more interesting.

#Instagrammed  #my dinner

The almost perfect Cha-luk

Top Chef AN's Cha-luk

My fren AN cooks almost every traditional Manipuri dish to perfection and this time in Shillong she  made 'Ooti-Asangba' on popular demand :). Ooti-Asangba is one of my all time fav. Manipuri dish but I've never cooked it myself, my mom makes it really well but this time when I was home she refused it...she gave me the sarcastic look and said "Look at your weight"  this line was enough to make me stop my demands of all possible exotica Manipuri dish for the whole week I was home, but I knew that when I visit AN in Shillong she will make it (Khane mei thoda cheating chalta hai hehehe). AN had mastered the recipe from one Bamon but according to her she makes it much better than the bamon ( I believe her completely).

That day for lunch she made 'Ooti-Asangba, Ousoi kangshu, Fish fry and Leibak-hawai kanghou', I asked her helper to get the banana leaves from her garden and we turned the lunch into a yummy looking Cha-luk. I plan to make Ooti-Asangba  next week, the recipe will be uploaded.

Some French Cookies, Indian tea, Cheese Cake and Chinese food....my day was awesome

Cookies ready to be baked

The "Cheesecake"

Strawberry and Cream yummmmm

Someday's are just yummy  food day, like today. My day started and ended with some awesome food...it was our "baking day" as our honorary Indian but French fren Mr. TK, said he'll teach us how to make a cheese cake and help us bake some cookies too. It turns our Mr. TK is quite a chef, he made some nice cookies but it was over baked nonetheless it  tasted good. I was looking fwd to the cheese cake but it was unlike a cheese cake, okay I know I should not be mean and say it was not a cheesecake when Mr. TK and my dear fren Miss. CD worked hard but the cheesecake didn't tasted like Cheesecake at all. Sorry both of you!!!! after having the cheesecake at the Cheesecake company my taste-buds refuse to call it a  cheese cake what Mr. TK n Miss CD baked., okay I agree it was tasty but it was unlike a cheesecake. In Between the baking we had some strawberry and cream which....was heavenly. I realize I am happy and in a super friendly mood because of the food I ate today. For me Good Food = Happiness...

The best cheesecake in town @ Cheesecake Company

Lemon Cheesecake and Double Chocolate dip cheesecake......yummmmm

Last week I happen to visit this really awesome cheesecake shop with my food and partner in crime (for cooking and eating) fren 'CD'. It's called the 'Cheesecake Company', located very close to where we live, a small yet lovely shop near the centrum.  I had a tough time deciding which one to order but finally decided to have the Lemon cheesecake, my fren CD had double dip cheesecake and both the cheesecake were really yum. For the record let me put it that I've never had such yummy cheesecake ever  before and the best part is it's not expensive, it costs about Euro 4 a slice and the slices are quite huge. If you are visiting The Hague and love cheesecake this is a must visit and must eat place.....oh I am going there tomorrow to have some more cheesecake....happiness plan tomm. 

Address:

CheesecakeCompany

Torenstraat 32-2513 BS

Den Haag

www.cheesecakecompany.nl 

Sevinyan for dessert

Some real Sevinyan for dessert

Last week I invited some of my frens for dinner (I realized that inviting people & going for potluck dinner is my fav.social activity now :) hehehe). The menu was not very elaborate but it was yummm Prawn curry with coconut milk, Chilly Chicken, Aloo-Gobi-mattar ke subzi, Rice and Sevinya. I bought the real sevinyan like the one we get in India from a Pakistani shop near the open market, the 200 gm packet costed me just  75 cents and I think it was worth every cent. I tried making Sevinyan from the Euroshop vermicelli packet...which turned into a total disaster, two week back when me CT & SS had invited our frens for dinner, the food was really good that day but the dessert was a grand failure.  

But this time...all thanx to using the real sevinya it was really good. The best part about the dinner was of course the dessert and I plan to make  it again some other day for another grand dinner.

Saturday lunch.....Yen ga Hanggam ga Thongba -Machal Apouba Haap-paga( Chicken cooked with Mustard leaves)

To avoid all the reading , mind maps, writing, referencing etcetera...etcetera and to divert my mind I decided to cooked my fav. chicken dish the other day, one of the recipes invented purely out of desperation ...for some reason I was not able to make chicken   the way my cousin back home makes it, the very typical Meitei style chicken or "Yen Thongba" in Meiteilon cooked on iron kadhai (which according to me is one of the best chicken curry in the whole world) is one of my all time favorite dish and it taste even better if cooked on fire wood and not on gas. I have done few changes to the original recipe to suit my taste and added few ingredients, one of the most important ingredient is the "Machal-Apouba" a mix of masala available only in Manipur and made by this SHG group located in Imphal, I am a great fan of the "Machal" brand and got almost 2 dozen with me. The recipe and pics are below:

Ingredients:

• 500 gm chicken.
• 1 onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves.
• 4-5 green chilles
• Ginger- 2/3 inches long
• 4-5 leaves of hanggam.
• 2 potato
• Bay leaves (Tej patta)
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder.
• Machal (1/3 of the packet is used)
• 3-4 Tbsp cooking oil.
• Coriander leaves to garnish. 
• Salt to taste.

Method:

• Marinate the chicken for 20-30 mins with salt, turmeric powder, chille powder and 1 tbsp oil. 
• In a deep frying pan add oil and once its smoking hot add the bay leaves and chopped garlic. Fry for few mins and add the chopped onion and green chillies. Fry for 4-5 mins on low flame.
• Once the onion turns golden brown add the potato's and ginger and cook with the lid covered on low flame for 10-15 mins.
• Add the marinated chicken and cook with the led covered on low  flame. Add 1/4 tbsp of Machal apouba and mix it well with the chicken. Remember to stir it every few mins so that the chicken is not burned on one side.
• Once the chicken is half cooked add turmeric powder, 1/4  tbsp of Machal apouba and mix it well. Continue cooking on low flame.
• Add 2 cups of  boiling hot water in the chicken, increase the heat and bring it to a boil. Check the potato's and once the potato's are cooked add the hanggam, cover the led and cook for few mins 4-5 mins. Make sure that the hanggam is not over cooked
• Add some more machal apouba, salt to taste and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 
• Serve hot with rice and eromba.

Ingredients

Dinner break....

Dinner with my floormate...food from 5 countries

Saturday brunch...Eggs with Mushroom

Scrambled Egg with Mushroom

I love eggs....boiled, fried, omelets,sunny side up, cheese omelets, half boiled, egg curry ....basically eggs cooked in all forms and one of my all time fav. dish with egg is with mushroom. This is one of those items I've been making it since I was in Delhi and have always loved it. The last time I made it one of my floor mate from Colombia liked it alot...this morning after reading few articles on Sociology n after tryin my best to understand Social Relations of production...I was hungry...really hungry so decided to make one of my fav. egg dish "Eggs with Mushroom" for brunch. The ingredients and recipe is below:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Eggs.
• 1 Onion
• 100 gm Button Mushroom
• 4-5 Garlic clove.
• 4-5 Green Chilles.
• Salt to taste.
• Olive Oil

Method:

• Finely chop the onion, Green chilies and Garlic. 
• Thinly slice the Mushrooms.
• Heat a non stick fry pan and add 3 tbsp of olive oil, add the chopped garlic and saute for 2-3 mins.
• Add the chopped onion and green chilies fry for 5 mins in low flame, now add the mushroom and cook  for another 5 mins. Mix the ingredients well and add the eggs. 
• Stir it well so that it doesn't stick on the pan and add salt. 
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. (optional)
• Serve hot with Garlic Bread.

Cooking Time :15 mins

Serves: 2

Yongchaak Singju

Yongchaak Singju is a very popular Meitei dish, its not a main dish but one of the all time fav, side dish. I like it spicy and the best is with Oumorok...worlds ex.hottest chillie. The Picture and Recipe is below.

Ingredients:

• 2 Yongchaak (Peeled and thinly chopped as the pic. above)
• 1 Oumorok  or 10 Dry Red chillies.
• Ngari
• 1 piece Fried fish (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Onion for garnish.

Method:

• Peel the yongchaak and chop it into thin pieces.
• Prepare a paste of Oumorok with Ngari & Salt (One can steam it by putting Ngari and chillies in a small steel container inside a pressure cooker or alternatively what most Meitei's do is we put the Ngari and chillie in a small steel bowl and let it cook by steam while cooking rice in a Handi or Rice Cooker)
• Mix the Chillie paste with yongchaak.
• Garnish it with onions.

Preparation Time: 20 mins

Serves: 4-5

Yongchaak Singju

Pakora Thongba

Pakora Thongba

If someone writes a book on Manipuri Cuisine esp. on the Meitei Cuisine,one will end up with volumes of  healthy & yummy vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dish. Pakora Thongba is a popular  vegetarian Meitei Dish prepared during "Ousop" (Community Feasting/Grand Feasting) and also made popular by local hotels. Pakora Thongba with mangan atouba is one of the perfect afternoon snacks. 

We normally do not make this dish at home, mainly because its not easy too cook and takes time...so in short one needs to be very patient and make the pakora very carefully...coz its the shape which makes all the difference. I wanted to attempt cooking this dish since long and finally succeeded last month and all thanks to youtube I saw this video of making Pakora Thongba, uploaded by a Manipuri  guy based in UK. This person had explained the whole process in the video (video below) and must say he sure must be quite a foodie....so with all the ingredients and the video I made my first ever attempt  and bingo....except for the shape of the Pakora the final dish was mind blowing.

( While trying to recreate the dish last week, I realized the Youtube video is not available for public view anymore, which I feel is rather sad but to me rescue my fren Dr. AN is always there. I followed her instruction and made Pakora thongba but still could not manage to make that Pakora shape, the taste was authentic though. I will try and make the dish again and upload the recipe with pictures soon)

Khejur Gur Semiya (Sevinya)

Khejur Gur- Semiya

The other  day I had gone to Saras Mela @ Children's Park in Agartala an SHG group were selling Khejur Gur  it looked much better compared to the one available in local market so I bought 1 kg  Gur and decided to make Kheer & Sevinya. 

The recipe is very simple and the final taste....waooo n just like the Lays chips add...eek baar khaoge toh khatee reh jaoge. I was google searching for Khejur Gur semiya and came across  Jayashree's blog...which is heaven for food in general and esp. bengali food lover....her blog is my current fav. as I love bengali food. Check this link for the Khejur Gur Semiya/Payesh  http://spiceandcurry.blogspot.com/2009/01/noton-gurer-payesh.html

Khejur Gur Semiya

Khejur Gur

Khejur Gur is a winter delicacy, I look fwd to winter @ Agartala every year to have Khejur Gur Semiya and Kheer. I substitute sugar with Gur in lemonade....it tastes really good.

5 Yummiest pictures from Bangkok

During my last trip to Thailand, I had some really good food....food which were different from what I have had earlier....food which made me happy even after overeating. The pic above is what I had for breakfast boiled veggies with scrambled eggs and croissant @ Hotel Rembrant, Bangkok.

This was dinner at Chiang Mai night market...the Thai Green curry..baked fish and the noodles were really yummy.

After a day tour of Chiang Mai we had lunch at this really nice place called "The Riverside Restaurant" and ordered this sweet dish...Banana Cooked in Coconut Milk.

Ahhhh....this was super yummmm, Noodles with Bamboo Shoot and loads of veggies at Chatuchak Market.

California Rolls sushi at Bangkok International Airport

My fav...veggies

Fruit salad

Veggie for the fried rice..

How abt some oosoi ooti, khichdi and lafuu iromba

Rath yatra or Kang as it is populerly known in Manipur was an interesting festival when I was a kid....participation is kang chingba and have khichdi and oosoi ooti on lotus leaves at the bamon mantop was awesome. Now only faded memories remain of those days when the word fun had a different meaning, ooti happens to be one of my all time fav. meitei dish and to have ooti with khichdi and lafuu iromba is like sone pe suhaga....cheery on cake....I like to make food interesting and have a balance diet...ooti is not easy to digest so the best combination is lafuu which is very fiberous and helps in digestion.....Meitei dishes are sure balanced...

How abt some biryani........

Chicken Biryani...I've always loved it...esp the chicken Biryani at Lucky's, Bandra, Mumbai....to me chicken briyani is another thing of beauty...like chicken tandoori I feel its another human's best invention....I learned making biryani from Nita Mehta's cookbook....I've tried few ways of cooking a biryani and from all my experiments I feel Nita Mehta's one is the best and easiest....at home everyone loves the biryani I cook... I cooked at che-tra's flat in delhi and at my cousin che-Noucha's place back home...the biryani was yummy and well...I got some good compliments....the most imp. thing about chicken biryani is masala's we use and the correct proportion of all ingredients....but the secret I guess for making anything yummy is the care and attention one pay during cooking

Yummyyy