Mishtimukh (মিষ্টিমুখ)

Mishtimukh (মিষ্টিমুখ) refers to anything sweet. The word literally means sweet(mishti মিষ্টি)mouth(mukh মুখ). Sweets are part of all auspicious event(s) of a Bangali life. Starting from the announcement of birth of a newborn to Kulkhani (prayer meeting held 3 days after burial), sweets are everywhere. Sweets are big part of weddings especially gaye holud (ceremony preceding wedding). Sweets are present when we pass major exams of our lives to when we get a new job. There are many traditional Benagli sweets, but a lot of desserts from other cuisines have entered Bangli kitchens and now claim their special space in our palate. There are 3 basic classes of Bengali sweets.

o    Sweets from the sweet shop: Usually this kind of sweets are made by moyra or a sweet maker and almost always never made at home. When I first moved abroad, my intense craving for mawa laddu of Alauddin Sweetmeat or the mishit-doi of Bikrampur mishtanno bhander pushed me to try different recipes. You will find some of these recipes in this blog. 

o    Pitha: Mostly homemade using rice flour, jiggery, and sometimes shredded coconut. Back in the days in the midst of the joint family, women had time to create different pithas and decorate them using different method. For the modern nuclear family household where woman are often juggling child rearing, work and household chores, the art of pitha making is gradually decreasing.

o    Other homemade sweets

•  Payesh: mostly milk based. Most common form is “poromanno” or what is popularly known in the west as rice-pudding. This can also be made by cream of wheat, luchi (deep fried small round flat bread)or different kind of rice. Most popular choice of rice is kalijeera or polau er chal. You may also use basmati if you like.
•  Halua: Also known as halva. It is mostly flour, ghee (clarified butter) and sugar based.
•  Cake: The British might have left India in 1947 but their legacy still prevails. No literary work before the Company era mentioned “cake”. This is one culinary gift that the British left for us.

Cream of wheat pudding (সুজির পায়েস): 

This recipe is part of the mishtimukh group. For details about “mishtimukh” see my post on mishtimukh. This would fall under payesh category.

Ingredients:

o   Milk 1 liter

o   Cream of Wheat 50 gm

o   Sugar 5 TBSP or as per your taste

o   Lemon Zest 1 tsp

o   Almond slices handful

Method:

• On a heavy bottom pan, simmer the milk over low flame to reduce in half. Make sure to stir frequently. Otherwise you might end up with a scorched pan and burned milk.
• When the milk is reduced to half, put the cream of wheat into the milk slowly. You should constantly stir the milk while adding the cream of wheat so that the cream of wheat doesn’t form any clump. I used an egg bitter but feel free to use any spatula or fork.
• After about 3 minutes, start adding the sugar as per your taste. 
• After about 5 minutes, add the lemon zest and let everything simmer for about couple of minutes.
• Pour the pudding on a serving dish. Garnish with Almond slices.
• Serve chilled  

Moroccan style chicken kebab:

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast: I lb.
• Olive oil: 3 Tbsp. + extra for frying 
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Garlic: 3 cloves finely chopped
• Cumin (ground): 1.5 tsp.
• Coriander (ground): 1 tsp.
• Chili powder: 1 tsp.
• Cinnamon (ground): ¼ tsp.
• Oregano (dried): ½ tsp.
• Onion (cut as rings): 1 cup
• Cilantro (chopped): as garnish
• Salt: to taste

Method:

• Cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces
• In a ziplock bag, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, cinnamon, oregano salt & chicken. Marinade 8-12 hours or overnight and make sure turn the bag couple of times during that time.
• On a frying pan, heat some olive oil and stir fry the chicken pieces until brown.
• On a separate pan, heat some more oil and stir fry the onion till translucent.
• Once the onion is done, add the cooked chicken pieces and stir fry for 2 minutes or until onions and chicken pieces mixed well.
• Garnish with the cilantro 

Recipe has been adopted from the book 100 Best Classic Tapas published by Parragon Books.

Broccoli with toasted sesame:

Ingredients:

• Broccoli: 300 gms
• Onions: chopped 1 cup
• Garlic: thinly chopped 1 tsp
• Dried red chili: 2-3
• Sweet soy sauce: 3 tbsp
• Sesame seeds: 2 tsp
• Oil: 1 tbsp
• Salt: to taste

Method:

• Toast the sesame seeds and set aside
• Cut broccolis into florets and blench. To do this, put a pot full of water to boil. Once the water starts to boil, add salt and turn down the stove to medium. Add the broccoli florets to this water and take them out within 1 minute. If you choose, you can put these florets into a bucket full of ice water. In doing so, you stop the cooking process immediately. I have to admit; I was a little lazy today and didn’t want to do the extra step of ice-bath for my broccoli. I just dunked them into the saline solution and got done with it.
• On a separate frying pan, heat oil.
• Add the onion, garlic and re chilies. Stir for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the blenched broccoli. Continue to stir for another 5 minutes
• Add the soy sauce, reduce heat and stir occasionally for another 5-8 minutes or until the soy sauce gets incorporated with broccoli.
• Garnish with the toasted sesame seeds

Salmon Fish Chochori

Fish is an integral part of Bengali cooking. As a Bengali living abroad, I try to incorporate local ingredients with traditional Bengali style of cooking. Chochori is a very traditional Bengali cooking method which is anything (vegetable, fish etc) grated and then stir fried. 

Ingredients:

• Salmon fish: 500 gm
• Turmeric: 2-2.5 tsp
• Salt: to taste
• Mustard oil: 2 tbsp
• Onion: 2 medium (chopped into thin slices)
• Serrano pepper: 4-5 (split in the middle lengthwise)
• Cilantro: 1 bunch

Method:

o       Clean and wash the fish

o       Rub the clean fish with turmeric and salt

o       Shallow fry the fish in hot oil. Please keep in mind that Salmon is an oily fish, so use very little oil.  

o       Once all the fish is fried, grate them into small pieces either with your hand or with a fork. If you are not using filet, make sure to de-bone the fish at this time.

o       On the same oil, add the chopped onion and peppers and stir fry them for 3-4 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent

o       Add the grated fish and stir fry for 5-8 minutes

o       Add chopped cilantro

o       Serve with hot rice

Some common and uncommon ingredients in Bengali cooking

Spices:

Spices:

Bangla Name	English Name	Scientific Name
রাধুনি	Celery seed	Apium graveolens
জোয়ান	Carom seed	Trachysprmum ammi
মিষ্টি জিরা/ মৌরী	Fennel	Foeniculum vulgare
তেজপাতা	Bay Leaf	Laurus nobilis
কাবাব চিনি	Allspice	Pimenta dioica
মেথি	Fenugreek	Trigonella foenum-graecum
আদা	Ginger	Zingiber officinale
রসুন	Garlic	Allium sativum
হলুদ	Turmeric	Curcuma longa
দারচিনি	Cinnamon	Cinnamomum zeylanicum
ছোট এলাচি	Cardamom	Ellattaria Cardamomum
বড় এলাচি	Black Cardamom	Amomum subulatum
লবঙ্গ	Clove	Syzygium aromaticum
মরিচ	Chili	Capsicum annuum
জিরা	Cumin	Cuminum cyminum
ধনিয়া	Coriander	Coriandrum sativum
জয়ত্রী	Mace	Myristica fragrans
জায়ফল	Nutmeg	Myristica fragrans

Vegetables:

Bangla Name	English Name	Scientific Name
লাউ	Bottle gourd/Calabash	Lagenaria siceraria
করলা	Bitter ourd/ Bitter  melon	Momordica charantia
মিষ্টি কুমড়া	Pumpkin	Cucurbita moschata
পুই শাক	Malabar spinach	Basella alba
মেথি শাক	Fenugreek greens	Trigonella foenum-graecum
কলমি শাক	Water Spinach	Ipomoea aquatica
বেগুন	Eggplant/ Brinjal/ Aubergin	Solanum melongena
মুলা	Daikon	Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus
আলু	Potato	Solanum tuberosum
মিষ্টি আলু	Sweet potato	pomoea batatas
পটল	Pointed gourd/Parwal	Trichosanthes dioica
চিচিঙ্গা	Snake gourd	Trichosanthes cucumerina
ঢেরস	Okra	Abelmoschus esculentus
ফুলকপি	Cauliflower	Brassica oleracea var. botrytis
বাধাকপি	Cabbage	Brassica oleracea var. capitata
ঝিঙ্গা	Ridge gourd/ Chinese Okra	Luffa acutangula
নুনিয়া  শাক	Purslane	Portulaca oleracea