Phulkopir Singhara (Cauliflower Samosa)

Samosa filling:

• Cut cauliflower and potatoes in small cubes.

• Heat oil in kadhai fry some peanuts keep aside, add panchphoron ( Bengali whole masala mix if you don’t have can replace that with cumin or jeera seeds) and whole dried red chilli.

• Fry for a while then adds turmeric, kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander/cumin powder, green peas, garam masala and salt. Fry it until done.

• Add some bhaja masala( dry roast cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dried red chilli, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and grind it (you can store it in an airtight container) and fried peanuts.

• The filling for the samosa is ready.

Samosa dough:

• Knead together maida or all-purpose flour, salt, sugar and oil. Keep it to relax for 30 mins.

• Make small balls and roll them in a circle shape. I have uploaded the instructional video of how to make the samosa.

• Deep fry the samosa and enjoy with green chutney or tamarind chutney or tomato ketchup.

The love story between me and my samosas goes back to my childhood. There were rarely any winters when my mother missed our yearly tradition of making samosas...now, I continue this tradition and hope to pass it on to my children.

In times like these, I often find myself reminiscing the simpler days.

How time has changed! If I told my mother I was sharing her recipe on the internet she would be astonished and find it seemingly impossible 😂

I hope this recipe provides you with some sense of warmth in these dark times...

Anyone who wants to give it a shot please don’t forget to share your feedback. If you have any questions message me and I will try to answer as soon as possible.

Methi Paneer Biryani

This is a very simple and quick recipe especially for the days when you don’t feel like cooking 😛.

• Add ghee or oil in a kadai

• Fry the paneer pieces and keep them aside

• Add whole spices (I used 1 bay leaves, 2 cinnamon) and jeera (cumin seeds).

• Add chopped garlic then chopped onion fry it little bit.

• Now add the chopped methi leaves fry it till wilted .

• Further, add tomato purée (alternately can use curd also).

• Now add the masalas: turmeric, kashmiri red chilli, coriander powder and biriyani masala little bit.

• Add the paneer

• Then add rice 🍚 with salt and sugar (this is also optional as many may not like sugar but I prefer to put to balance the taste and most importantly as am a bong 😜).

• Drizzle a spoon 🥄 full of ghee from the top and allow it to settle.

• Biriyani is ready within mins!

This is my version of the recipe. I named it biriyani because my kids will eat literally anything by that name hence, I also used biryani masala for the taste and smell of biryani as they can't just be fooled by the name! Therefore, it is absolutely optional whether or not you add biryani masala. This is a one-pot meal that you can pair with onion & cucumber raita (not pictured). Try it and share your valuable comments.

Butter Chicken Kathi Roll

Chicken Filling:

Marinate 500 g of boneless chicken (cut in small cubes) with lemon juice(1 tsp), kashmiri red chilli powder (2 tbsp) ,crushed black pepper (1/2 tsp) and salt. Add oil and butter (if you want you can use only butter) and fry the marinated chicken pieces. Once it is fried keep it aside. Add some more oil and butter add finely chopped onion (1 medium), ginger-garlic paste (1 tsp),coriander powder (1/2 tsp), kashmiri red chilli powder (1 tsp), garam masala (1/2 tsp), chopped tomato (1 medium), cream (1/2 cup) then add little warm water along with the fried chicken 🍗 pieces and let it simmer for about 10-12 mins.

Dough:

Add maida (2 cups), sugar(1 tsp), salt (1/2 tsp) and ghee (2 tsp). Mix it well first. Rub the ghee till it resembles breadcrumbs in texture then knead the dough with warm water continuously for 5 mins. Dough should be soft and smooth . Coat it with oil to prevent drying and let it rest for about 1 hour. Make equal size balls and roll it in lachha paratha style (demonstration in video) for extra flaky paratha. I used oil and flour while making the lachha in the video. Make the lachha balls and rest it again for 15 mins or it will spring back while rolling. A well relaxed dough stretches rather than springs back. Roll it like round paratha fry both sides with oil . I used eggs as I made egg chicken (my hubby’s favorite Kolkata street roll) if you want you can omit eggs. If using eggs then beat egg with salt and pepper. Pour over fried paratha, spread evenly and flip the paratha to cook the egg properly.

Assemble:

Take a paratha assemble the butter chicken pieces ,raw onion strings, chaat masala lime juice. To make it easy I added the lime juice and chaat masala with the raw onion strings). Roll it and enjoy 😊