Shubho Bijoya!

METHI PULAO
Methi pulao is a healthy dish prepared with fenugreek leaves and vegetables. I have added carrot and peas to make the methi favours mild and to balance its slight bitterness.

You can use other vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, capsicum or veggies of your choice.

Ingredients
2 cup basmati rice
1 bundle methi leaves, chopped
½ cup thinly sliced onions
½ inch ginger (crushed)
4-5 clove garlic (crushed)
3-4 green chilli (crushed)
¼ cup ghee
½ tsp cumin seed
1 black cardamom
2 green cardamoms
1 inch cinnamon
3 cloves
1-2 single strand of mace
½ cup carrot (cut into cubes)
½ cup peas
Salt to taste

Method
Rinse basmati rice in water then soak the rice for 30 minutes. Drain the rice and keep aside. Heat ghee in a pan and sauté cumin seeds, cardamoms cinnamon, cloves and mace. Add sliced onions and stir till they start turning golden. Then add crushed ginger, garlic and green chilli. Stir and sauté till the raw aroma goes away. Now add methi leaves. Stir for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Then add vegetables to it and stir well. Add rice and stir for a minutes. Add water and season with salt. Cook until the water is fully reduced with the lid on. Now leave them in low heat for 10 minutes. When it is done, garnish and serve hot.

MUTTON MASALA
Ingredients
1 kg mutton (cut into small pieces)
2 big onion, chopped
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
6 black peppercorns
2 cinnamon stick
2 big tomatoes
1 tbsp coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp cumin powder
5-6 twigs coriander leaves, chopped
4 cloves
½ cup oil
Salt to taste

Method
Put cloves, cinnamon stick, mutton, black peppercorn and water in a pan and cook till mutton is tender. Heat oil in a separate pan and sauté chopped onions in it. Add tomatoes and cook till soft. Add ginger and garlic paste to it and mix well. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt and garam masala. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Now put mutton mixture in it and cook over low heat till the gravy thickens. Garnish it with coriander leaves. Mutton masala is ready to serve.

RUI MACHER DUM CURRY
Fish dum curry is a famous dish prepared in every Hyderabadi kitchen. It is prepared with different nutty ingredients, which are blended into a paste and then cooked. Dum involves slow cooking with the lid covered and not letting go of any steam. It can be made on all special occasions and can be served with rice or rotis.

Ingredients
500g rui fish
1 cup fried onion
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
½ tsp cumin paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ cup yoghurt
1 tbsp mix nut paste
5 green chillies
Salt and sugar to taste
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Method
In a bowl, mix all ingredients except the fried onions. Leave them for half an hour. Now take a large pan, put half of the fried onion, marinated fish and then the remaining fried onion. Add green chilli to it. Now cover and seal the pan with flour dough. Cook in low heat for 10 minutes. Now place an iron wok on the stove, keep the pan of partially cooked fish on top and cook on low heat for a 15 minutes. Remove from heat and prepare to serve.

ALOO POSTO
One of the very popular Bengali recipes is aloo posto. It is a delicious side dish, which goes well with rice and daal. Prepared with potato and poppy seeds, aloo pasto is easy to make. So, this puja, make lip smacking potato with poppy seeds and relish it with your loved ones.

Ingredients
5 potatoes
½ cup oil
5 green chillies
2 bay leaves
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp poppy seeds
Salt to taste

Method
Boil, peel and cut the potatoes into thick cubes. Set aside. Grind poppy seeds, three green chillies, turmeric powder and salt in a mixture grinder to form a thick paste. Now, smear the paste onto the potato cubes. Heat the oil. First, fry the bay leaves and chillies. Next, add the potatoes and fry on low heat, stirring all the while. Fry the potatoes on medium flame first, then on simmer, as the oil gets heated up. After frying the potatoes until golden brown. Drain the oil and then remove them off the flame. Serve aloo posto hot with rice and daal.

DOI ILISH
Ingredients
8 pieces ilish mach
½ cup oil
1 cup thickly sliced onions and a handful thinly sliced onions for garnishing
Salt to taste
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp mustard paste
8-10 green chillies
1 cup yoghurt
1 tsp sugar

Method
Wash the fish. On a pan, heat oil. Add onions and fry until the onions turn slightly golden. Now add the salt, coriander and red chilli powder. Stir until the oil starts to float on top. Add the fish pieces and mustard paste, and cook for a while. Add green chillies and yoghurt. Sprinkle the sugar and stir for a bit. While stirring make sure the fish pieces do not break. Cook until the water of yoghurt dries up. On a separate pan fry the one handful of thinly sliced onions until golden brown. Sprinkle the fried onions on top of the doi Ilish when it is served.

KHOYA BARFI
Ingredients
1 cup khoya, crumbled
¼ cup ghee
½ cup powdered sugar
1 pinch cardamom powder

Method
Heat ghee in a heavy based pan and add the khoya. Stir till mixture collects together in the centre. Add the sugar and mix well, stirring all the time over low heat, till sugar dissolves. Continue cooking-stirring so that it does not get scorched. Cook till it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball in the centre. Transfer on to a greased plate, pat to make level and leave to cool. Cut when cool and serve.

PANTUVA
Ingredients
2½ cups sugar
1½ cups water
4 cups channa
3-4 cup semolina flour
4 tbsp ghee
1 cup khoya
Handful raisins
2½ cups ghee

Method
Make a thin sugar syrup with sugar and water. Kneed the channa and semolina flour, by adding ghee to make a smooth paste. Divide the mixture into 20 equal portions. Roll to forms balls. Heat oil or ghee and fry the ball until golden brown. Drain and immerse in syrup for half an hour, and serve.