Baingan Bharta with Panch Phoron

I wanted to break away from the standard mix of powdered spices (dhania, jeera, and garam masala) and give a little twist to the north Indian version of baingan bharta. I also wanted to dispense with the haldi and the onions to bring out the flavours of the 'whole'/(unpowdered) spices that I would be using.

* Aside - I remember the standard Bengali 'Begun Bhorta' as something that just blends coal char-cooked aubergine/begun(bengali)/baingan(hindi) with chopped green chillies and raw (and VERY strong) mustard oil and that is served piping hot on some steaming rice...

I've recently bought myself a granite mortar and pestle to grind wet spices.  I find a marked difference in taste and texture when I use this compared to a quick whirl in the mixer-grinder. So... The ginger and garlic went it it for a quick grind...

I got bugged with the mess when I tried char-grilling things on a gas oven, so, I've resorted to using an iron mesh. Very nifty. The baingan cooked on it for about 7 minutes.

I keep turning it to get it to cook evenly. It shrinks considerably after it is done...

I like the charred flavour, so I kept most of the skin. You can remove it if you don't like it as much. I squashed it and got ready to dunk into the phoron/chaunk that was sputtering on the other hob. 

While the baingan/aubergine was cooking, I warmed up some mustard oil in a pan (this needs a good dollop of oil. Putting in too little makes for a not-so-nice bharta). The panch phoron and the ground ginger and garlic happily cooked and sputtered sending a splendid aroma wasting around. The cat decided to drop in through the kitchen window. I got it off the platform quickly and got going again. 

The baingan/aubergine landed in the pan and I sautéed it for a while to work the flavours in. 

I added some tomatoes, since they provide a bit of a contrast and sautéed some more...

...and voila! My dinner was ready.

Tomato Porar Chutney

I'd decided to make something with panch phoron after digging in and deciding to write about it.... So...

Here is something very easy (it took me around 15min). I made this yesterday night for dinner. Had it along with Begun Bhorta and chappati.

Although you can just chop the tomatoes and throw them in the pan, I like the slightly charred flavours that come with things cooked directly on a fire. Much as I would prefer wood, I had a gas oven at my disposal at 10 in the night when I decided to make this for dinner after playing with the cat.

I put a bit of wire mesh on the oven to char and cook, since it does not mess up my gas oven. You can see the tomatoes happily cooking here... It took five minutes. I did not have tongs (or chimtay as we say in Bengali) so I used chopsticks to turn the tomatoes over after the part on the fire was done.

While the tomatoes were cooking, I added the panch phoron to some smoking hot mustard oil.

Soon the tomatoes joined the party in the pan with  the panch phoron. Be careful not to burn the panch phoron. You can see the ideal colour of the spices in this photo.

Then I added a wee little bit of sugar. You could too, if you like a sweet and tangy chutney like me (although my origins are more bangal (east bengal) ghotis or people who origins lie in the western part of Bengal would prefer this).
  

Tada! I'd some warm comfort food (that was surprisingly healthy!) to eat for dinner.

Try this out and let me know how it turned out...

Paanch Phoron...

Anchal asked me for the ingredients of paanch phoron. To make quintessential Bengali food you MUST have this in  your kitchen armoury.


The wikipedia article about paanch phoron is quite succinct and and to the point:

Panch phoron has the following ingredients in equal measure:

• Fenugreek (মেথি methi)
• Nigella seed (কালো জিরা kalo jira)
• Cumin seed (জিরা jira)
• Radhuni (রাধুনি radhuni)
• Fennel seed (সঁওফ sőf or মৌরি mouri)

I usually buy the ingredients separately and and roast them on a tava before cooling and mixing them. I find that I get better flavour this way rather than buying the spices pre-mixed.

Radhuni is rather exotic and difficult to get outside Bengal. At a pinch I replace it with plain mustard seeds (very neutral as a flavour when fried). The end taste is almost similar but I'd rather wait and use radhuni instead of substituting it. Adding ajwain (it is from the same family as radhuni) does not really go well. The flavour goes completely ka-bing.

People looking for kalo jira, outside Bengal/Orissa, I'm sure, have faced problems like I did. You get offered everything from shah jeera to sabza, till you realize that it is called kalonji in many places. In fact it there is a disambiguation page for black cumin on wikipedia!

(To digress a bit, sabza is actually a bunch of basil seeds... I'm sure most people don't realize this when they have it in falooda :) ) 

What really intrigues me are the similarities with the balance of flavours 

in panch phoron when you compare it to Chinese five spice, both:

• Share fennel (mouri/saunf) as a common 'sweet'ening element
• Have a spice that gives another undertone of sweetness (star anise in Chinese five spice and fennel in panch phoron)
• Share an element of 'heat' as an undertone (radhuni in panch phoron and sichuan peppers in Chinese five spice)
• Work on the principal of balancing flavours (yin and yang as the Chinese would put it 

I will cook a few things with panch phoron and post later. Makes no sense in writing so much and not using the darn spice :)

Phulkopir Torkari

This started out as a make-do curry cooked for a quick lunch. After some incessant gorging on yummy Bengali wedding food at Vaswar's marriage, I just wanted some simple home cooked food. I took what ever was there in the fridge and in the spice cupboard and put this together.

First I smashed some ginger and tossed it in with paanch phoron (Bengali mix of five whole spices) and two medium sized tomatoes in mustard oil. To this I added a little turmeric and some Kashmiri chilly powder to add some colour.

I then added the chopped cauliflower (phulkopi in Bengali) florets and coated the mixture. Covered the cooking vessel and let it cook a bit.

  Once the cauliflower is cooked a little I added some peas (the last few peas from a retreating winter :( ) and then the chopped methi.

Voila! The phulkopir torkari is ready :)