Bengali recipe: Luchi and Aloor Dum

Recipe: Luchi and Aloor Dum 

Chicken, duck, fish, veggies... our city celebs are as versatile in the kitchen as outside it. We asked seven of them to rustle up a dish this festive season. Sure, they said, and got chopping, cleaning, cooking, serving... it's time to dig in

I am a big foodie, but being in my profession, I have to watch my diet. I love Bengali cuisine and Chingri malaikari, Chholar Dal, Karaishuntir Kochuri, Kasha Manghso are my all-time favourites. Whenever I travel, I try the local cuisine. Once, when I was in Italy, I gorged on local delicacies though all of them had lots of cheese! At home, I freak out on my mom's Gajar ka Halwa and the awesome food that my sisters-in-law, Upasana and Bhavna, cook. Mohna, my wife, experiments with food and I just have to try them every day!

Jeet's Noneless Betki Bhapa

Ingredients

Boneless bekti: Cut into pieces

Mustard paste: 2 tbsp

Green chilli: 6

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Onions: 4, chopped

Cooking oil: 1/4 cup

Salt: To taste

Method: Make a fine paste of the mustard and green chillies. Heat oil in a frying pan and add onions. Saute until onions turn brown. Add all the masala and the mustard paste. Stir fry for some minutes, add 1/3 cup of warm water (or more) and then add fish pieces. Mix thoroughly and cook in low heat until fish is tender, the extra water evaporates and the oil separates.

Locket Chatterjee

Ask me about my favourite food and I'll shut my eyes and answer — fish! Which means that any dish that has fish in it, works well for me. My all-time favourite is continental baked fish, but that is not to say that I don't like Indian fish curries. Being a Bangali, I love all sorts of fish dishes. The Goan fish curry is something I keep having from time to time. But here's a secret: when I'm depressed, I don't eat at all.

Locket's Luchi Aloor Dum

Ingredients

For the aloor dum Onion: 1 large

Garlic: 12 flakes

Ginger: 2 tbsp

Baby potatoes: 1/2 kg

Green peas: 1/2 cup

Cooking oil: 3 tbsp

Coriander leaves: Shredded

Salt to taste

For the luchi: Maida: 2 cups

Warm water: 3/4 cup

A pinch of salt

Refined oil: 2 tbsp, for the dough

Method: Knead the maida with the water, oil and salt and make a soft dough. Set aside. Boil the potatoes till they are tender and add the green peas. Grind the onion, ginger and garlic and make a paste. Add oil to a pan, stir fry the paste, add salt, the potatoes, add peas. Add a cup of water and boil till you get a dry Aloor Dum. Now, make small balls of the dough, roll them into Luchi and deep fry. Serve with lemon wedges and green chilli.

Bickram Ghosh

I have stayed abroad on my own for a long time. So I am always game to cook stuff that is easy to rustle up. I've got into a habit of making pasta and other light Mexican food which just needs some tossing. My son, Tatin, really likes pasta so I make it for him at times. However, I am a t rue-blue gastronome and am willing to experiment with any kind of food. Which means I can try anything from Japanese to Biryani. Whenever I am upset, sweet dishes like Bangali Payesh, help lift my mood.

Pesto Pasta a-la-Bickram

Ingredients

Bow tie pasta: Boiled, enough to serve two

Capsicum, tomato, red, yellow and green peppers: Sliced, 1 small bowl

Pesto sauce to taste Parmesan cheese: Grated, 1/2 cup

Olive oil: 2 tbsp

A dash of butter

Almonds: Blanched and sliced (optional)

Method: Boil the pasta so that it does not become too soft. Pour the olive oil and add the butter to a pan. Add the vegetables. As they sizzle, add the pasta, some pesto sauce, the parmesan cheese and the almonds. Mix well and serve hot. Enjoy it with a glass of wine.

Silajit

I love to taste different stuff, but my favourite is rice, Posto and Machher Tok cooked by my mom. Food is the means of celebration in my studio, which is called Antenna, and all my band members take turns to cook. For CT, we went to Bantala to buy duck and my two partners, Khyanda and Handa were great helps in the kitchen.

Duck Silajitia

Ingredients

Duck meat: 2 kg

Ginger: 100 gm

Garlic: 50 gm

Green chilli: 30 gm

Red tomato: 4

Green tomato: 4

Yellow capsicum: 1

Red capsicum: 1

Garam masala: 4 tsp

Onion: 500 gm

Oil: 250 gm

Salt and sugar to taste

Hot water: 4 cups

Method Pour the oil in a pan. Mix the chopped ginger, onion and garlic with the meat and stir fry. Add garam masala, cover the pan and cook on low heat for some time and add the chopped chillies. Duck meat needs even cooking so that it turns tender. Once cooked, add the tomatoes and the capsicum. Stir for another two minutes and serve with steamed rice and a plate of green salad. This is enough to serve nine people.

Agnimitra Paul

I'm a vegetarian, but I love to cook non-veg as well. I try different cuisines when I go out — especially Thai and Chinese. But wanna know my favourite? Seddho Bhaat with ghee and Jhuri Aloo Bhaja! For me, that's the best food in the world. And when I'm depressed, the one thing that keeps me going is comfort food like ice creams, loads of mishti, chocolates and chanachur.

Agni's Chicken cheese balls

Ingredients

Chicken: 1 whole

Cheese cubes: 2, grated

Onion paste: 4 tbsp

Ginger paste: 1 tbsp

Black pepper: 2 tbsp

Coriander: 4 stalks, shredded

Ajinomoto: A pinch

Eggs: 4 Cornflour

Salt to taste

Refined oil to deep fry

Method: Boil the chicken and remove the bones. Chop the meat into a fine mince. Mix the mince with the spices, onion, grated cheese, ajinomoto and make small balls. Beat the eggs and keep them in a bowl. Roll the balls lightly in a bowl of cornflour and then in the eggs and deep fry in a wok. Garnish with salads and serve.

Neeraj & Jessica

"I'm not too fussy about food but I prefer healthy stuff," says Neeraj. If he gets angry, you'll find him popping a chocolate. As for Jessica, she loves gorging on colourful and spicy food. Salads with tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, eggplant and other fresh vegetables are her favourite. What's her comfort food when she gets upset? A bowl of steaming soup!

N&J Stuffed chicken roast

Ingredients

Chicken: 1 whole

Ginger paste: One-and-a-half tbsp

Pepper: A pinch

Ajinomoto: A pinch

Soya sauce: 1 tbsp

Vinegar: I tbsp

Salt to taste, a pinch of sugar

Boiled potatoes, carrots, beans

Bacon

Method: Clean and marinate the chicken with the spices, sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt for an hour. On a light plate, roast the chicken in rice bran oil on a low flame. When it's half done stuff it with the boiled potatoes, carrots, beans and bacon. Roast again on low flame till the meat turns tender. Microwave the chicken for 10 minutes to ensure the stuffing has been properly cooked. Serve with lettuce, sausages and cubed tomatoes or a fresh green salad
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