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| Egg roll love |
There were rotis for dinner which we didn’t end up having as the khichda and khamiri roti were there.
Kolkata egg rolls were the obvious answer this morning with Deff Leppard on Alexa giving me company in the kitchen.
Two with shosh (sauce) for me. One without for K. I like sauce in egg rolls and mutton without.
We both love fried onions over raw. The capsicum that I added being a Park Istreet (street) touch. Green chillies are a must for K.
She fell in love with rolls (and phuchkas) on her first trip to Kolkata itself.
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| Roll up |
Aata rotis make them more ‘mom approved’ over the original maida lachha parathas used even if not the real deal.
The squeeze of lime at the end makes all the difference.
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| Plates by Izia Jivan |
The plates were gifted to us by our young and very gifted potter and cat lover friend and neighbour, Inzia Jivan. Do check out her Instagram page @magichands_ceramics to see her work and to place orders.
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| Thank you Gia Mao |
The bell rang just after breakfast and they were cookies sent by Gia. Another young and talented neighbour of ours. She chronicles her baking stories at @dining_with_mao She had ordered these from Theobroma and sent it to us for the bloganniversary yesterday, little Nimki’s 2 month anniversary of staying with us the day before and Baby Loaf’s 8 month anniversary of staying with us, which is today.
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| Eighth months with us. We love you Baby Loaf! |
Would you believe this? I typed the words Baby Loaf and he surfaced from below the study bed and settled down in front of me while I typed. How I wish he lives for a hundred years.
In a major landmark in the relationship between the boys, K spotted Baby Loaf hold little Nimki in his arms and clean the little one’s ears. I missed the moment and so did you as she was not carrying her phone with her!
My mom feels that the boys are brothers as their tails are identical. My didu thinks Baby Loaf is a reincarnation of someone who loved me a lot. As I am sure, little Nimki is too. I called her today and she wasn’t feeling too well because of her knee pain. I told her stories of the boys and I could hear her smile
Gia and Inzia and her sister Zai are all dear friends of both Loaf and Nimki and have looked after them from even before us.
Lunch was rather Bengali too and starred fish fry which would make Loaf happy.
If I saw the plate above in a party then the Bengali in me would tell you, ‘this is not how we eat. It should be course by course.’ I confess that convenience ruled my plate today, but I did eat course by course.
Yesterday’s mushuri dal with fresh rice, first with cauliflower sautéed with nigella seeds and house spices in mustard oil, then last night’s begun pora (smoked aubergine with mustard oil drizzled in) and finally kaatla smeared in house spices and fried in mustard oil. ‘House spices’ as in turmeric and chilli powder with salt!
The fish was delivered by Poonam of Khar market a few days back and exquisite. Was fried well by our cook, Banu, who cooked the rest with my recipes.
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| Mishti Debi |
For mishti mookh (dessert) there was Lindt dark with sea salt. Talking of Mishti Debi, little Nimki’s mum, she seems to have grown quite well thanks to the kind souls looking after her. We do not feed her that often now but this is a pic from last night. In case you are wondering, she never took to Nimki after she returned from being spayed so we thought it was best to take him in.
The idea of food being cooked in mustard oil would make me want to throw up as a kid. Now a regular in our kitchen for the past couple of years. We all grow up I guess. I mean, who would have thought that a meal of dal and rice would ever excite me? Not my mom for sure, when I was a kid!
PS: Since I was asked on Insta, I moved into Kolkata when I was 8 and had not been exposed to mustard oil. It took me a while to get used to its strong taste and smell. Years actually! That’s all. Now I enjoy it.
You will find an article on my blog about how smoked aubergine could be India’s most ‘federal dish.’
And this is the post on our turning 13.
Here’s how I make egg rolls:
From the #FinelyChoppedKitchen playlist
Love bites
Pour some sugar on me
Hysteria
