Fish with Bamboo Shoot (Khorisa Maas)

A lot of people have asked me why I’ve named my blog ‘Khorisa’ when there’s not a single recipe with this ingredient. So here comes my first khorisa (bamboo shoot) recipe: ‘Fish with bamboo shoots’ (khorisa maas).

Ingredients:

• 5-6 pieces of Rahu fish (one may use other fishes too)
• About 100 gm grated bamboo shoots (pickled, fermented or raw)
• Two-three tablespoon oil depending on the type of pan you’re using
• One-two medium-sized tomato (cut into small pieces)
• Two green chillies
• 1/4th teaspoon white mustard seeds
• Salt to taste

Method:

Marinate the fish pieces with turmeric, salt and a dash of oil for half an hour/one hour. Pour the oil in a pan and fry the fish pieces (not too deep). Set them aside. A lot of people use ginger garlic paste in this preparation but since Abhijit prefers the undiluted taste of khorisa, I did not use any.
In the remaining oil (shouldn’t be more than one teaspoon), add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the tomatoes. Add the salt, turmeric, and green chillies. In the mean time, mix the khorisa (I have used khorisa pickle) with some water, and set aside. One may even use the grated bamboo shoots in raw or fermented form. However your cooking procedure will differ depending on how you’re using the khorisa.
When the tomatoes go pulpy, add hot water. As the gravy thickens a bit, add the fish pieces. Soon add the khorisa mixture to the preparation. Heat for some time and your ‘khorisa maas’ is ready.

Coconut laddoo (Narikol laru)

Having missed Magh Bihu (Assamese harvest festival) for the last 6-7 years, this year I managed to be right there amidst all the action – ‘meji’, ‘jolpaan’, ‘til pitha’, (rice powder roll stuffed with jaggery, sesame seeds, etc), ‘narikol laddoo’ (coconut balls), ‘ghila pitha’ (ghila pitha is a type of pancake which gets its name from ‘ghila’ meaning knee cap in Assamese; it’s so called because the pitha resembles a knee cap) and ‘til laddoo’ (sesame balls) just to name a few.
I got coconut laddoos for my friends back in Delhi and they simply loved them. Even though coconut laddoos are a common sight elsewhere in the country, I ‘simply’ love the way it is prepared in Assam – simple & easy. All you need is:

Ingredients:

• One coconut
• One cup sugar (one may also use jaggery as a substitute
• Few cloves of cardamom (optional)

Method:

Grate the coconut white. Mix the coconut and sugar and then pour them in a hot pan (grind the clove seeds and add to the mixture if you want). Stir the mixture in low flame till you get a sticky feeling (remember the stickiness has to be right for you to make a laddoo); to gauge the same, try making a laddoo. If you are able to make one, it means the mixture is ready. Turn off the gas.
With these ingredients, you can roughly prepare about 15-20 laddoos.
(Tip: If it’s too hot for you to make the laddoos, apply cold water on your hands before doing so).

Chicken Pakora

This is an all-time favorite snack of mine. Crunchy and soft, this is a must-try for all chicken lovers.

Ingredients:
• 250 gram boneless chicken (cut into medium sized pieces)cleaned and washed
• One-two teaspoon corn flour
• Two-three tablespoon mustard oil (one may even use refined oil)
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Salt to taste
• 1/4th teaspoon turmeric powder
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• Chili powder (optional)

Method:
Marinate the chicken pieces with salt, a dash of mustard oil, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste (make a ginger-garlic paste beforehand) and keep them for about 2 hours (the more the better).
Heat the oil in a pan. Take the corn flour in a bowl and dip the chicken pieces into it and then fry them by turn. When they turn brownish and crispy, take them off the pan. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve real hot!