Bihari Tomato Chutney

Bihari Tomato Chutney

From here 

This is the recipe I found in my cookbook "Ruchira -Part 2". I must admit that I haven't eaten authentic Bihari food before. But that didn't stop me to explore and enjoy this new cuisine in my kitchen. I have tasted some Bihari munchies though! I had a colleague in India, who was from Bihar. He used to live in the hostel so he never brought any homecooked meal to work. (By the way, I should mention, that our lunch at work used to be a gastranomic heaven where we tasted food and exchanged/argued/discussed/shared recipes from most of the parts of India!). But around Diwali time, he used to go back to Bihar for 2 weeks holidays and always used to bring some munchies for the whole gang. It was fun trying those delicasies which were refreshingly different. and this guy, had no clue about how to make them so I never could have any of the recipes of those delicious treats. I vaguely remember he used to call them "Pakwaans". But I am not sure if it was just used to refer "the treats" in general or a particular snack.

Well, I hope that with RCI: Bihar, someone may share those crunchy munchies!

Anyway, here's the recipe for Tomato chutney that I have adapted from the cookbook "Ruchira" by Mrs. Kamalabai Ogale. This recipe reminded me of "Methamba" recipe but due to the presence of "Panchphoran", it has a distinct unique flavor.

Bihari Tomato Chutney (serves 4)

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

4-5 red tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp kalonji seeds

salt to taste

1 tbsp raw cane sugar

1 tsp paprika

Method

1. Heat oil in a saucepan.

2. Add all the seeds. As they splutter, add chopped tomatoes.

3. Stir till they become soft and mushy. Add salt, paprika and sugar.

4. Simmer for 7 minutes till water is mostly eavaporated.

Note

1. Jaggery can be substituted instead of raw cane sugar.

This is my entry for RCI:Bihar. I would like to send this post to Sangeeta at Ghar ka Khana

Aalu Bhunjia – RCI Bihar

Aalu Bhunjia – RCI Bihar

From here

November 20, 2007 — ruchii

For this Month’s RCI-Cuisine of Bihar  hosted by Sangeeta of Ghar ka Khana,I decided to make simple and authentic Bhirai Bhunjia(Dry crispy curry) using aloo, for which we need a mixture of 5 spice called Panchforan/Panchapurna. This is the first time I used this spice  and really liked the crunch of it with aloo. Read about Bhunjia here.
I followed the recipe of Mohita Prasad from Bawarchi.com.

Here is how I made Aalu Bhunjia
3 Potatoes – Thinly sliced and skin removed
Turmeric powder, red chilli powder, corriender- cumin powder 1 tsp of each.
For Panchaforan/5 spice

1.  Saunf/Fennel Seeds
2.  Sarson/Mustard seeds
3. Methi/Fenugreek seeds
4. Ajwain/Carom seeds
5. Mangraila/Nigella seeds/Onion seeds  ( 1tsp of each mixed together)

•  Heat oil in a pan  add about 2 tsb of panchforan/5 spice mix and add potatoes and fry untill crisp on outside. Takes about 5- 7 minutes on med- high heat. 
• Add all the spice powders, salt mix well . This is how I made Aalu Bhunjia.

   Along with Bhunjia I made channadal curry and mooli methi paratha .
For ChannaDal curry-Cook 1/2 cup of channa dal till soft. Chop onion ,tomatoes and green chilles and do the tempering  with oil and mustard seeds. Saute veggies and add to cooked channa dal. Adjust salt to taste.
For Mooli-Methi Paratha- 2 cups of Whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup of grated white raddish/mooli and 2 tbsp of dried fenugreek leaves/ methi leaves. Mix everthing together with little salt and chilli power with enough water to make to stiff dough.  Make parathas.
We enjoyed our rustic Bhirai meal.

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