Tuesday, April 22, 2014

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MULO PATA BATA RADISH LEAF PASTE







I hope every body has enjoyed my absence from blog by not having to go through my food blogs and  comments which have more of non-food matters than food matters. This reminds me of a famous cartoon in Eco times. Ms Fonseka and Godbole were gossiping in the office. The boss entered with a big smile and said " I am sure you have thoroughly enjoyed my vacation abroad...now get down to work".
Staying out of the blog has been quite painful. I did not realize, I had become so attached to it.
Now I am back only to read blogs, I wont be able to cook for some time. People have come to know that I am sitting idle at home. The word has spread. The other day I got a call from an old Becante ( acquaintee).
" Am I speaking to Ghosh?"
Yes
( Then, I am ****,  how are you, I am fine etc etc )
Are you available to take up a challenging assignment  in the Caribians?
" WIth Harry BelaFonte and Matilda?" I asked with excitement 
No..No...
I am not interested.
"Why" what are you doing these days?
I am just clooking, watching soap, reading food blogs and once in a while post some recipe to remain in the loop, so that my great Chef friends dont forget me.
Hummm!!!! thats strange, are you Mr Ushnish Ghosh?
Yes....very much....I find cooking vegetables and meat  more interesting than cooking chemicals, petrochemicals, Oil, Natural gas etc. I love to use chemical engineering principles in cooking.
 " You mad cap, as usual "
To cut the long story short, I have taken up a small job because I could not say No to a friend. And also SOMEONE has warned , there wont be any pocket money for lazy people. ( Between you all and me " Given a choice I will never marry again).
Let me see if I can sustain long travels across the globe, else back to kitchen and to blog.
So I am setting sail in few days to have a date with Milano and for treasure hunt..

" Fifteen men on a dead mans chest
Ya hoo hoo a bottle of rum"
Yours sincerely Long John Silver.
THE RECIPE
It is an old traditional Bengali recipe. Bata means paste or some thing which has been ground to paste like dal bata for dosa .
BATA itself opens up to numerous recipes loved by bengalis and certainly through out the country , only the ingredients vary. (Some kind of bata is there in daily food menu in south India.) For example one can make poppy seed bata as such or with fried tiny prawns, Cauliflower leaf bata, coconut bata , Man Kochu ( type of Arvi) bata, radish bata,  dry fish, coconut and poppy seed bata, raw banana peal bata, arvi sag bata   etc etc, there is no limit to the innovations. 
Most bata in Bengali recipe will have mustard, green chili and a dash of mustrad oil and coconut as a variation. Use of Coco nut is much recent for this recipe.
You can have a look at sangeetas outstanding recipe on " Bathua Sag". 
Time permitting and "No pocket money" willing , I will make all batas for you...someday.
INGREDIENTS.
Mulo sag  ( Radish leaves) torn from the stuck ( quantity will depend upon how much  Radish with leaves you bought for other purpose). Here I will take 1 cup of chopped, steamed, drained and squeezed leaves  Adjust other ingredients accordingly.
Coconut grated 1/2 to 3/4 cup 
green chili 4 ( more the merrier)
mustard seed 2 tsp
black pepper 8-10 number
Mustard oil 1 tsp ( Raw mustard oil eaters can add 2 tsp)
Salt 

PROCESS
Tear out the leaves from the stem and chop coarse.
Blanch in boiling water with salt for 3-4 minutes, drain, quench with cold water.
Squeeze the water out.
Grind the grated coconut.
Grind the mustard, green chili, black pepper.
Grind the leaves to very thick paste. ( The Mixi , I have, is no good). ( SOMEONE has strong muscles, so she grinds it on " Sil , NoDa" , (a contraption made of a flat granite stone and a  cylindrical granite piece.) and I act as a cheer leader to enthuse her. I recall I had to pay 7 Kg excess baggage when I carried this to Korea for my use) 
For grinding methods, I leave it to you to decide, at the end it should be  thick paste and not a slurry.
Mix all together and adjust salt.

Eat with hot rice.

THANK YOU
I never thought I would get so much involved in blogging, I never thought I would get so much support  from all of you to continue this blog. Actually reading food blog is my obsession , it is like reading a novel...and these are  genuine recipes. Each recipe comes from the kitchen of  great cooks for whom cooking is a hobby and serious  business too.
So, I may not be able to post but will spend my time enjoying reading the recipes , cook and eat virtually. Thank you so much and see you from Milano after 6th Feb, for next few weeks.

Flowers for my friends
Himalayan wild flowers


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