While you enjoy the day playing with colours, some delish food cannot be left out from the celebrations. If you are willing to cook something yummy on Holi, but do not want to spend much time in the kitchen, then we have got you covered! My Kolkata buzzed two popular home chefs — Subhojit Sen and Sayani Sengupta — in town to get their favourite hassle-free yet sumptuous recipes for Holi lunch or dinner.
The duo has collaborated on curating a Holi-special menu and they are fully booked! But, to bring some joy through comfort food, Sayani and Subhojit brings to you a rice and side combo to enjoy on the festival of colours.
Narkol Dudh e Murgir Pulao
Sayani Sengupta owns Gooseberri and recently has collaborated with The Locavore as a team lead of chef volunteers for their Millet Revival Project. Dishing out the recipe of Narkol Dudh e Murgir Pulao, Sayani said, “Dol Jatra or Holi was always a busy day for us as kids. Playing and running around the entire day with cousins, getting hungry post the festivities and then diving into loaded plates of food. This was the day when the entire family would be drenched in colours, hence food had to be tasty and quick to make.” So a traditional family recipe was tweaked to make it hasty. She adds, “Narkol Dudh e Murgi Pulao is a quick one-pot meal. It is super tasty and it reminds me of my childhood. The dish is aromatic and flavourful.”
Ingredients
- Any medium grained rice (not necessarily aromatic): 2 cups
- Chicken, curry cut: 8 pieces
- Big potatoes cut into 4 pieces each: 2
- Bay leaves: 2
- Cloves: 4
- Cinnamon: 2 inch
- Cardamom: 4
- Mace and nutmeg powder mix: 1/4 tsp
- Roughly hand pounded crushed ginger-garlic - 1 tbsp
- Onions chopped fine: 1 big
- Ghee: 4 tbsp
- Coconut milk: 1½ cup
- Rosewater - 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Lemon juice: 2 tsp
- Boiling Water: 2 ½ cups
Method
- Wash rice well till water runs clear and soak for 30 minutes. Drain well and let it air dry for 30 minutes more
- In a pot, put one-and-a-half tablespoons of ghee and saute the drained rice in low to medium flame till the rice grains turn translucent and feel light in weight. Take the rice out in a bowl
- In the same pot, put the remaining ghee, whole spices and wait till it sputters
- Put the chopped onion and fry on low to medium heat till it becomes translucent. Do not let it brown
- Put the crushed ginger garlic and saute well in low heat for approximately 5 minutes till nice aroma releases
- Put in the chicken and potato, salt and saute in low heat. Cover and let it cook in its own juices for 8 minutes. If required, just splash 2 tablespoons of water in between so that it doesn't burn
- Cook till potatoes and chicken are 80% done, repeating the process of splashing water whenever required. So do not use boiling water here
- Put the previously fried rice in the chicken, coconut milk, mace and nutmeg powder and the boiling water. Keep gas on high flame at this stage
- Adjust salt and let it boil
- Lower heat, cover and cook slowly for approximately 10 minutes till the rice, potatoes and chicken are all cooked
- Uncover, sprinkle the lemon juice, sugar and rose water on top and let it rest covered for 8 minutes. Switch off gas at this point
- Mix the rice, chicken and potatoes lightly and serve hot
Bhapa Mutton Keema
Subhojit Sen of MasterChef India fame runs the cloud kitchen The Harmony Pot and recently his Safed Biryani has made Kolkatans’ hearts race. Acing many Bengali recipes with twists and tweaks, Subhojit has an excellent Bhapa Mutton Keema recipe to satiate a Bengali's love for mutton. Sharing the recipe, he said, “Mutton is a must on Dol. But you have hardly any energy left for cooking after hours of playing with colours. And a mutton dish precisely takes around two hours. However, you do not have to compromise on mutton on the menu with this recipe. This super-easy Bhapa Mutton Keema is the saviour for Dol. You will have an excellent mutton dish to relish with your rice or roti in just 45 minutes!”
Ingredients
- Mutton Keema: 200gm
- Cumin powder: 1/4tsp
- Coriander powder: 1/4 tsp
- Red chilli powder: 1/4 tsp
- Garam masala powder: ½ tsp
- Onion: 1 medium
- Ginger: 1 inch
- Garlic: 5 cloves
- Chopped coriander leaves
- Salt as per taste
- Red chillies (chopped): 4 pieces
- Tamarind pulp: 1tbsp
Method
- Finely chop the onion, chillies garlic and ginger and add it to the mutton keema
- Marinate the mutton keema with salt, cumin, coriander, red chilli and garam masala powder.
- Add the tamarind pulp and mix well
- Now it has to be steamed. So transfer it in a bowl that fit in a steamer and handle the heat
- Steam it for 45 minutes until cooked
- Once done, garnish with some chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or roti
P.S.: You can use green peas or Darjeeling beans to this recipe to add to the flavour.