Ghugni is a Bengali cousin of Chana/Chhole Masala and can be of two varieties – Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian. The vegetarian version does not use onion and garlic in its preparation process, while the Non-veg version uses onion, garlic even chicken keema or mutton keema. We prepared the vegetarian version this time, the most common preparation of Bijoya special Ghugni.

Ghugni Recipe

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Yellow Peas (Motor/Chana) – 150 gms

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Tomato (chopped) – 1 medium

Ginger paste – 1 tsp

Salt – According to taste

Sugar – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – ½ tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp

Green Chillies – 2

Mustard Oil – 3 tbsp

Garam masala (freshly dry roasted) – 1 tsp

Bhaja Moshla (Dry roasted Masala) – 2 tsp for garnishing.

How to Prepare Ghugni

Bhaja Moshla

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Coriander seeds – ½ tsp

Bay leaf – 1

Cinnamon stick – 1 ½ inch

Cloves – 4

Green Cardamom – 2

Dry roast all these ingredients in a pan and then grind them into a fine powder. Keep aside.

Ghugni Preparation:

Step 1: Soak the yellow peas (motor) for 4-5 hours. Boil them with a bit of turmeric powder and a bay leaf in a pressure cooker till two whistles. Keep aside.

Step 2: Heat the mustard oil in a pan. Add a bay leaf.

Step 3: When the oil gets heated, put in the chopped tomato and a bit of salt.

Step 4: As the chopped tomato starts getting tender, add half a cup of grated coconut.

Step 5: Stir till chopped tomato turns mushy and blends well with grated coconut. Add the ginger paste as well.

Step 6: Keep stirring till the oil from the masala separates. Add in the boiled motor (yellow peas) and mix well.

Step 7: Add in the cumin and coriander powder. Saute well.

Step 8: When the raw smell will go away, add a cup of water. Bring the preparation to a boil. Add salt.

Step 9: Put in the roasted garam masala powder. Let it mix well. Add Sugar.

Step 10: Add the remaining cup of grated coconut. Sprinkle the Bhaja Moshla. Cover it well and keep it in a standing time of 10 minutes before serving.

Nimki Recipe

Ingredients

All purpose flour (Maida) – 2 cups

Ghee – 3 tbsp

Nigella Seeds (Kalo Jire) – A handful

Water – As needed

Refined oil – As needed

How to Prepare Nimki:

Step 1: Mix the flour with the ghee and onion seeds well and keep covered for 30 minutes. Start kneading and add bits of water as required. The dough should neither be too soft nor too hard.

Step 2: Cut small dough balls from the kneaded dough.

Step 3: Take one ball each and roll out on a chakki like a flatbread. 

Step 4: Take care that the rolled bread should be thin.

Step 5: In the meantime, heat the refined oil for frying. The oil should be very hot.

Step 5: Cut the dough into diamond-shaped pieces and deep fry in batches. Nimki is ready.

Enjoy and relish your Bijoya platter.

Shubho Bijoya from us!!

The post Spicy Subho Bijoya With Ghugni And Nimki Recipe appeared first on KolkataFusion.

Dusshera and Navratri happen at the same time as Durga Puja – it commences on the day of Mahalaya and ends with Vijaya Dasami. While many say that Vijaya Dasami denotes the victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasur, our ancestors believe that Bijoya Dasami is the day when they send their beloved daughter, Bijoya (aka Ma Durga), and their grandchildren back to their son-in-law, Shiva’s abode in Kailash. For Bengalis, Durga Puja is more about homecoming; even today, this is the only time in the year when many of us return home from our work-location and spend the five days among our relatives and friends in enjoyment. And, obviously, no occasion is complete without sumptuous Bengali sweets and delicacies!

Goodbye, my daughter!

While we bid Ma Durga farewell with a heavy heart, Bengali households start gearing up for their next celebration – Bijoya, which continues till Kali Puja. For we, Bengalis, Durga Puja is not just a celebration, but it’s an emotion that is closely connected with the daughter coming home with her kids. And we have an innate belief that we shouldn’t say goodbye with a heavy heart. So, what can be better than treating our beloved daughter with sweets before she departs?

Good always wins

Another emotion behind celebrating Bijoya Dasami with traditional Bengali sweets is celebrating the peace and harmony that Ma Durga leaves behind while she takes off on her journey. By killing Mahisasur, Ma Durga symbolizes the win of good over evil. Here, Asur manifests the evil thoughts prevailing in human minds, whereas Durga symbolizes Good. After winning over Asur, the evil, she blesses us with purity and virtue. We celebrate this peace and harmony by visiting relatives, preparing sweets and savouries at our homes to treat everyone who visits us on this occasion.

End of holidays

During the earlier days, life wasn’t the way it’s now – enjoyment was restricted to specific occasions, having mutton was confined to sacrifices to Gods. So, Durga Puja was the occasion in the year when the daughter used to go home and relax, and the kids got the scope to spend their vacation, amidst fun and frolic. At the same time, Bijoya is the call for going back to the daily grind. It’s a celebration and merriment time, and as it ends, our hearts are filled with sorrow. But, neither the parents nor the daughter can bid goodbye to each other with teary eyes, so to make this departure joyous, we savour sweets and other goodies.

Thanks to the abundance of coconut trees and sesame fields, Bengali households, during the earlier days, often prepared sweets comprised of these two. And today, it’s a tradition to prepare these sweets, particularly during Bijoya Dasami. With coconut, we prepare Narkeler Naru and with sesame seeds, we prepare Tiler Naru. As a spicy accompaniment, many of the families also cook ghugni and nimki.

After the bhasan (immersion of Durga idol), we visit our relatives and neighbours houses to greet our peers and take blessings from our elders. The ritual continues until Kali Puja. “Subho Bijoya” is in the air along with all the homemade Bengali sweets!

Let’s see how to prepare Narkel Naru.

Narkel Naru Recipe

It’s easy to prepare our traditional Bengali sweet, Narkel Naru – all we need, is patience.

Ingredients

• Coconut – 2 medium sizes (You can also use the frozen coconut)
• Sugar – 250gms. Adjust it according to your taste
• Amulspray Milk powder – 200gms (You can also use Milkmaid instead of Amulspray)
• Cardamom – 10 small
• Milk – 200 ml
• Ghee – 2 teaspoon

How to Prepare Narkel Naru

1. Break the coconuts in halves carefully and keep aside the coconut water separately in a bowl.
2. Grate the coconut finely using a coconut grating machine.
3. Put a deep bottom pan on the oven.
4. Once the pan is hot, pour the coconut into it.
5. Maintaining a medium flame, keep stirring the coconut for 5 minutes.
6. Pour the coconut water, milk and cover the mixture.
7. Let it cook for 5 minutes.
8. Uncover and using a deep bottomed spatula, stir the mixture thoroughly, applying mild pressure. The pressure helps in mixing the granules and the Narus taste better.
9. Add the sugar and mix it properly. Once the sugar melts, the colour of the coconut starts changing – it reddens up mildly.
10. Add the Amulspray milk powder and mix it.
11. Keep stirring in low flame.
12. Add the ghee and the ground cardamoms.
13. You will know the mixture is ready when it just starts to stick to the pan.
14. Switch off the gas before the mixture gets the brownish tinge. The coconut mixture for Narkel Naru is ready.

Please make sure that the mixture doesn’t become cool or you will not be able to make the balls. For making the balls, take some water or a little bit of ghee in a bowl. Applying it on your palm while making the balls protects them from the heat. Take a little bit of the coconut mixture and roll it between your palms to form the round shapes.

Coconut Barfi

As an alternative, instead of making Narus, we can also prepare barfis. Apply little ghee on a flat plate, pour the coconut mixture. Flatten it and cut into shapes you want.

The authentic Naru was prepared without Milkmaid or Amulspray milk powder. I remember my granny sitting near the oven, condensing the milk for hours and that Naru had a heavenly taste.

The recipe we shared is comparatively quicker and easier to prepare with ingredients readily available. And it’s from Neha’s mother’s kitchen. She is an innovative and awesome cook who can prepare delicious dishes with limited resources.

If you use any other method, share your recipe with us. We’ll be happy to try it out.

Subho Bijoya!!

The post Why Subho Bijoya is Incomplete Without Traditional Bengali Sweets? appeared first on KolkataFusion.

Guest Post

বহু বছর পর এবার পুজোতে বাড়ি মানে বেলুনগ্রামে যেতে পারিনি।ভীষণ খারাপ লাগছিল।যদিও ভাই এর অকাল প্রয়াণে পুজোয় গ্রামের বাড়ি যাওয়ার আগের সে আনন্দ, সে আবেগ সে আকুলতা আজ আর আসে না।বড় ফাঁকা লাগে ।

গ্রামে যেতে না পারাতে  আমার বৌয়ের কয়েকশো কান্নাকাটি হয়ে গেল।প্যাণ্ডেল ঘুরে পুজো দেখার অভ্যেস আমার নেই।তারপর মৌসুমীর শিরদাঁড়ায় চোট।সব মিলিয়ে পূজো প্রায় ঘরে বসে কাটলো।

“সপ্তমি অষ্টমী তিথি তুমি গত হয়ো না

কানছে রানি ধুলায় পড়ে প্রাণে বাঁচে না

বিজয়া দশমী তিথি তুমি গত হয়ো না

গৌরী গেল কৈলাসে সম্বৎসর আসবে না…….. ।”

For the lyrics of this song, read The legacy of the Bengali Agomoni Songs

ভাসানের পরে এই গানের টান ছোটো ভাই মারা যাওয়ার পর আগের মতো আর অনুভব না করলেও এই গানের চিরন্তন এক আকর্ষণ আছে যা আমাকে আজও টানে।ছোটো থেকে বাবা  কাকার গলায় এই ‘চিরন্তনী’ শুনে এসেছি।গৌরীর বিদায়ের গান।চারদিনের আনন্দ মুখর দিনগুলি কাটিয়ে আমাদেরও ফেরার গান।বৎসর কাল পরে গৌরী আবার আসবে এই আশা নিয়ে যে যার কর্মজীবনে ফিরে যাওয়ার গান।

প্রতিমা নিরঞ্জনের পর এটা ছিল আমাদের ঘরে ফেরার গান।সেই কোন কাল থেকে এক ভাবে চলে আসছে।ভাসান হয়ে গেলে কালীতলায় চলো।সেখানে কাঁচা হলুদ মুখে দেওয়া ও গেলা। কামড়ানো চলবে না।তারপর উপস্থিত গুরুজনদের সবাইকে প্রণাম করার ধূম।সমবয়সীদের সাথে কোলাকুলি।শেষে ঢাকের তালে তালে এই গান গাইতে গাইতে ভগবতী তলায় ফেরা।এই সেদিনও মনে হতো ভগবতীতলা যেন এখনি না আসে।গান যেন শেষ না হয়।গান শেষ হলে ভগবতীতলায় পৌঁছে গেলে মনে হতো সব শেষ।

বিভিন্ন সময় ছোটো কাকা, বাবা, লিচুকাকা ছিলেন সূত্র ধারক।মনপ্রাণ দিয়ে এই গানের বোল ধরতেন।তারা আজ আর কেউ নেই।
একবার প্রচণ্ড বৃষ্টিতে কালীতলা থেকে ভগবতী ঘর পর্য্যন্ত প্রচণ্ড কাদাময়। মামা, বড়দা, বাবুদা, বাবা, কাকারা সবাই একসঙ্গে গান গাইছে।হঠাৎ বাবুদা গেয়ে উঠলো “এই কানছে রানি কাদায় পড়ে প্রাণে বাঁচে না”। ধুলা হয়ে গেল কাদা। সে সব দিন কি ভোলার।সেই বুড়হ্যা কালীতলার ঘাট থেকে বোলপুকুরের পার দিয়ে, মিত্তি(মিত্র) তলার ভগবতী ঘর হয়ে,’মাহানঠাকরান আর দুর্গেশনন্দিনীর’ নাছ(পাশের রাস্তা) দিয়ে গাইতে গাইতে আমাদের ভগবতী তলায় পৌঁছাতাম।উর্দ্ধবাহু সে নৃত্য আর গান – এক অনাবিল আনন্দে মন ভরে উঠতো।সময়ের সঙ্গে সঙ্গে নানা ঘাত প্রতিঘাতে মনের দ্বার আজ রুদ্ধ। সেই আনন্দের অংশীদার আর হতে পারি না।

আমাদের প্রজন্মে হারু, আমার ছোটো ভাই অরূপ এক নিষ্ঠ সূত্র ধারক ছিল।গ্রামের আরো অনেকের সঙ্গে আমার খুড়তুতো মামাতো ভাইবোন – সব একসঙ্গে সূত্র বা বোল ধারকের সঙ্গে গাইতাম আর আনন্দে নাচতাম, করতালি দিতাম। ভগবতীতলায় এসে গান শেষ হলে শান্তি জল নেওয়ার হুড়োহুড়ি। ‘আমার পড়েনি আমার পড়েনি’, বলে চিৎকার ।পুরুত মশাই, বাবাদের তিনকড়ি জ্যাঠা, শেষে হাঁড়ি উল্টে এক মাথা জল ঢেলে দিতেন কারো কারো মাথায়। তিনকড়িদাদুর ছেলে তামুদা একই ভাবে আনন্দ রসিকতায় এই ধারাবাহিকতা আজও ধরে রেখেছে।শান্তি জল পর্ব শেষ হলে শুরু হতো দিদার কাছ থেকে নাড়কেল নাড়ু আর বাতাসার প্রসাদের জন্য হুড়োহুড়ি কাড়াকাড়ি -একবার পেলে হবে না।আবার চাই।প্রায় নারকেলবিহীন নাড়কেল নাড়ু আর ভাঙা বাতাসা-তাই নিয়ে কাড়াকাড়ি।তখন ওটাই আমাদের কাছে ছিল ‘মজামৃত’।

এরপর বাড়ির কালীতলায় প্রণাম সেরে বাড়ি ফেরা।মনটা একটা কি রকম দুঃখানন্দে ভরে উঠতো।বাড়ি ফিরে ধান-কলাই-সিঁদুর-টাকা-মাছ ছুঁয়ে গুরুজনদের প্রণাম করা। ঠাকুরদাদার ফটো দিয়ে প্রণাম শুরু হতো।
এই রীতি আজও চলে আসছে।আমার খুড়তুতো মেজদি, ভাষাদি, স্নেহ মায়া মমতা সব কিছু দিয়ে বাড়ির এই ট্রাডিশন ধরে রেখেছে।

The post স্মৃতির দুর্গাপুজো – ২০১৭ appeared first on KolkataFusion.

A reflection

About two years ago, we self-invited ourselves to be a part of the Durga Puja celebrations of the Datta Household of Mathmalaypur, located in the Hooghly District of West Bengal. One of our close friends happen to be a member of this household and it was on his insistence, we, two non-religious persons, decided to spend two days observing the core rituals practiced to venerate Goddess Durga. There was, however, another factor which propelled me. My mother’s one of the last wishes was to observe a family Durga Puja in her lifetime. Since she couldn’t before she died, I had to.

It was an Ashtami afternoon. As we got down from a local train, a cab was waiting for us at the station. The autumn heat has begun to fade out as we advanced to the house on a red gravelly road in between the swaying green paddy fields.

The cab parked in front of a nondescript house, where our friend was waiting to welcome us. The house, partially made of mud and partially of concrete, seemed as if it has come out from the pages of Bengali folklores or quintessentially Bengali stories that had a village in its backdrop. Straw roofs, an open space in the middle housing indigenous paddy storage made of straw termed locally as a morai or dhaaner gola, a pond in the backyard, and a Thakurdalan or the designated space where Goddess Durga is worshipped every year by the household members.

Related: স্মৃতির দুর্গাপুজো – ২০১৭

Gradually, we started meeting the other members of the household. Each of them, be them the elder members or the younger generation, were very warm. It was their warm gesture which made us feel at home, almost instantly. Our adda sessions continued till all of us were alerted about the Evening Arati time. The lady brigade of the house took me with them to the Thakurdalan, where they were preparing the nitty-gritty of the Arati, as well as the Sandhi Puja which was to follow later in the evening. I couldn’t say a hurting ‘No’ to their excitement when they made me a part in their preparations. I might not believe in the concept of deities and their invocations, but, at the end of the day, I am a human being and I have no right to disrespect the feelings of the people who put their faith in religions and rituals. While helping them, I began to jitter initially. Images of my mother worshipping in our house flashed my mind several times when I lined up the unlit earthen lamps to be lit during the Sandhi Puja. However, my clumsiness, when got encouragement from the brigade, became a sigh of relief to me.

With the dimming of the Sun, the Arati started. Our friend and a few other family members took turns in dancing with the earthen incense burners or Dhunuchis. The remaining, non-dancing members, rang the kanshor-ghontas, along with the drum beats by the dhakis who came from a nearby village. The in-house priest danced with the panchapradip, meanwhile. The Arati rituals transported me to a state of trance, for a short time. It is said that the high pitched songs are sung or sounds made in any religious place, can briefly bring upon a state of trance in the people visiting these places. This state of trance can turn one’s mind blank for a few seconds, and that’s the time when the one comes near to God. I don’t know whether I could go near to someone called God, whom I don’t believe, during the brief state trance felt by me then, but my mind weary from thoughts of my late parents felt more relaxed thereafter. After the Arati, the members along with us sat together on the floor of the mud house for the evening muri–alur torkari. The food was filling, nevertheless, but, what filled our hearts was the inherent humility in the household. One can achieve great feats in life, but, to remain grounded with humility, is what makes the person a Man, on the real sense of the term. It’s difficult to stay humble when you start possessing material wealth, but, the Datta household members, carried this attribute on their sleeves with elan. They didn’t have to pretend, they truly showed us, how to be.

Chitchats followed after we had done with the light evening meal. We began to gather again near the Thakurdalan, for the Sandhi Puja rituals. The Sandhi Puja happens to be a significant ritual invoking the mythological moment when Goddess Durga won over Mahisasura. My mother used to say that if the Sandhi Puja rituals are done with great respect then the clay idol of Goddess Durga appears to be alive, albeit for a minuscule time. I recalled these words when the priest began chanting the hymns. The drums started beating a different rhythm, the kanshor-ghontas followed, marking the end of the Sandhi Puja ritual and the 108 lamps were lit. The face of the idol shone in the lamp lights. It appeared as if the Goddess had come alive. Was it? Or, maybe, I was briefly hallucinated by the drum beats, the constant ringings of the kanshor-ghonta, and the profound Sanskrit chants of the priest which literally meant to invoke Goddess Durga to arrive and fight the evils. Whatever it was, I found myself to be quiet for the rest of the night. “Faith can move mountains”, they say, and here, I could feel it, truly.

On the next day, Navami, my eyes opened when a whiff of fragrant Shiuli or Night Jasmine, blew across my face. The intoxicating fragrance made me ran to its source and oh! what did I see there?! A flowery rangoli depicting Rose made from the Shiuli flowers, upon the brown mud floor. The Shiuli trees, the ponds, and the lush greenery beckoned us to explore the area. We could spot a few local birds here and there. One of our friend’s family members showed us around their premises. The paddy fields they own and the cowshed which housed cows many years ago. After the brief tour, we gathered in the Thakurdalan again. The Navami puja had started by that time. The same place looked so different that morning. The illuminations from the Ashtami evening had culminated in a vibrant Navami morning.

Many visitors like us had come from far and wide. Those who were accustomed to Durga Puja Kolkata seemed mesmerized here. We chatted, they chatted, and the chatters never stopped. To me, the Durga Puja had always been a festival which brought us together from different walks of life and that day the entire household became the same milieu which we long for, every Autumn. Our never-ending chatters would have continued if not we were called for the lunch, at the same place where we had eaten in the evening, all of us together, sitting on the mud floor. The menu was not special. Who among us cannot have a platter of mutton and rice whenever we want, generally speaking? But the food served on that afternoon was made special by the people there, our hosts, the batch-eating on the same floor and the overall ambiance.

We left the place, after lunch, with a heavy heart. Our mundane lives, our artificially glittering Kolkata was beckoning us. As we sped past the green paddy fields again, I knew I had to go back again, there, maybe during the next Autumn again, just to feel the same, twice.

P.S: Sometimes, it is not easy to explain some events with mere words. This event was of that kind. It was foolish of me to even try, but I could not stop myself to write about that one and a half-day spent in the Datta household, during an Autumn Durga Puja. 

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