NOVEMBER 2012 DIARY

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November 2012 is full with incidents for north road like any other part of the sate and the country. After completion of most awaited festival of ’’ Durga Puja’’ every year the big vacuum created in society but could not stop us to engage to extract whatever is ahead either its Laxmi ,Puja,Kali,Puja,Dewali (the festival of light)  Kartic or Jagardharti and followed in-between social party like  marriage and other rituals in the ore winter session.

Laxmi is worshiped most of the houses in north road in their own way. And there are few Kali Puja creates ambiance in the whole Para where it’s difficult to resist to involve as part of the festival and taking part of lightning some of the crackers (atashbaji) and enjoying  lightning either in traditional forms or latest imported from china in every house in dark night of Amavasya.

This year the only Sarbajanin Puja of”” Tridhara”” at the junction of PGH SHAH ROAD AND NORTH ROAD  lighted with electrical chains  the entire road of north road was awesome. The delicious dishes served in reception on next day of Kali Puja at the residence of Devrup Sengupa (TANU), sound of Dhak (traditional drums in Bengal) was awesome.

Prasanta &Rajanta

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   November 2012 is the month when our  young  Prasanta Mukherjee (Banku) weds with Rajanta Rudra  and let all of us join to wish their happy marriage life and  lots, lots of good wishes for them.

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•   Lets congratulate Suman Dutta ( Brother Sunny Dutta) and  Avantika Kar  for their marriage in this auspicious month and once again join all of us to wish their happy marriage life and lots of good wishes from North Road Pulse.  

Labra -- a mixed vegetable dish

Next it is the ‘’Saraswati Pujo’’and main recipe of this festival is Labra. Khichuri is an important part of this day for the Bengalis and labra is a mixed veggie dish popular as a side to the Khichuri.

Preparation

Vegetables are the most important and only ingredient of a Labra. There is very little of other spices involved. So it is important the vegetables you use for this dish are fresh and taste good. Chop the following vegetables in roughly equal sizes and more or less equal proportion

·         Potato -- 1 large, peeled and chopped along the length

·         1 red begun, chopped in cubes

·         1/2 cup of cubed red radish

·         1&1/2 cup of chopped cabbage. Cabbage should be chopped not thin but should be little thickly cut

·         Pumpkin 1 cup peeled and cubed.  Microwave the pumpkin for about 3 minutes and then peel

Add vegetables like few cauliflower florets, cauliflower stems and some drumsticks or available          “pui-sak’’ for better test

Note: I have also done labra with broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini etc. All of them work well. Whatever vegetables you use, try to add little pumpkin and potatoes to get the best taste.

Cooking

Heat White Oil or Mustard Oil in a heavy bottomed deep saucier or Kadhai

Temper the hot oil with a pinch of Hing, 1 tsp of Paanch-Phoron and 3 broken dry red chili. When the spices pop add about 1 tsp of minced ginger. You can also add ginger towards the end to get a more gingery flavor.

First add the potatoes. Sprinkle about 1/4th tsp of turmeric powder and saute the potatoes for half a minute.

Add the radish, sauté covered for about two-three minutes and then follow with the Begun. Sautee for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some water if the veggies tend to stick. Add carrots/cauliflower/broccoli if using. The trick is to add the hard vegetables first followed by the softer and leafy veggies.

Now add the cabbage. Mix all together and sauté for a minute.

Next goes the pumpkin. Mix everything together. If the pumpkin is sweet you don't need to add sugar else add a little sugar towards the end Add salt to taste. Add 2-3 slit green chili. Give a good stir. Add little water about say 1/4th cup and cover and cook. Check in between, if more water is needed add more water and cook till veggies are done. Break up some of the potatoes and the pumpkin unevenly with the back of your spatula and give a final mix. The dish should be a little moist and not totally dry.

Let it sit for 10 minutes or so for all the flavors to come together.

Serve with rice and dal or with Khichuri for Pujo.

NEXT IN THIS PhuIko luchi with gor- gore alur jhol

Begun Diye Palong Shaak

Wash the spinach greens well and chop fine

Next chop Begun in small cubes. The idea is to have about 2 cups of cubed Begun for a bunch of spinach

Heat mustard oil to smoking. Temper the oil with Kalonji, Dry Red Chili and a clove of garlic minced

Add the Begun and saute till Begun is soft.

Now add the spinach mixing it with the Begun . Add little salt to taste, a few green chili slit and let the spinach cook. The greens will release a lot of water. Stir intermittently and let all the water dry up. Once the spinach is cooked and the dish looks dry add a little kashundi if you have some. If not finish off with a little mustard oil.

Serve with white rice.

Kali Pujar Dhan mantra

Ma Kalir Dhan Mantra

Diwali: Festival of Lights and Kali Puja

 Kali Puja

Goddess Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of Mother Durga. She is usually shown with her feet on the chest of Lord Shiva and wearing a garland of skulls. She symbolizes the darker side of life and epitomizes strength or "Shakti." Kali is worshiped on the night of Kartik Amavasya in October/November. The day is also celebrated as Shyama Kali, the first 10 avatars of Devi Durga. The reason behind worshiping Kali is destroying all evil both that lies in the outside world and within us.

Kali, also known as Kalika, is a Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, Kali is today considered the goddess of time and change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence. More complex Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the "ultimate reality" or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatarini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kali as a benevolent mother goddess.

Kali is represented as the consort of god Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. She is associated with many other Hindu goddesses like Durga, Bhadrakali, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati and Chamunda. She is the foremost among the Dasa-Mahavidyas, ten fierce Tantric goddesses.