Aratikai (raw banana or plantain)cutlet

Ingredients:
1.Aratikaya 2 count
2.onion 1 small one
3.green chillies 3 count finely chopped
4.Ginger finely chopped 
5. Cumin powder 1 Tspn 
6.Aamchur powder 1/2 Tspn
7. Lemon juice 1 Tspn 
8.Coriander leaves finely chopped

Preparation:

       Cook Aratikai till it is  little bit soft.I cook in a pressure ,I usually off the cooker when it is about to give a whistle.Cut aratikai into big pieces.

Procedure

1.Take raw banana pieces in a bowl and add above mentioned ingredients,mix well.
2.Make small round balls( lemon size) and flatten the dough by gently pressing in your palm.
3. Now heat  a wide pan drizzle little bit of oil.
4.when the pan is almost hot arrange  it and  fry slowly until  it is well cooked .
5. Turn other side and fry few more minutes until it is golden brown.It is almost done now we  can have simply the cutlets or we can have with tomato sauce. 

Batani (vatana) curry(white dried peas)

Whole yellow peas are part of the legume family.Yellow  vatana are dried light colored whole peas.These small round dried peas are hard and need to be soaked for few hours to reduce the cooking time.Here iam going to share my mom recipe which is very easy and tasty.It is very tasty recipe can be cooked with few ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Batani or vatana 2 cups
2. Onion 1 big
3. green chilli 3 
4. ginger& garlic crushed 2tbspn(or) 1 tbspn ginger garlic paste
5. chilli powder 1 tspn
6. turmeric powder 1/4 tspn
7. mustard 1/4 tspn
8. jeera 1/4 tspn
9. garam masala 1 tspn
10. chat masala 1/4 tspn optional

Preparation
Soak batani whole night or atleast 5 to 6 hrs.You can cook in a pressure cooker for atleast 1 whistle.I usually cook in a open pan.Some times it will be mashy if we cook in a cooker.If Iam in rush, will cook batani in a cooker.Usually I switch of the cooker before it blows the whistle.( when it just gives beep sound)

procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard,jeera followed by chopped onions,green chilli.Fry few secs then add crushed ginger&garlic, fry until onions turn golden brown.
2. Add  batani directly to the pan( if you soak it overnight,drain  it and keep water aside )Add chilli powder ,turmeric,salt fry few more mins.
3. Add enough soaked water for the gravy and cover the lid,you can add chat masala if u want  nice flavor.
4. cover with a lid until batani is well cooked.This takes around 30 mins.
5. Remember if you cook batani in a cooker it takes around 10 to 15 mins to prepare the whole curry.
6. Now  when the curry is almost ready add 1 tspn of garam masala.( key ingredient) 
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapathi,roti,Nan. simply it goes well with rice too.You can sprinkle very finely chopped onions on top of it.

Bengali goat curry

Kolkata, capital of West Bengal is famous for so many food varieties. From my childhood, I had experienced the taste of having a delicious sweet from Kolkata. My Grandfather used to work in Bhubaneswar and he used to bring so many sweets from Kolkata. Still, I never forget the taste of Rasgullas from Kolkata. Bengal cuisine is very delicious and people in Bengal are very particular about their specific taste which  I love it. I cook a lot of fish recipes from Bengal cuisine. As I'm fond of Oriya cuisine, feel like Bengal cuisine is a little bit similar to Oriya cuisine. Today coming to Bengali Goat curry or Bengali Mutton curry is very yummy recipe and the main ingredient after mutton is Potatoe. I always cook goat curry with potato as my husband hail from Orissa state which is near to West Bengal. Mutton with potato is one of my favorite nonvegetarian dishes. Here goes my recipe.

Ingredients:

• Mutton 2lbs(nearly 1kg)
• Potato medium size 4 to 5 count
•  Onion 1 big size
• Ginger garlic paste 3tbsp
• Tomatoes medium size 2 count
• Cinnamon, cardamom,cloves,mace(cinnamon 2,cardamom 1,cloves 3,mace 1)
• poppy seeds 1 tsp
• Bay leaf 1
• oil and salt to taste
• Mustard oil(4 tbsp) to marinate mutton and to fry potatoes
• pinch of sugar.

Preparation:

•  Marinate mutton with turmeric powder, chili powder, ginger garlic paste1tspn, in one Tspn of mustard oil(you may use any oil of your choice if you don't have mustard oil)) for at least half an hr. 
• Prepare onion and tomato paste separately in a blender. 
• Chop potatoes into big chunks and add little salt and turmeric and keep aside.
•  Dry roast spices, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, mace, poppy seeds just a min in medium flame and make it into a fine powder.

Procedure:

• Heat 4tbsp of mustard oil( preferably mustard oil) in a pan and fry potatoes until golden brown. Now remove potatoes from the pan and keep aside.
• In the same pan stir fry mutton until water evaporates for about 10 to 15 mins(this is because to get rid of the raw mutton smell, we are not using any extra oil)
• Take a pressure cooker, add oil(we can use the leftover oil which we used to fry potatoes) you may add more oil if you think it is dry. Add one bay leaf, one clove and one cinnamon, fry a few seconds and add a pinch of sugar in the oil for color. ( sugar, when caramelizes, gives nice color to mutton)
• Add onion tomato paste and fry well until oil comes out from the paste. Now add 2tbpn of ginger garlic paste and fry well and fry until the masala is well cooked(the oil oozes out from the masala)
• We can add a bit of store-bought Kadai mutton masala for color. I added 1spn of Kadai mutton masala. just for the restaurant-style aroma, it is entirely optional
• Now it's time to add mutton to the masala and fry a few mins. Add 2 to 3 cups water and  close the lid.
• It will take 3 to 4 whistles to cook mutton. ( If the goat is not tender it will take another 1 or 2 whistles)After 2 whistles open the lid, add fried potatoes. close the lid wait for one more whistle, Now remove the cooker lid after 3 whistles. Check the pieces whether they completely cooked or not. Add half teaspoon spice powder and cook few more mins depends on the consistency of gravy.
• Enjoy delicious Bengali goat curry with rice or chapathi of your choice.

DALMA( orissa special)

Ingredients:
1.Toor dal 3/4 cup
2.chana dal 1/4cup
3.brinjal 2 count
3. One plaintain(raw banana or aaratikai)
4. Two potatoes 
5. Drumsticks 6 count( finger size length )
6. Paraval 6 count
For seasoning:fenugreek seeds, jeera,sahjeera,mustard seeds,oil,

For garnish:dry roast jeera,red chillies and make it fine powder.

Procedure:

1. Soak toor dal and chana dal for half an hr in water.
2. Add all the above vegetables mentioned above.
3.Now add turmeric powder and cook in a cooker for 2 whistles .(You may use5 cups of water for cooking)
4.Now season with above ingredients.You can use ghee for tadka for more tasty instead of oil.
5. Garnish with above mentioned ingredients.Dalma is ready now.You can have it with rice or chapathi .

Beans potato fry

This is a simple curry not very special  but yet tastes declicious.My kids love it,so i cook often as it is very easy to cook.
Ingredients:
1.Beans 
2.Potatos
3.Ginger garlic crushed
4.Red chillis
5.Jeera 1 tspn
6.Oil 
7.Salt to taste
Procedure:

1.Heat oil in a pan and when the oil is hot add cumin seeds and red chillies ,when  jeera fries well add cut onions and crushed ginger garlic.
2.When onion changes the color add  cut beans and potatoes .
3. Now add turmeric and salt cover with lid, cook for 5to 10 mins in a medium frame.
4.Remove the lid and fry until beans and potatoes are well cooked.
5. Add a bit of chilli powder if u want it more spicy.Fry is ready now you can have it with rice or chapathi.

VADA CHAT

Ingredients:

1. urad dal 1cup
2. oil for deep fry
3. chat masala 1 Tspn
4. Jeera powder1tspn.
5. Green chilli's cut into small pieces.
6. chilli powder 1 Tspn
7. One lemon
8.  Onion &tomato cut into small pieces. 

Preparation:

 First we have  to prepare vada,for that we have to soak urad dal at least 5 hrs,then grind it.Then add salt to the batter and deep fry in oil with round shape hole in the middle as shown the pic.

Procedure:

1.  Cut vada into small pieces.Then take a wide bowl mix chopped onions and tomato pieces.
2.  Add chilli powder( you can add green chillis if we prefer more spicy),chat masala,jeera powder to the vada pieces.
3. Now sprinkle some lime  juice on top of it.Garnish with coriander leaves.Yummy vada chat is ready now. We can have it as a snack.

Dahi (curd)Bendi

Ingredients:
1.Bendi or okra 1 lb ( 200g)
2. Curd 1 cup
3. One big onion
4. Chilli powder 1 spn
5.Daniya powder 1 tspn, jeera powder 1/2 Tspn.
6.Jeera 1 Tspn.
8. Tomato 1 count
9.Salt to taste.
Procedure:

1.Heat oil in a pan.Add jeera,when it splutters add cut onions.
2. I prefer adding 1/2 spn of grated or ginger cut into very small pieces to the pan.(optional)Stir fry onions till golden brown.Then add jeera,Daniya,chilli,turmeric powders .
3.Now add Bendi (I remove top and tail to the bendi).Mix and fry well for 3 to 5 mins.
4.Add tomato pieces and curd to the masala.cover with lid and cook well until Bendi is soft.
5.cook around 10 to 15 mins then our curry almost ready. Garnish with coriander leaves.Serve hot with chapathi or rice.