Keema-puri (কিমা-পুরি)

Ingredients:
For stuffing:

1. Any kind of ground meat (chicken, beef, mutton) - 1/2 cup
2. Onion (chopped)- 1/4 cup
3. Green chili (chopped)- 1 Tbs or to your taste
4. Turmeric powder-1/2 ts
5. Cumin Powder-1/2 ts
6. Garam mashala powder-1/2 ts
7. Ginger paste-1/2 ts
8. Garlic paste-1/2 ts
9. Coriander leaves-2 ts chopped(optional)
10. Oil-1 Tbs
11. Salt-1/2 ts or according to your taste

For Dough :

1. Flour - 1 cup
2. Oil/ ghee/ clarified butter - 2 Tbs
3. Salt - 1/4 ts
4. Warm water (to make a nice dough)

For Frying :

1. Oil - to deep fry your puri

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and stir until tender. Add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder, cumin powder, salt, green chili, and fry them for few seconds. Then add keema and stir. Add little bit water and cover the pan. Cook until keema become tender. After that  uncover the lid and dry up the excess water from keema.
2. Then remove it  from the pan and place it on a kitchen tissue/paper towel to soak extra oil. Keep it aside to cool down.

3. Take the flour in a mixing bowl, add salt and oil in it, and mix it well so that oil can incorporate into the flour. Then carefully add the warm water and knead it. Knead the dough well until it become soft.
4. Now divide the dough into several small balls. Take one balls, make this a little cup, place keema in the middle of the cup and carefully gather all the side in the middle by covering all the keema and press the middle to close the ball. (you can follow the steps from the picture). Make all the balls stuffed with keema.

5. Take one stuffed balls in a plain surface and gently press it with the lower side of your hand's palm. Try to press evenly on all over it to make a 1 cm thick puri. Make all the stuffed balls like this and set them aside.

6. Now heat the oil in a pan. When oil is heated enough, carefully add one puri into it and gently move it in the oil. When puri puffs up carefully flip it and fry the both side until a nice golden brown color comes out.
   
   Then take it out on a paper towel to soak the excess oil. Fry the rest of the puri like this.
7. After frying all the puri, serve it hot with any kind of chutney or ketchup.

Red Spinach Fry/Lal Shak Vaji(লাল শাক ভাজি)

রেসিপিটি বাংলায় দেখতে এইখানে ক্লিক করুন।

Ingredients:

1. Red spinach(lal shak)-1 bunch
2. Onion-1 medium (chopped)
3. Green chili-4-5 pieces or according to your taste(slited from middle)
4. Garlic cloves-5-6 pieces(chopped)
5. Oil-around 4-5 Tbs
6. Salt-1/2 ts or according to your taste

Procedure:

1. Clean and wash lal shak and chop finely. 
2. Take lal shak in a pan. Add green chili and salt.
3. Keep the pan to a medium heat and cover it. Cook until shak become tender.
4. Remove from the pan and set it aside.
5. Now heat oil in a frying pan, add chopped garlic and fry it for few seconds then add chopped onion and fry until tender. Add shak and fry around 2-3 minutes or fry until all liquid evaporated.
6. Now it is ready to serve. Enjoy with plain white rice.

Noodles Pakora (নুডলসের পাকোড়া)

রেসিপিটি বাংলায় দেখতে এইখানে ক্লিক করুন।

Ingredients:

Maggie/ Ramen Noodles - 1 Packet (approximately 3 or 3.5 oz packet) Onion (chopped) - 1/4 cup Tomato  (chopped)  - 1/4 cup Green chili - 2 Tbs or to your choice Cilantro (chopped) - 2 Tbs (optional) Egg - 1 Baking powder - 1/4 ts Flour - 2 & 1/2 Tbs Salt - 1/4 ts Oil - for deep fry ** you can use any kind of chopped vegetable whatever you have in your home, like carrot, cabbage, beans etc. You can also use minced meat or shrimp if you want.

Procedure:

1. Boil 1 & 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan. When water starts to boil add the noodles and seasoning/masla packet in it, and boil around 3 minutes. Keep it aside to cool down
2. Take the boiled noodles in a mixing bowl (there is no need to drain the water from noodles but if it seems there is too much water in the noodles drain them).

3. Add egg, chopped onion, chopped chili, chopped cilantro, baking powder, salt and flour, and mix them well. If the mixture seems too liquid to handle add little more flour.

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan. When oil is heated enough, take small amount of mixture in hand  and carefully put them in the oil. Put more pakora in the oil and fry the both sides until nice golden color comes out.(remember do not hurry during frying, otherwise your pakora will remain uncooked in the inside)

5. Take out the pakora on a paper towel to soak excess oil. Fry all the remaining mixture following same process.
6. Enjoy your pakora with sauce or any kind of ketchup.

Date Halwa( খেজুরের হালুয়া)

রেসিপিটি বাংলায় দেখতে এইখানে ক্লিক করুন।

Ingredients:

1. Dates-500 gm
2. Milk-500 ml
3. Cardamon-3 pieces
4. Milk powder-1/2 cup
5. Ghee-1/4 cup
6. Raisin-15  pieces
7. Almond-12  pieces

** Usually there is no need to add sugar but if you want more sweet you may add sugar according to your taste.

Procedure:

1. Remove seed from dates. Soak it in milk for 30 minutes.Blend it in a blender to make a fine paste.
2. Heat ghee in a pan in medium heat. Add cardamon and fry for few seconds.
3. Then add dates paste and stir.When halwa start to become thick add milk powder.
4. Stir continuously until it comes to halwa consistency that do not stick the pan. 
5. Remove from the pan and garnish with nuts and raisin.

Golap Pitha (গোলাপ পিঠা)

রেসিপিটি বাংলায় দেখতে এইখানে ক্লিক করুন।

Ingredients :

1. Milk- 1 cup
2. All purpose Flour - 1 cup
3. Salt- 1/2 ts
4. Oil/ghee- 1 Tbs
5. Sugar- 1 cup
6. Water - 1/2 cup
7. Oil - for deep fry

Procedure :

1. Take milk in a pan, add salt and make it boil in a medium heat. When milk start to boil, add the flour in it and stir it to mix flour with milk. Mix the dough for about 2-3 minutes in the heat.
2. Now take the dough in a plate and keep it to cool little bit so that you can handle it with hand. Take the oil/ ghee in your hand and start to mix the dough nicely. Mix it for about 6-7 minutes to form a nice dough. Then divide the dough to 7-8 small balls.

3. Take one small ball on your rolling board. Spread little bit dry flour on it and make a thin ruti.
4. Take a 6-7 cm round cookie cutter or any round shape sharp edge glass or cup and cut some small round shape part from your large ruti.
5. Put 3 small ruti on top of one another, take small part from the excess of ruti to put in the center of your flower. Then make your flower following the procedure described in the video.
If you can not see the video in the YouTube, please click here to see in the vimeo.com.
6. Pour the water in a saucepan, add the sugar in it and make it a boil. Then keep it in a low heat to simmer.
7. Now heat the oil in a medium heat. When oil is heated enough put the flowers in the oil and fried the both side till a nice golden brown color comes out. (remember do not hurry during frying otherwise your pitha will remain uncooked).
8. Take out the pitha on a paper towel to soak the excess oil. Then put them in the sugar syrup which is simmering in the low heat. Flip your pitha in the syrup for couple of time to coat it with sugar syrup. Then take them out on a plate.

9. Make rest of the pitha following the same process.
10. Keep your pitha to cool down to room temperature. Then surprise everyone by serving this nice Golap Pitha.

Courtesy:
Israt Jahan (Disha)

(Columbia, SC, USA)