A cup of Assam Tea

 We have just greeted a new year and bid adieu to the holiday season. But the holiday's good, scrumptious food is still in the mind. If you follow my blog, you may know that at this time of year, my home state, as well as many parts of India, celebrates the end of the harvest season, similar to Thanksgiving; we call it Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu. While other parts of India call it Lohri, Pongal, etc. Magh Bihu/Bhogali Bihu is all about celebrating and sharing good food with loved ones. In today's time and period, gathering and sharing food with family is not as easy or safe as it once was, thanks to the omicron variant, but staying home and cooking for your family is always a good idea. As for me, it is not possible to visit my family very often because of the distance, but giving my family a festive or Bihu feel or bringing a bit of home always makes me happy.  A few years ago, I shared the Assamese sesame chicken recipe on my blog, which had a slightly thicker gravy base. To...

   A torrent of memory flared up in me when I think about the Gheela/Ghila pitha, and I behold the moment.  Gheela pitha and Bihu are synonyms, in that matter, in Assamese celebrations, an essential Assamese dessert recipe.  The clear sky, blooming flowers, and light greenery are what I am enjoying right now here in Connecticut, while in my homeland, Assam, is preparing for our most whimsical festival, Bohag  Bihu,  and the New Year.  A thousand miles  away from my home and loved ones, I  reminisce  about those yesteryears and think of making Gheela Pitha. Unlike Xutuli pitha , Gheela Pitha is easy to make with just 3 ingredients. Gheela pitha's shape is inspired by a seed that children used to use as a toy. Flat and round-shaped gheela pitha is a ubiquitous dessert that you can find in an Assamese household, especially during Bihu or any other special celebration.  Ingredients Sweet Rice - 2 cups ( ideally new rice) Regular rice...

  It has been a week since we celebrated Magh Bihu, yet I am still relishing Xutuli Pitha or Sutuli Pitha, and so is my family.  Last week, I posted my  Magh Bihu food memory,  and most of my readers have never heard of or known the food I shared in my blog.   Today, I will share the most quintessential dessert we make during Magh Bihu, or for that matter, any  Bihu .  Pillowy, sticky, crunchy, half-moon-shaped dessert inspired by an Assamese musical instrument.  If you closely look into Assamese cuisine, especially festive cooking,  Bora Saul  or Sticky rice is widely used. Since Bora Saul is indigenous rice in Assam, if you live outside Assam or India, you can use Japanese sweet rice or sticky rice.   Let's get to the ingredients... Ingredients 2 cups Japanese sweet rice or sticky rice 1 cup sesame seeds ( Teel ) and save 5 tablespoons for decoration (optional) 1 cup jaggery or gur Oil for frying Process  Wash and so...

There are days when my taste buds ask for something rustic, rugged, totally country style, something that brings that nostalgic flavor, more precisely, brings me to our home kitchen in Assam, my grandma's kitchen, my mama's kitchen. Yup, sesame chicken is in my mind. My Assamese taste buds are so amicable with till or sesame seeds; name a festival or staple cooking time, and it is a desirable ingredient. I love that in today's new age, healthy cooking promotes and incorporates seed-eating, especially sesame, for numerous health benefits, which I was fortunate enough to grow up eating. Once you taste this exotic dish with its rustic and nutty flavor, you will definitely try it again. Today I am sharing my recipe.. Have you tried Assamese Chicken Curry . Ingredients 2 lb chicken cut into medium-sized pieces with bone 5 tablespoons of till or sesame 3 tablespoons mustard oil or olive oil, you can use any other cooking oil too but I love to use thick oil as...

             This whole week I have been thinking about food. And I can't wait for the Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. Also, I have been wondering about the similarities of food between one culture and another. How the resembles favorite entry's to one another. Where in our thanksgiving dinner I relish mashed potatoes, my assamese taste bud adore aloo pitika, aloo means potatoes and pitika means mashed. How the main ingredients of the entry are the same but the difference is the spices or secondary ingredients. Today I wanted to share the Assamese aloo pitika recipe.       Humble and simple aloo pitika is a quintessential side in assamese cuisine. Like Fish curry , aloo pitika is also an essential entry. Most of the time, even though considered as a side, the place of aloo pitika is nothing less than the main course. In western countries, butter is popularly used for mash potatoes. But, like many other recipes i...

      My both sets of grandparents have never eaten chicken rather they enjoyed Fish curry  or fish. The chicken was almost an alien for my families past generations. In Assam, about 30/35 years back older people instead of chicken rather ate duck, mutton or fish . That says chicken curry is not exactly a traditional dish in Assamese cuisine. But eating chicken is a quintessential part of modern Assamese family. As a kid, I remember waiting for Sunday lunches for chicken curry. The aroma of cooking chicken-filled up our home and us picky eaters can't wait to have our lunch. While growing up we only got one day holiday in the week, Sunday. Usually, everyone is at home and my mom painstakingly cooks the best and exquisite dishes to the table. And along with other specialties, the chicken was the fulcrum attraction. And happiness was eating chicken curry on Sundays.       As I told earlier, chicken curry is not exactly a traditional dish in assam...

You can't imagine a soulful Assamese meal without a fish curry. The fish curry transports me to my Grandmother's kitchen. I tiptoed entered the kitchen and wearing mekhela chadar  the affectionate lady a few dots of turmeric here and there on her clothes, frying fish and making curry, and she caught me and trying to feed me bite by bite and from our garden night jasmine exuding fall fragrance what a soulful sight. It was more than 30 years those smell, place, gestures felt like yesterday.  Let me tell you my grandmother made the world best curry and then my mom.  Lost my grandmother at the age of five. I was so little that I couldn’t learn my grandmother's recipe but my mom taught me how to make a good fish curry. In my assamese household as a child, we used to eat fish way more often than chicken. As an expert cook my mom made fish with all kinds of veggies. Her fish curry is very delicately prepared. She always says, to make a good fish curry you have to be ...

Sometimes certain aroma, fragments of a song brings back the myriads of memories . Whenever I prepare payash it brings back lovely memories of home and childhood. In our assamese household, every occasion and celebration  always asks for preparing payash. Whether someone got a promotion or passed an exam or its a birthday , ah here you go the delightful delicious payash. Sometimes you don't need any occasion, just make payash and make yourself entertain. A special occasion payash is always little elaborate, pound the cardamom, chop the nuts and dry fruits, add the bay leaf and soak the rice for half an hour before cooking luscious flavor. But when guest come over without notice or you just crave for it, it does not require elaborate preparation. I thought today I will share the Assamese payash or rice pudding recipe. In this recipe, I used jaggery instead of sugar for more rustic and healthy aspects. I used my instant pot, the traditional payash requires so much patience and st...