kamala phoolkopi

Posted by mitzi's foodoo on May 26, 2012 · 1 Comment 

One of my best birthday presents I got was the Phaidon’s INDIA COOKBOOK by Pushpesh Pant. It contains 1000 recipes and could be easyly renamed to the Indian Cooking Bible. I had worked at an Indian grocery, therefore my relationship to the Indian food is very deep.

The recipe – CAULIFLOWER WITH ORANGES – is originated in West Bengali, a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation‘s fourth-most populous. I didn’t know that West Bengali is base to a another Indian cinema industry Tollywood. The name derived from Hollywood or Bollywood and Tollygunj which is a part of the West Bengali capital Kolkata, and the location of numerous Bengali movie studios. The Bengali film industry is well known for its art films, and has produced acclaimed directors like Satyajit Ray (e.g. The Chess Players – original title: Shatranj Ke Khilari, 1977), Mrinal Sen (e.g. In Search of Famine – original title: Akaler Sandhane, 1981), Tapan Sinha or Ritwik Ghatak.

Contemporary acclaimed directors include Buddhadev Dasgupta who won Special Director’s Award at Venice International Film Festival (IFF) for The Wrestlers (original title: Uttara, 2002). Goutam Ghose won Golden Lotus Award at the Indian National Film Awards for drama In the Forrest… Again (original title: Abar Aranye, 2003), Aparna Sen who won numerous prizes for her drama Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), mentioning Netpac Award at Locarno IFF or Golden Lotus Award for the Best Direction at the Indian National Film Awards. Last but not least Rituparno Ghosh won Golden Lotus Award for his drama Abohomaan (2009) at the Indian National Film Awards amongst the other film titles and international awards.

I am starving. Let’s cook the cauliflower.

mitzi’s foodoo

Ingredients: 500g cauliflower, cut into 2.5-cm florets / 4 potatoes, pealed and cut into 2.5-cm pieces / 1 tsp ground turmeric / 4 tbsp vegetable oil / 2 bay leaves / 1 tbsp ground fresh ginger / 2 onions, ground / 1 tsp chilli powder / 2 tsp ground cumin / 1 tsp sugar (I skipped this) / 3 oranges, peeled, pith removed, reserving flesh / 3-4 green chillies, de-seeded and chopped (I had red ones at home, so I used those) / For the garam masala: 4 cloves / 2 green cardamoms / 1 cinnamon stick, about 5cm long

mitzi’s foodoo

Preparation method:

1. Put the vegetables in a large bowl, add the turmeric and toss until they are lightly coated.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the garam masala together in a bowl.
3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over high heat, then reduce the heat.
4. Add the vegetables and stir-fry for 2-3 mins, or until they are light brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
5. Add the bay leaves and garam masala to the pan and stir-fry for about 1 min, or until fragrant.
6. Add the ginger, onions, chilli powder, cumin, sugar and stir-fry for a further 1 min, or until the spices change colour. Sprinkle over a few drops of water to prevent burning, if necessary.
7. Add the vegetables and oranges, season with salt and stir thoroughly.

mitzi’s foodoo

I am not a specialist in the Indian cinematography, but I love this page with Indian films’ clips. I usually use them as invitations for parties. It’s always fun to subtitle a movie you don’t understand a single word. I have chosen one, but have no idea if it is in Bengali… So let’s have some fun after the healthy lunch.

Watch CAULIFLOWER ACTION, make your own video and post it to the comments.

Filed under LOOK · Tagged with abar aranye, abohomaan, aparna sen, bay leaves, buddhadev dasgupta, cardamom, cauliflower, chilli, cinnamon stick, clove, cumin, film, garam masala, ginger, golden lotus award, goutam ghose, in the forrest... again, indian, kamala phoolkopi, kolkata, locarno festival, movie, mr. and mrs. iyer, mrinal sen, national film awards, onion, orange, phaidon, potatoes, pushpesh pant, rituparno ghosh, ritwik ghatak, satyajit ray, tapan sinha, the wrestlers, tollygunj, tollywood, turmeric, uttara, vegetable oil, venice festival, west bengali