Ahana Chakraborty

Hi! I'm Ahana Chakraborty, and I'm a graduating third year at UC San Diego studying Biochemistry/Cell Biology and Marine Sciences. Though I was born here in San Diego, my family is from West Bengal, which is a state in the north-eastern region of India famous for its sweets, or mishti. My favorite recipe is my mother's luchi (which is a type of fried dough/bread) and aloo dum (spiced potatoes). It's a perfect meal for rainy days, or when you wake up late but just in time for brunch. Try out your own!

Recipe:

Luchi - 8-10:

1 cup of flour (regular)

2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon of oil

Pinch of salt and sugar

Warm water

Directions

Mix ingredients and start sprinkling warm water to form dough

(Add flour/warm water to fix the consistency of dough)

Dough must be sort of soft and elastic

Sprinkle some oil over the dough and massage it smoothly and keep it covered in shrink wrap for half an hour (not in refrigerator, room temp)

Take a big plate/tray and sprinkle oil in it

Obtain a rolling pin

Make small balls and roll them in your hand and put them onto the plate (should be 8-10)

Try to use a wooden circular board

Pat oil on the board and rolling pin and start rolling one ball at a time on the board and making circles (should be uniform)

Put enough oil in a pot for frying

Heat the oil until steam comes out of the oil

Put the uncooked luchis into the pot (carefully)

With a spatula start moving the luchi around

As they puff up, flip the luchis (carefully)

A light yellowish color should appear in the puffed up luchis, very carefully transfer it onto a plate with a paper napkin to soak the excess oil

Repeat for each luchi; after 5-6 luchis, lower the flame so it doesn't get burnt

Aloo Dum

10 small white or red potatoes

oil/ghee (clarified butter) for cooking

chopped onions

white cumin seeds

salt

turmeric powder

ginger and garlic paste

bay leaf

pinch of sugar

Directions

Take 10 small white or red potatoes

Wash them and put them in a pot of water and a pinch of salt; boil the potatoes

After 15-20 minutes check if they are tender

Turn off the heat and carefully strain the water

After potatoes cool, peel the skin from potatoes

In a pan, put oil or ghee

Put white cumin seeds and chopped onions and start sautéing them with salt

After the onions are transparent, put 1 teaspoon of ginger and garlic paste and keep cooking on a low flame

Make sure they doesn't burn

When the smell of garlic is gone, finely chop 2 tomatoes and incorporate

Put a little turmeric while the whole thing is still cooking and a little bit of sugar

Keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the pot

Taste the mixture if you need salt

You can add frozen peas as well

Now add potatoes into the mixture

Very gently stir the potato gravy mixture (if needed you can add more oil)

Put a bay leaf and keep stirring softly so the potatoes don't break

After they are well mixed, put your estimation of warm water so the potatoes cook properly

Add a little more salt (according to your taste) and cover it with a lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes

Poke the potatoes to see if they are done; make sure the gravy is thick

Turn off the heat

You can add green chilies on the top and coriander leaves

Now serve four luchis and 3-4 potatoes

Enjoy!