আরকাইভসমূহঃ Glossary

All preparations (except dessert items) require salt. Proper quantity of salt should be applied early in the preparation. This makes the vegetables cook easily.

Powdered pulses (like chhola dal or motor dal) are called besan. It is generally used to apply a tasty coating on fries like beguni or peyaji. Salt, chili- powder, a small amount of baking powder, and a bit of oil (one teaspoon in one cup besan) are added. Then it …

Most Bengali preparations need a little bit of sugar to get the appropriate taste. In adding sugar one has to remember that if sugar is applied before the vegetables are sufficiently cooked, they do not soften easily. So sugar has to be applied after the vegetables are adequately cooked.

Garam Masala is a combination of three spices – Chhoto Elach (green cardamom), Labanga (cloves) and Daru Chini (cinnamon). These three spices are ground into a powder or pressed to make into a paste. It is generally applied at the end of a preparation, and mixed well. The quantity depends …

This is the oily substance obtained from cream of milk. If full cream milk is used at home, everytime the milk is boiled a thin layer of creamy substance accumulates on the surface. If this material is heated. an oily liquid comes out. This is ghee – which is then …

The yellow colored spice halud or haldi (in Hindi) is a basic ingredient of most Indian preparations. The basic material comes in form of small sticks which have to be ground into a powder or a paste. Nowadays it is available in grossery stores in powder form. It has to …

Hing(Asafoedita) is a kind of aromatic substance. Its typical smell greatly improves the taste of some curries. However, this smell may not suit some people, and care is needed to apply this item. Firstly, hing should be applied only in very small quantities. For example, to cook 250 gm Biuli …

In most fried items made of flour, a bit of ghee or vegetable oil is applied before adding water to make the dough. This is called moyan . Earlier ghee was used for moyan, but nowadays mostly vegetable oils like sunflower oil and rice-bran oil are used. But mustard oil …

Pach Phoron is a combination of five spices – methi, mouri, kalojira, mustard and radhuni. These are mixed in equal quanities. Indian grossery stores can supply the combination.

Phoron means a collection of spices used to add aroma to food. To apply Phoron at the start of a cooking, take a little edible oil in a pan, heat it, and sprinkle the said spices on the oil. Stir till the spices are fried, and stop before they turn …