Tomato Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 1/2 kg
• Chopped onion - 1/3 cup
• Chopped tomato - 1/2 cup 
• Ginger paste - 1 tsp
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Tumeric powder / holud gura - 1/2 tsp
• Chopped green chili - 3
• Oil - 1/2 tsp for non stick pan
• Jeera / cumin - 1/4 tsp
• Sliced onion - 2 small (not pictured)
• Dhoniya pata / coriander leaves
• Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, add the chopped onion, tomato, ground and paste spices, green chili and salt to the chicken pieces. 
2. In a fry pan pour in the oil and add jeera to it. Next add the sliced onion and fry lightly. Once fried, add the chicken and fry the chicken. 
3. Once fried, add water, and let the chicken cook through. Once the water reduces and the chicken is cooked, take it off the stove, pour the curry in a serving bowl and sprinkle the coriander leaves on top for a pop of color. 

Serves four.

Doi Mangsho

Ingredients:

• Mangsho / Meat - 1/2 kg [ I used chicken ]
• Tok Doi / Plain Yogurt - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Onion - 1/4 cup
• Oil - 1/2 tsp (if you're using non stick pan) [2 tbsp if you're using regular pan]
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar / sugar substitute - to taste
• Lemon juice - to taste
• Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp
• Ground Jeera (Cumin powder) - 1/2 tsp
• Shorisha bata (Mustard paste) - 1/4 tsp
•  Dhonia pata (coriander) - for presentation - not pictured below

Preparation:

1. Aside from oil, chopped onion, lemon juice, (and coriander leaf), put all other ingredients into the chicken. 
2. In a non stick pan stir fry the onion lightly. 
3. Now add the chicken infused in other ingredients to the fry pan. 
4. Allow the chicken and ingredients to cook for a few minutes, add water (start with 1/4 cup), reduce heat, and cover the pan. Allow the water to reduce and the chicken to cook through. 
5. Once the chicken is cooked, sprinkle a little sugar and lemon juice into the pan. 
6. Pour chicken into a serving bowl, toss some coriander leaves for a pop of color and serve hot with rice or parata or roti. 

Serves four. 

Fruit Cake

Ingredients

• Flour (Maida) - 1/2 cup
• Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Butter (molten) - 1/4 cup
• Eggs - 2
• Vanilla Essence - 1/4 tsp
• Dry fruits - 1/4 cup (I use dried strawberry, plum & raisins)

Preparation

• Sift the flour and baking powder and keep aside.
• Cut up the dry fruits into small pieces. Dust it with a little bit of flour and set aside. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the molten butter and sugar together into a thick mixture. Beat in the eggs, but one at a time. Now add the vanilla essence.
• Now add the flour/baking powder mixture into the egg/butter mixture but do so a little at a time. When you are done you should see a thick mixture. 
• Grease a baking pan (I used 24 cm square pan) with butter, then lightly dust it with flour. 
• Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake it in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or however long it takes for the cake to be done. Insert a toothpick all the way into the cake and if it comes out clean then you know the cake is done. 

Allow cake to cool before cutting it up.
Perfect for high tea!

How it all began

Siddika Kabir – the name may mean different things to different people but to me she is the woman who taught my mother how to cook. I still remember my mother scouring through her worn out copy of “Ranna Khaddo Pushti”, covered with an old calendar page, trying to preserve the actual book which was coming apart at the seams anyways. 

The book was a thing of mystery to me. I could not really understand the text or the instructions that the book contained but I knew that the text held grave importance to my mom and everything had to be followed to the T. She would make notes in a separate notebook, read over the lines over and over again with full concentration as I would sit by her side trying to make sense of it all. 

Then after sometime my mother would turn to me as though she had finally uncovered the big secret and was ready to share with me these secret clues that would help make sense of this big mystery. 

The clearest memory I have of one such cooking expedition was the one time that my mother and I baked an apple pie together. I don’t remember specifics but I remember how she let me whisk the eggs, peel the apples, knead the pastry dough, stuff the pastry dough with apple sauce, and finally poke holes on the pastry top for the steam to escape. She kept me involved at each and every step of the way. I was so proud of what we accomplished together. 

My mother was a daughter, a wife, a daughter in law, a civil servant, and thanks to Siddika Kabir she became a cook as well. It’s been over 18 years since I last tasted her food. It’s been over 15 years since I last saw her copy of “Ranna Khaddo Pushti”.  It’s been over 24 years since I baked. 

All that changed in November 2014 when I accidentally found this bookshop in Chittagong – Batighar. I stood holding the book and reminisced and decided that I would purchase a copy of Siddika Kabir’s book – just for the sake of nostalgia – if not for anything else. 

Since then, I have read through the recipes, scoured through the lines, and made notes in the sidelines. This book has been therapeutic for me – I have found that by scouring through the recipes I am somehow connecting with my mother. She had once read the same lines and the same recipes as I am doing today. We are both uncovering the same clues to piece together a puzzle we started once before.

Siddika Kabir: The Woman, The Legend

(Source: Wikipedia)

Siddika Kabir (May 7, 1931 – January 31, 2012) was a Bangladeshi nutritionist, academic, cookbook author and cooking show television host. A professor and teacher, Kabir hosted and guest starred in numerous television shows featuring Bangladeshi cuisine, including Siddika Kabir’s Recipe on NTV Bangla.

Kabir was born in Dhaka, British India, on May 7, 1931. She attended college for mathematics and received a master's degree in the subject. Kabir began her teaching career in 1957, when she joined the math department of Eden Girls' College in Azimpur, Dhaka. In 1963, Kabir obtained a master's degree in "food and nutrition" and food administration from Oklahoma State University in the United States. She joined the nutrition department of College of Home Economics and later became the principal of the Home Economics College of Dhaka. 

Kabir appeared in her first television cooking show in 1966, leading a long career in numerous cooking shows as a presenter and guest. She also authored cookbooks, including "Ranna Khaddya Pushti" and "Bangladesh Curry Cookbook." Her career further led to consultant work for major foreign and Bangladeshi consumer food brands, such as Radhuni, Dano, and Nestlé. 

Kabir received several awards from the food and television industries, including the Sheltech Award, which was given to her in 2009. 

Siddiqua Kabir died at Square Hospital in Dhaka on January 31, 2012, at the age of 80.