Bengali New year Special : Luchi aar Pyarkoli-Aloor Dom (Bengali Dum Aloo with Spring Onion)

 A happy and healthy new year wish from me to all my visitors, readers, and to all Bengali Blogger friends.
Tomorrow is Bengali Nababarsha, which means New Year. Yes, April 15, is the First day of Bengali calender year 1418. This Bengali calender is maintained in Indian state of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam & our neighbouring country Bangladesh. Naba Barsha or Poila Boisakh is a very important occassion for Bengalis. First day of the month, Baisakh, which is popularly known as "POILA BAISAKH", where poila means the very first. It is very important yet another eventful day of the year, which Bengal celebrates with lots of excitement and zest and welcomes the new year with lots of enthusiasm.

One important event of the day is "Phabhat Pheries" or early morning processions where men and women sing "Rabindra Sangeet"(songs by Rabindranath Tagore) and other regional folk songs where men are dressed in traditional Dhuti-Punjabi and women are dressed in white Sari with red border. Lots of people also visit temples to start the new year with god's blessings. Moreover, Baishakh is one of the important month for the Bengalis as it marks the beginning of the crop cycle in Bengal. Also this month is very auspicious for marrieges.
Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Lord Ganesh are worshipped on the Bengali New Year day. It's an auspicious day for traders and businessmen. Traders perform the "Halkhata" ceremony, that means shopkeepers, businessmen and traders close their old accounts and open a new one. All shops are decorated with flowers and Sola decorations and also stringed fresh lemons and chillies hanging in front of shops. This is to ward off the evil eye. People visit their favorite shops during the day to wish them luck for the year ahead and traders welcome customers on this day with sweets and a bengali new year calendar.
People wear new clothes to celebrate this joyous occassion. Lots of cultural programmes are also held on this day. In West Bengal, Shantiniketan (Rabindranath Tagore's Viswa Bharati University) celebrates Poila Boisakh in a grand way involving many cultural programmes. No occassion is complete without good food. All favorite delicacies are prepared that day at home even restaurants fill their menu card with only traditional bengali delicacies for that day. Exchanging of gifts, typical plush Bengali lunch, the pungent smell of new dress epitomizes the Bengali New Year as one of the most significant event of the year.

On this occassion, I'll share The Famous Bengali Aloo Dum recipe with Luchi(Puri)..This combo is very popular and beloved breakfast in every bengali household. Not only brekfast, actually any bengali will be ready to indulge this combo any time of the day. But this combo is typically served on Sunday's leisurely breakfast menu or in any special occassion. I've shared before North Indian Style Aloo Dum recipe, but havn't shared any Bengali Aloo Dum recipe Yet. Thought today is the perfect time to share this famous combo.

Ingredients :

Potato : 3-4 (cut into medium chunks) or can use baby potatoes
Spring Onion : 3/4 cup (cut into 1" piece)
Onion : 2(medium-sliced or chopped)
Ginger-garlic paste : 1 tblsp.(1" ginger + 3 big cloves garlic)
Green Chilli : 1 or 2(finely chopped)
Tomato : 2(medium-finely chopped)
Turmeric powder : 2 tsp.
Red chilli powder : 1-2 tsp. (as per taste)
Bay leaves : 2
Cinnamon stick : 2(1" piece)
Salt to taste
Sugar : 1 tsp.
Oil : 2-3 tblsp.
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method :

• Peel the potatoes and boil them with little salt added to it until they are just done. Drain and keep aside.
• Heat 1 tblsp. oil in a pan, rub a little turmeric powder on the potatoes and fry them until golden brown from all sides. Drain on paper towel. 
• put rest of the oil in the same pan, temper with bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. When bay leaves are nicely brown, add chopped onions. Saute till they are lightly brown. Add sugar and saute them for 1-2 minutes more or until they are golden brown.
• Then add ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chillies. Saute them for 1-2 minutes, than add chopped tomatoes. Stir them well in medium flame until tomatoes are mushy. Add Turmeric and chilli powder. Mix well with the onion-tomato paste. 
• Stir fry until oil seperates the masala. Add fried potatoes, Spring onions and mix well with the spice paste. Season with salt and add about 3/4 cup water. Let it cook in low flame until a thick gravy nicely coats potatoes.
• Remove from flame and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.  

Luchi is a deep-fried flatbread most beloved by Bengalis than anything. As I said before, Bengalis are ready to gulp Luchi with anything, any time of the day. It's  made from a dough of all-purpose flour, that's why get the color white. My luchis are a combination of Luchi and Puri(another Indian flatbread, made of wheat flour). As we, bengalis can't stop eating this white puffed-up beauties, so I make my dough in 1:1 ratio of wheat flour and all-purpose flour(maida) to make it little more healthy and to feel less guilty.

Ingredients :

All-purpose flour : 1cup
Wheat flour : 1 cup
Salt : 1 tsp.
Ghee(clarified butter) : 1 tsp.
Oil for frying
Warm water to knead

Method :

• In a big bowl, sift both the flours and add salt. Mix well, then add ghee in it and mix well by hand. Then slowly and steadily add warm water in it to make medium soft dough. The dough for making luchi should not be too soft. 
• Make small balls from the dough.
• On a flat surface, drop little oil, then roll out the balls into circle of 4-5 inch diameter.When you roll out, make sure it is even from all sides and it should  not be too thin, nor too thick.
• Heat enough oil to deep-fry. To taste the right temperature of oil (which is very important for frying luchi, otherwise it won't puff up into a round ball), take a pinch of dough and make a round ball and drop it into oil, if it comes up immediately, then oil is ready.
• Take one rolled out luchi at a time and drop slowly into the pan, then press very gently with the back of your spatula allover the luchi, you will see it is puffing up, once it puffed up, quickly flip to the other side. Do not keep luchis in oil for long time.
• Take out immediately with a slotted spatula(which has holes in it) to drop the excess oil. Drain on a paper towel. Follow the same procedure for other luchis.
• Luchis should be fried just before serving as it tastes best when hot and crispy.  

Enjoy this yummy combo in your comfort and have immense pleasure of good food...............
 Sending Aloo dum with Spring onion to Charitha's "C for Colorful Currys" event