The joys of being fed by mother!!

Some people say home is where heart is...i'd say home is where my stomach wishes it were,right now.Whenever i miss my home i realise that its mostly the mom's food and comfort it brings is what i miss and then i crave for it to  a point when i'm compelled to cook something that mom cooked for us back home and eat it all,just to relive the moment all over again.

Now, most of us miss our home food only once we are deprived of it and then the thought that one cannot have it more often starts haunting us day and night. Moral of the story : Learn to cook while you are still sitting on you ass shamelessly polishing off all the food you mom prepares.I had my moment of enlightenment at quite an early age when i was put up in a hostel for a year at the age of twelve and when i came back from there...i literally started on an eating spree that never ended(and yes it all showed up at my behind..LOL!!),but it gave me the wisdom to take interest in whatever mom was concocting up in the kitchen.

Now my mom has always cooked for us inspite of having ample help around and this has inspired me to do the same with my kids.I love to cook for them and at the same time make sure they know their food well.Sometimes they surprise me by how much they pick up just by being around.

Anyways today's recipe is one my mom used to and still makes for us in winters(by demand ofcourse) and is called "fara".Now this recipe appears in different avatars in bengali cuisine as well in kitchens of northern  india.In calcutta they also make a sweet version but ofcourse i'm telling you the savoury one here.However this time i forgot to check the exact measurements so i'm giving approximates here,but they should do well if you follow the recipe(its damn easy).

FARA

The ingredients are:

• a cup and a half of rice flour(preferably the young rice i.e.from the recent crop yield)
• a tablespoon of clarified butter/ghee(it is important to not miss it because it keeps the dough moist which otherwise is very dry and difficult to roll)
• warm water(to make dough)
• a cup of soaked chana daal(split bengal gram)/urad daal(split white lentils)
• a few dried red chillies
• whole coriander seeds, about a  tspn and a half
• cumin seeds(zeera) ,about a tblspn
• asofoetida(hing), a generous pinch
• green coriander leaves,a small bunch
• salt to taste
• a steaming basket/colander to steam the dumplings

preparation:

• Grind together the lentils( you can use these lentils seperately or a mix of different ones to suit your taste) with red chillies,asofoetida,cumin ,coriander seeds,leaves and salt with the help of little water to a coarse paste.Leave it aside for half an hour to soak in the flavours.

• Now prepare the dough by mixing the clarified butter(you can use any neutral flavoured oil like vegetable oil instead; if you prefer not using the butter) with the flour first and then add the warm water spoon by spoon,mixing well in between.Knead it well till it forms a smooth ball and then cover and let it rest for about half an hour.

• Now roll out a tennis ball size of dough on a dusted surface to about half an inch thickness(or thinner if you can handle).Use cookie cutters to cut out circles from it.Return the leftover dough to the bowl.keep repeating till all the dough is consumed.Now take aprx a teaspoon and half of the lentil stuffing and place it on one side of the circle that you just cut out and press gently to fold in a half moon, keeping the sides open.If you wish you can use two circles with stuffing sandwiched in between(this is faster to prepare but takes a little exta time to cook).

• Arrange the dumplings on a tray and steam at medium heat for around twelve to eighteen mts depending on how you have prepared the dumplings).

• Serve hot with a savoury green chutney (i have a special chutney recipe that we eat with this but will share later for sure) or sauted with some curry leaves and mustard seeds....And yes don't forget the steaming cup of masala chai.
• note: The dumplings keep well for atleast three days in an airtight box inside the refrigerator.

health tip: This works as an excellent in between meals snack or breakfast.It has a good balance of carbs and proteins wth spices thrown in to aid in the digestion and providing micronutrients like zinc,potassium,vit b-6,niacin etc.The cooking method used is steaming which is possibly the best way of cooking and helps retaining maximum nutrition.