Shuntki maachher charchari (dry curry of dried fish)

This is stolen from UB who is the best cook of Bengali food I have met so far (other than my Mom, of course). This is going to be vague as I have not tried it yet.

Take dried small fish (or shrimps, anything about 1-2" long)  and soak it in vinegar for some time (1-2 hr) - this helps in removing the stink of dried fish.

Boil some water and put the soaked fish into it (the water should be boiling hot) for a couple of minutes before draining it out.

Heat oil in a wok and fry the fish lightly to make it crispy and keep them aside.

In the same oil fry panch phoron (at least nigella seeds), chopped (long) onions, green chili (sliced lengthwise into to halves), chopped radish, chopped onion stalks etc (any vegetable that can can be crunchy when cooked).

Add a little water and cook till the vegetables are almost done and add the fish.

Cook for a few more minutes.

Chicken wings and rice with basil, thyme and honey

Ingredients:

1. Chicken breast quarters : 2 (~500 g)
2. Vinegar : 4 tblsp
3. Pepper corns: 6-10 (finely crushed)
4. Dry basil: 1 tbsp
5. Dry thyme: 1 tbsp
6. Honey: 2 tbsp
7. Oil/fat: 2 tbsp
8. Rice: 100 g

Procedure:

1. Boil a mixture of water and salt in a deep pot. Put the chicken into the boiling water so that it is entirely submerged. Take it off heat and let cool down for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the water. Marinate the chicken with the vinegar, pepper corns, basil and thyme for 10 minutes or longer.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Put the chicken (keeping the marinade with the juices aside) into it and cover. Cook for 1-2 minutes at high heat. Flip it and cook for another 1-2 minutes. 
4. Reduce heat to below boiling point (~90 degrees Celsius), add two cups of water and cook for at low until chicken is done (~20 minutes). Flip the chicken pieces midway.
5. Remove the chicken pieces and season them with honey and then pour a few tablespoonfuls of the juices over them. Now rinse the marinade with 1/2 cup water and add it to leftover juices in the pot. Add the rice. Add more water if necessary and bring to boil. Cook until rice is done.
6. Serve the chicken with the rice. 

Shukto

This is a very common vegetarian dish and you will get many recipes on-line. There can be a wide variety of shukto depending on the household. But fundamentally it is a bitter dish based on mustard paste. You can add almost any green vegetable and potatoes on top of that, and it will still be shukto. Here is one of my versions.

Ingredients:

1. Bitter gourd: 1
2. Brinjal: 1/2 (large)
3. Potato: 1 (medium)
4. Raw banana: 1

These  are the most common vegetables for shukto. You can use drum-sticks or any other bitter vegetable instead of bitter gourd. You can add almost any green vegetable: ridge gourd, patol (pointed gourd), etc. go well with shukto. On the spice side you need:

1. Mustard paste: 1 tsp
2. Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
3. Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp
4. Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
5. Green chili: 2
6. Ginger paste: 1/2 tsp
7. Bay leaves: 2
8. Paanch phoron: 1 tsp
9. Poppy seed paste: 1 tsp (optional)
10. Salt: according to taste.

Procedure:

1. Chop all the vegetables into similar shape and size. I prefer 2" long, 1/2" thick pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wok.
3. Add paanch phoron and bay leaves.
4. As the seeds start popping, add green chili and ginger paste. Keep mixing for a minute.
5. Add the mustard paste (and poppy seed paste).
6. Add the vegetables in sequence of their cooking time (bitter gourd, pointed gourd take the longest to cook, potatoes, brinjal and raw banana are intermediate, ridge gourd gets done fastest).  If you want it perfect, a better way is to fry the vegetables separately: heat oil in a wok. First semi-fry the pointed gourd and bitter gourd - they use up most oil; then the potatoes, the brinjal and the raw banana. You don't really need to fry the ridge gourd.
7. Add enough water so that all the vegetables are submerged. Cover and bring it to simmer.
8. Add the powdered spices and cook until done.

Spicy beef curry

The gravy was really good, but the meat was too tough. You may want to make sure you have tender meat for this or pressure-cook the meat before-hand. In the latter case, skip step 12 and add the stock along with the meat.

Ingredients:

1. Beef: 500 g (chopped into 1" cubes)
2. Garlic: 6 pods
3. Ginger: 1" stick
4. Tomato: 6 small
5. Curd: 200 ml
6. Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
7. Coriander powder: 2 tsp
8. Cumin powder: 1 tsp
9. Garam masala: 1 tsp 
10. Cardamom: 4 pods
11. Cinnamon: 1" stick
12. Cloves: 6
13. Bay leaves: 4
14. Curry leaves: 10-15
15. Dried red chili: 3
16. Green chili: 6 (sliced into two)
17. Onion: 2 medium
18. Sugar: 1 pinch
19. Salt: according to taste

Procedure:

1. Wash the beef and marinate with 1 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, salt and 2 tbsp cooking oil.
2. Grate the ginger into a coarse paste and crush the garlic.
3. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces (split each one into 8)
4. Dice the onions.
5. Crush the cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves into coarse powder.
6. Heat cooking oil in a wok.
7. Add sugar, red chili and bay leaves. 
8. As they start to get brown, add 3 green chili, 3/4 of the curry leaves, ginger and garlic. Keep stirring.
9. Add the onions. Keep stirring until brown.
10. Add the tomatoes. Keep stirring until they start to melt.
11. Add the beef and keep mixing until water starts to come out.
12. Add 4 cups of water, cover and cook at low heat for 30 minutes.
13. Add the curd. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and the rest of the turmeric powder. Mix well, cover and cook until meat is cooked.
14. Add the rest of the spices: the green chilies and the curry leaves (crush them in your palm to get the flavour out) and the clove-cardamom-cinnamon powder.
15. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes and it should have thick gravy when done.