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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Gurubariya Ambila ( A rustic vegetable soup from Odisha )

Well...excuse me for the 'Gurubariya' bit . I kept thinking of a name for this recipe and could not come up with anything better. While the Ambila is a popular dish from Odisha which is somewhat similar to the Andhra rasam, this version is made only during Manabasa Gurubar or the thursdays of the Hindu month of Margasira. Devoid of the generous garlic tempering and made to include only a few select vegetables ( sweet potato, radish, banana stem & taro ) that are usually offered to Goddess Lakshmi, this has a unique taste which is unlike the regular vegetarian version (click here for recipe) or the non-vegetarian version(click here for recipe).

Read on -







Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -


  • 1/2 cup radish (cut into circles)
  • 1/4 cup sweet potato (cut into circles)
  • 1/4 cup taro/arbi (cut into circles)
  • 1/4 cup banana stem (cut into small pieces)
  • 1 green chili
  • 1 dry red chili
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ginger juliennes (my addition)
  • 1 tbsp jaggery
  • 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
  • pinch of asafoetida
  • salt to taste
  • 1/5 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp refined oil/ghee


Preparation - Mix the banana stem pieces with a bit of salt and set aside for 20 mins. Squeeze out the water from the pieces.

Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water for 15 mins. Mash it with hands and strain the liquid. Discard the solids.

Cooking - Add all the vegetables to a pressure cooker along with 4 cups of water, green chili, turmeric and salt to taste. Cook for 2 whistles. Remove from flame and keep aside till steam escapes.

Put the pressure cooker on a low flame. Add the jaggery and the tamarind to it. Allow to simmer for 6-7 mins. Adjust consistency.

Heat the oil/ghee in a small pan. Add the cumin seeds, asafoetida, broken red chili and curry leaves to it. Once it gets spluttering, pour the tempering over the contents of the pressure cooker. Boil for 1 minute before removing from flame.

Serve it hot with meals or enjoy as a light soup.







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