Chinguri Checcha ( Mashed Prawns )

Cost of Preparation: 80-90 Rupees


Cooking Time Required: 10-15 mins



Ingredients: Prawns ( 250 gms ), Garlic pods (7-8 nos ), onion ( 1 no., small ), green chilli ( 1 no ), mustard oil ( 1 tsp ), turmeric ( 1/5 tsp), salt to taste, oil for cooking.


Preparation: Wash and clean the prawns. Do not remove the shell. Add salt and turmeric and mix well.


Cooking: Heat a pan. Add 2-3 tsp oil.

Add the prawns and fry them on medium flame for 5-6 mins.

Allow to cool down a bit and remove the shells.

Transfer to a grinder jar along with the onion pieces, garlic pods, green chilli and a pinch of salt. Grind into a coarse paste. Add the mustard oil to this paste and mix well.

Serve along with white rice.

Fish head with baby potatoes and dried lentil dumplings

A very basic curry made with crushed fish head and potatoes, this one is symbolic of the very essence of Odia cuisine. Practicing frugality and making the most out of the scarce resources, the Odia women in rural areas come up with the most ingenious recipes to feed their families. This one for example used just the fish head (and also tail in some cases) with a large quantity of potatoes and onions. The abundance of potatoes make it somewhat sweeter in taste than the regular mustard gravies. The fat in the fish head melts and permeates the curry to give it that undeniably awesome flavor.

Cooking Time Required: 15-20 mins


Ingredients -

• 1 no. Maccha munda/Fish head 
• 1 tsp mustard-garlic paste
• 1 mediu sized onion 
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 
• 10-12 baby potatoes / 1 large potato (if baby potatoes are not available)
• 2 nos dry red chili/green chilli 
• 8-9 nos boris/dried lentil dumpings ( optional )
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 3-4 tsp vegetable oil ( mustard oil is preferable )

Preparation: Clean the fish head thoroughly. Add salt and turmeric and keep aside for 15 mins. (Any large sized freshwater fish weighing 1 kg or more will do.)

Wash and cut the onion into chunks. Cut the baby potatoes into two.

Cooking: Deep fry the fish head till crispy, crush nicely and keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wok. Fry the boris/lentil dumplings to a reddish color and remove from the wok.

Add the remaining oil followed by the mustard seeds and broken red chillis . Allow seeds to crackle.

Add the onion chunks and stir fry till translucent. Add the baby potatoes at this stage and fry for 3-4 mins. Add the crushed fish head along with 1 cup of water, mustard-garlic paste, salt and turmeric . Bring to a boil.

Allow to simmer for 5-6 mins while stirring at intervals. Remove from fire, add the fried boris and keep aside for 10 mins.

Serve with rice and dal.

Note: Add 2 green chillis while making the mustard-garlic paste for upping the spice
content.

This is an old photo where I have used baby potatoes. For an added twist, this recipe is also prepared with dried/smoked fish.

Anda Jholo ( Eggs in coconut gravy )

Cooking Time Required: 25-30 mins
Cost of preparation: 35-45 rupees

Ingredients: Eggs (4 nos), potatoes ( 1 large ), onions (1 large), tomato (1large),cumin seeds (1/2 tsp), coriander seeds(1 1/2 tsp), fennel seeds ( 1/2 tsp ), ginger-garlic paste (1 1/2 tsp ), red chilli ( 2 nos ), cinnamon ( 1 inch long ), tomato ( 1 large ), turmeric ( 1/3 tsp), cloves (2-3 nos ), small cardamon ( 2-3 nos), bay leaves ( 1 no), oil ( 4-5 tsp ), freshly grated coconut (3 tbs, optional), chopped coriander leaves ( 3 tbs ), kashmiri chilli powder ( 1/4 tsp ), salt.

Preparation: Take a pan of water. Add the eggs along with a 1 tsp vinegar (keeps the
eggs from cracking during boiling) and boil for 8-10 mins. Remove from fire and allow to cool.Break open and remove the shell. Put slits along the sides of the eggs.

Grind the coconut and coriander separately and keep aside.

Cut the potaoes into long pieces.

Cooking: Dry roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, red chillis,
cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves and cardamon on a pan for a minute.

Grind into a fine powder in a mixer, and the chopped onion at this stage and grind into a paste along with a little water.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a wok. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and follow with the potatoes and eggs. Fry for 3-4 mins and remove from the wok.















Add 2 more tsp of oil. Add the ground masala paste along with a little salt and fry for 4-5 mins. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for till the masala is cooked. Add some water if required to cook the masala.

Add the chopped tomato and cook till it softens. Add 2-3 cups of water ( as per the
quantity of gravy required ) along with salt to taste and bring it to a boil. Add the fried eggs and potatoes. Cover with a lid and boil for 5 mins.

Add the coriander and coconut paste and boil for 3-4 mins. Srinkle coriander leaves and remove from fire.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Note: Use of coconut in curries and gravies is usually restricted to the coastal
districts of Orissa. In other ares poppy seeds or watermelon seeds are used as a
substitute in these curries.