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.

Ambila

Ambila. This watery yet yummy sweet-sour preparation from Orissa can also be termed as 'Odiya rasam' as it is similar to the south indian delicacy. But as compared to the latter it is quite loaded with vegetables, usually the seasonal variety. Hence it is nutritious and low in calories at the same time. Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 25-30 mins

Ingredients - 1/2 cup cubed pumpkin, 1/2 cup thickly sliced cucumber, 1/2 cup cubed colocassia, 1 large tomato, 3 tsp yogurt, 1 tsp besan, 1 tsp tamarind pulp/ 1-2 ambula, 2-3 pinches turmeric, 1 tsp oil, salt to taste, 1 tsp sugar.

For tempering - 4-5 crushed garlic flakes, 2 sprigs curry leaves, 1-2 tbsp chopped green onions, 2-3 dry red chillis, 2 pinch asafoetida, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp oil

Preparation - Take yogurt, besan and 3-4 tsp water in a bowl. Mix well till no lumps remain.

Dissolve the tamarind pulp in 3-4 tsp water and keep aside. ( if using ambula soak it for 2-3 hours before using)

Cooking - Boil the pumpkin, cucumber and colcassia with 5-6 cups water, turmeric and salt in a large saucepan.

Heat another pan/wok. Add 1 tsp oil. Fry the chopped tomato till mushy. Add the tomato to the other vegetables when they are half cooked. Boil for 2-3 minutes.

Add the yogurt mixture and keep stirring for 5 minutes till it gets to a boil. Add the tamarind water/ambula and sugar.

Heat oil in a tempering pan. Add broken red chilli, mustard and cumin seeds. When it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida, crushed garlic, curry leaves and spring onions. Fry for 30-40 seconds.

Pour the tempering over the contents of the saucepan. Boil for 2-3 minute. Switch off flame and remove from stove.

Serve cold. (Tastes even better the next day, just take care to remove it from the fridge a good 2-3 hours before consuming.)

Note - Other vegetables like eggplant, radish, okra, ash gourd, amaranthus stem are also added to this recipe. But I had prepared this with all the leftover veggies in my fridge.