Bread Pizza - Nothing oriya about it!!!

Cooking Time Required: 5 mins
Cost of preparation: 15-20 rupees

Ingredients: Bread (4 slices), Tomato ( 1 no., medium), Capsicum (1 no., medium), onion (1 small), garlic (1-2 pods), cheese (2 cubes), pepper powder( 1 tsp), salt to taste.

Preparation: Cut the tomato, capsicum, and onion into thin slices. The garlic should be minced into flakes.

Cooking: Heat a pan. Layer the tomato, capsicum and onion over the bread slices. Grate the cheese cubes over it. Add pepper, garlic flakes and salt to taste. Place the bread on the pan and cover with a lid. Wait for 2 mins and remove pan from stove. Keep it covered for about 2-3 mins.
Eat it hot with tomato/tabasco/mustard sauce.


Tips: For those who are not very inclined towards onion and garlic, shredded cabbage can be used as an ideal substitute.

Carrot Vermicelli Kheer

Cooking Time Required: 30-40 min
Cost of preparation: 50-60 rupees


Ingredients: Carrot ( 200 gm or 2 nos), vermicelli (1/2 cup), milk (1/2 ltr), milkmaid (condensed milk, 1 cup), ghee (3 tsp), raisins, kaju , sugar to taste.

Preparation: Grate the carrot and keep aside. Roast the vermicelli in a pan using very little ghee. Also fry the kajus to a golden shade.


Cooking: Heat a deep vessel. Add the ghee followed by the grated carrot. Fry the carrot for about 5 mins. Add milk, and bring to a boil. Allow to cook slowly for 15 mins. Add raisins, kaju and milkmaid. Boil for another 5 mins and add sugar (according to taste).

Tasty kheer is ready to eat.

Chicken Kosha

Cooking Time Required: 1 hour
Cost of preparation: 50-60 rupees

Ingredients: Chicken pieces (250 gm), onion ( 1 large), tomato puree ( 2 tsp), green chilli (1 no.), lemon ( one half), ginger garlic paste ( 1 tbs), coriander powder ( 1/2 tsp), cumin powder (1/2 tsp), chilli powder (1/2 tsp), fennel seeds (1/2 tsp), soya sauce (1/2 tsp), garam masala (1/3 tsp), turmeric , oil (5-6 tsp), salt to taste.

Preparation: Wash the chicken pieces. Add turmeric, lemon juice and salt. Allow to marinate for 30 mins. Cut the onion into two halves. Grate one half and mince the other half into fine pieces.

Heat oil in a kadai. when hot, add fennel seeds . Then add the grated onion . Fry for about 2 mins. Add the finely cut onion and green chilli pieces, followed by the ginger garlic paste after another 2 mins. Fry for about 5 mins. Add tomato puree, coriander powder, cumin powder and chilli powder. Add the marianated chicken after 1-2 mins. Cover with a lid and cook till the chicken softens. Then add the soya sauce and garam masala. Mix thouroughly and remove from fire. Keep covered for about 5 mins. Enjoy with hot rotis.


Tips: For those who are forever looking for short-cuts, the grated onion, ginger garlic paste and tomato puree can be substituted with Maggie Bhuna Masala.



Broiler Chicken- الفروج المشوي

Sunday Fish Dhamaka

Cooking Time Required: 2 hours
Cost of Preparation: 150 - 200 rupees

Ingredients: Pomfret (2 nos, medium), Rohu ( 200 gm), fish eggs (100 gm), onion (1 small), green chillies ( 2 nos), rice (3 tsp), coriander powder ( 2 tsp ), cumin powder (2 tsp), red chilli powder (2 tsp), turmeric powder (1 tsp), oil (suffient for frying), salt to taste.

Preparation: Wash the fish and fish eggs separately. Add turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt to the fish. Keep aside for 5-10 mins. Soak the rice overnite and grind into a fine paste. Add to the fish eggs along with the cumin, coriander, chilli powder, turmeric and salt.

Heat a flat pan. Add 5-6 tsp oil. When it starts smoking, add the pomfret and rohu pieces. Fry on both sides till the fish turns slightly reddish. Remove from pan and place on tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

Heat a kadai (deep vessel). Add sufficient oil for deep frying. when the oil becomes hot, add blobs(pakodas) of the fish egg mixture. Fry the blobs (pakodas) till they turn reddish brown. Remove from oil and place on tissue paper.

Amba Khatta ( Mango syrup dish )

Cooking time required: 20-25 mins
Cost of preparation: 15-20 rupees

Ingredients:

• Raw mango (2 nos)
• curry leaves (4-5 nos)
• red chilli powder (1/2 tsp)
• turmeric powder (1/5 tsp)
• pancha phutana (1/3 tsp)
• oil ( 2 tsp)
• sugar
• salt to taste

Cooking: Peel and cut the mangoes into thin slices along the length. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, add the turmeric, salt, and mango slices. Stir for about 5 mins. Then add sugar and 2-3 cups of water. Boil till the water reduces to half and the mixture gets a syrupy texture. Remove from fire.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan. When it becomes hot, add the mustard, fennel and coriander seeds. Then add curry leaves and red chillies. Fry till the red chillis become slightly dark. Then add to the mango syrup.

An excellent side dish with any non-veg meal.

Background: Sunday lunches are usually the highlight of the week for every oriya home (well almost..). Elaborate meals, visits from relatives and loads of gossip are some of the things which make the day rather special. The next few posts will be featuring Sunday specials which form the mainstay of my childhood memories.

Dahi Mula ( Mooli ka Raita )

'Dahi-Mulaa' or Mooli Raita is one of the dishes prepared for Lord Jaganaath's Midday meal, also known as the 'abhada'. With a generous amount of coconut and a tinge of sweetness, it is a nice thick raita that tastes wonderful when served with anna, dali and besara. However, I enjoy it with plain rice and yellow dal or even paratha.

Cooking time required: 10-15 mins

Ingredients:

• Radish(mooli) ( 1 large)
• freshly grated coconut ( 1 cup)
• curd (3/4 th cup)
• sugar ( 1-2 tsp)coriander seeds (1 tsp)
• mustard seeds (1/4 tsp)
• red chillies (1-2 nos)
• curry leaves (5-6 nos)
• oil (1 tsp)
• salt to taste
• 2-3 pinch coarsely ground pepperorns (golmaricha)

Cooking: Grate the radish, squeeze out excess water and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the grated coconut, curd, sugar, ground peppercorn and salt. Mix well and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a pan, when smoking add the spices (red chilli, coriander seeds and mustard seeds) and a few curry leaves (curry leaf flavor should not dominate the dish). Pour the spluttering mix into the mixing bowl and mix.

Serves as a excellent side dish for any vegetarian meal (personally, i prefer not to have radish with any non-vegetarian dish. Not a very good idea to have two dominant flavors fight it out among themselves).

Besan Tarkari ( moong dal preparation )

Cooking Time required: 1.5 hours
Cost of preparation: 40-50 rupees


Ingredients:

• Moong dal (250 gm)
• potato (1 medium)
• onion (1 large)
• coriander seeds(1-2 tsp)
• cumin seeds (1 tsp)
• garlic (2-3 pods)
• red chilli (1 no.)
• cinnamon stick (1/2 inch long)
• green chilli (1-2 nos)
• methi(1/5 tsp)
• mustard seeds(1/5 tsp)
• turmeric powder
• oil ( 6-7 tsp)
• salt to taste

Preparation: Wash and soak the moong dal overnite. Grind the soaked dal into a coarse paste. Separately grind the coriander seed, cumin seeds, red chilli, cinnamon, garlic and onion into a fine paste.

Cooking: Heat a non-stick tawa (flat pan) . Pour 1/4th of the moong dal paste and spread into a thick layer (slightly thicker than a oothapam). Spinkle oil from all sides. Allow it to cook on one side. Then toss and allow the other side to cook till golden brown. Repeat the process with the remaining moong dal paste.Cut the moong dal dosa into small squares (1.5 inch X 1.5 inch).

Heat about 2 tsp oil in a deep vessel. Add the green chillies, methi and mustard seeds. When the seeds start spluttering, add turmeric powder and the ground masalas . Cook till the paste turns slightly darker, then add the potato pieces. Fry for about 5 mins and add 4-5 cups water. Bring to a boil and add the moong pieces.

Cook till the moong pieces become very soft. Remove from fire and serve with rice or rotis.

Chicken pakoda (Orissa preparation)

Cooking Time Required: 1 hour ( marination time 30 mins)
Cost of preparation: 60-80 rupees

Ingredients:

• Chicken (boneless, 250 gms)
• egg white ( 1 no.)
• cornflour (3-4 tsp)
• soya sauce (1/2 tsp)
• ginger-garlic paste( 1 tsp)
• vinegar (1/2 tsp)
• tomato sauce ( 1 tsp)
• chilli powder or flakes
• turmeric ( 1 pinch)
• coriander powder ( 1/2 tsp)
• cumin powder (1/2 tsp)
• salt
• oil for frying

Marination: Cut the boneless chicken into inch sized cubes. Put in a bowl, add all the other ingredients , mix well and keep aside for 1/2 hour.


Preparation: Heat the oil in a deep vessel. When smoking, add the chicken pieces and fry till reddish brown. Garnish with chopped onions, tomato sauce and chilli sauce.

Sprouts chaat

Cooking Time Required: 5-1o mins
Cost of preparation: 10-15 rupees

Ingredients:

• Green moong( 50 gm)
• bengal gram ( 30 gm)
• lemon (1 nos)
• cucumber (half, medium size)
• onion (1 no., small)
• tomato (1 no, large)
• mint (pudina leaves)
• green chilli ( 1 no.)
• black salt ( to taste)
• pepper powder ( 1/2 tsp)
• cumin-chilli powder (1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp olive oil

Preparation: Soak the green moong and bengal gram overnite. Wash in the morning and keep in a germinator. If the germinator is not available, keep the pulses in a normal kitchen colander(used for draining excess water) or put in a muslin cloth and hang it( my mon still uses this method ) . Basically, the germinating vessel should be such that it allows free circulation of air.

Allow for 10-12 hours of germination time( this will vary according to the time of the year, i.e., germination is much faster during the hot summer months.


Cooking: Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the pulses, and stir fry for about 4-5 mins. Mince the tomato, cucumber, chilli, mint leaves and onion into very small pieces. Transfer all the ingredients to a mixing bowl, add the black salt, lemon juice, pepper powder, cumin-chilli powder. Mix well and you have a healthy snack time option.

Alternately, instead of stir-frying the pulses in olive oil, the oil can be directly added to the mixing bowl.

Aloo Baingan Bharta

Cooking Time Required: 20-25 mins
Cost of preparation: 20-30 Rupees

Ingredients:

• Brinjal ( 1-2 large)
• potato (1 medium)
• tomato ( 1 no, medium)
• green peas (fresh or frozen)
• onion (1 large)
• garlic(2-3 pods)
• ginger (1/2 inch)
• green chillies (2 nos)
• cumin(jeera) powder(1/2 tsp)
• chilli powder (1/2 tsp, optional)
• mustard seeds(1/4 tsp)
• cumin seeds (1/3 tsp)
• coriander seeds (1/2 tsp)
• turmeric (1/2 tsp)
• oil (3-4 tsp)
• sugar (1/2 tsp)
• salt to taste.

Cooking: Boil the potato and keep aside. Roast the brinjal on low flame till it softens. Remove from fire, keep on a plate and cover with a vessel. This will help cook the brinjal completely. Remove the vessel after 5-10 mins, peel the brinjal and mash it. Also peel the potato and dice it into cubes. Cut the onion into fine rings, the ginger and tomato should be cut into small pieces.
Heat the oil in a Kadai(deep pan). When smoking, add the garlic pods. Fry till the garlic turns slightly brown. Remove the garlic, and add sugar(for a reddish color). Add mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Also add the ginger pieces and green chillies. Fry for about 2 mins, then add onion. When the onion turns slightly red, add the turmeric and potato pieces. Fry for about 4-5 mins, then add tomato. Add the mashed brinjal, green peas, chilli powder and cumin powder after 2 mins. Cook on medium flame for 5-6 mins. Remove from fire , garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or rice.


Tips: If you are suffering from hyperacidity, boil the brinjal instead of roasting it. Adding pudina leaves to the garnish not only adds a different flavour but also helps alleviate acidity .

Tips for making mustard paste

Grind the dry mustard seeds into a coarse powder in a grinder/mixer. Then add water and grind again. The mustard paste will be much more smoother.