Coconut Cucumber And Radish Raita

During the winter months when tons of radish floods the local markets, most folks find a way to include this wonderful vegetable into their everyday menu. Be it the North Indian Muli ka paratha or the spicy stir fried version in South India, every state has its own special radish dish. Folks in Odisha like to add it to their Kanji ( a light soup ), have it crushed and mixed with lime juice as a salad and also as a glorious raita with coconut added to mellow down the strong radish flavour. I have simply modified this recipe by adding some cucumber and also a hint of mustard. The end result is a very light and refreshing recipe that is the perfect complement to any meal ( especially ones that feature a rich gravy dish ).

Read on -

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup grated radish
• 1 cup grated cucumber
• 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
• 1 1/2 cup yogurt
• 2/3 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 sprig curry leaves
• 2 dry red chilis
• 1 tsp mustard paste ( use less if you are not used to the pungency or use yellow instead of black mustard )
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp oil

Preparation - Take the yogurt in a mixing bowl. Add salt and mustard paste. Beat it lightly to break the lumps.

Squeeze out water from the radish and cucumber. Add to the mixing bowl along with the coconut.

Cooking - Heat oil in a tempering pan. Add the mustard seeds, broken red chili and curry leaves. Once it starts spluttering, pour it over the contents of the mixing bowl.

Mix well. Add a little water if you want a thinner consistency.

Serve immediately or chill for 15 mins before serving.

Note - Consume on the same day.

The Dalma-niac Soup !! ( Traditional Dalma gets a mad makeover )

There are certain days when the 'makeover' madness takes hold of me and just refuses to let go. I try giving a makeover to everything, either living or non-living, that comes within a few feet radius of me. Not everything that is affected by my Midas touch turns out to be gold and I often end up deleting/discarding/reverting my genius stroke. And in the unfortunate event of there being a certain kind of permanency to my spur-of-the-moment actions, I learn to live with the taunts that come my ways for a not so inconsiderable period.

However, this is one of my more successful experiments which helped me banish ( or to be more honest, just reduce ) rice from my diet to a certain extent. For the uninitiated, Dalma is lentils cooked with a medley of veggies, and tempered with red chilis, ghee, cumin and coconut. I have turned this into a full bodied soup that is guaranteed to banish all hunger pangs.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup split yellow moong dal
• 1 tsp arwa/jeera/gobindoghog/basmati rice
• 2 cups mixed veggies ( raw papaya, pumpkin, potato, carrot, tomato/green mango )
• 1/2 tsp roasted cumin-chili powder
• 2-3 tsp coconut milk / freshly grated coconut for the garnish
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• salt to taste
• 1/5 tsp turmeric
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 inch cinnamon
• 2 dry red chili

Preparation - Dry roast lentil and rice till they turn fragrant.

Cooking - Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the broken red chili and spices.

Wash the rice and lentils . Transfer to the same pressure cooker with 2 1/2 cup water. Add the washed veggies, salt and turmeric. Close lid and cook for 2-3 whistles.

Keep aside till steam escapes. Open lid and puree the contents with the help of a hand blender.

Put it back on the flame and add the coconut milk. Let it simmer for 3 mins.

Remove from flame and pour into soup bowls. Garnish with the roasted cumin-chili  powder.

Serve immediately.

Note - Dalma, ghee and arwa chawal is like one sacrosanct trinity and hence I have included all the there elements in the soup. However the other two, i.e., the coconut (sweetness) and cumin-chili powder (pungency) can be omitted (though not recommended) or adjusted as per one's preference.

Tarana ( A festive recipe for Bada Osa )

Women folk are unusually resourceful. Who else would have thought of coming up with a dish from what can be described as a side-effect of preparing another dish. The other dish that I have mentioned is the Gaja or manda pitha that is prepared for Bada Osa. The 'khali' or cooked batter that remains sticking to the walls of the container is made into a somewhat watery kheer called the 'Tarana'.

While the Tarana is rather thin in consistency, it packs in quite a punch with a combination of flavours like black pepper, green cardamom and bay leaf. As it is cooked twice, once in the form of a khali and another time as a kheer, it is very light and easy to digest.

But it can also be made with fresh arwa pithau too. This takes a little longer to cook but is equally delicious. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20-25 mins

Ingredients -

• 3 tsp thick rice paste (jeera rice/ gobindobhog rice)
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp crushed peppercorn
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 green cardamom
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• a pinch of salt
• 3 tsp sugar

Preparation - Wash and soak the rice for 5-6 hours. Grind into a smooth paste.

Cooking - Bring the water to a boil. Add the batter little by little and mix continuously to thicken the mixture.

Cook for 10 mins on a medium flame. Add the milk and season with bay leaf, crushed peppercorn and cardamom.

Boil for another 10 mins. Finally add the salt, sugar and just a drizzle of ghee. Stir a little to dissolve the sugar.

Remove from the flame.

Serve at room temperature. 

Roasted Tomato Salsa ( aka Bilati Baigana poda from Odisha )

Bah. That's too glam a name for something as rustic as the 'Bilati baigana poda' or 'Tamatar Poda'. Yup, that's what we call this dish which originated in the rural kitchens of Odisha, one of the most backward states of India. Then why on earth am I calling it a salsa ? First it shares a helluva lot of resemblance with this Mexican delight . Second, I believe in free speech . I think, Therefore I am. Get the drift.

Coming to the authentic recipe, the tomatoes are usually roasted in the dying embers of a wood fired stove or 'chulah' as we call it in India. But most of us have done away with the cumbersome (and also polluting contraception). Hence it makes sense to roast them on a gas burner using a grill or just pop them into the oven ( low heat for 10 mins and turn up to get them blackened on the outside).

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 large ripe tomato
• 1 medium sized red onion ( finely chopped )
• 3-4 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
• 1-2 green chilis (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp mustard oil 
• 1 tsp coarsely chopped cilantro
• salt to taste

Preparation - Roast the tomato till the outer skin is blackened. Allow it to rest for a few mins.

Peel it carefully and chop it up into chunks.

Throw into a mixing bowl and toss in the other ingredients. Mix and keep aside for a few mins.

Enjoy as a dip or with white rice.


Note - Generally all the ingredients are mashed together with bare hands. But I have used a knife and spoon for the sake of hygiene.

Chuda Ghasa Parfait ( Diwali Recipes Collaboration )

Its time to begin the festivities as the 'Festival of lights' is literately knocking on our doors. To make this Diwali extra special for all my readers and well wishers, I will be collaborating with a very talented blogger Parinaaz Marolia . Parinaaz is a mum to a toddler, passionate blogger and amateur photography dabbler. She blogs at A Dollop of that! It is mostly about Parsi recipes and baked stuff.
For today's post, she has made assorted chocolates in two variants brandy creme and honeyed pistachio. ( For more info, scroll down to the bottom of this post )

As an added bonus another blogger is joining us at the last minute. Ms Saswati Hota, also from Odisha, is a part of the Indian Air Force family . She is contributing with a sweet known as Labanga Latika in Odisha.

Coming back to my recipe, Chuda Ghasa is a traditional preparation from Odisha. A coarse mix of beaten rice with sugar, ghee and freshly grated coconut, it is prepared during festivals. Some people also add chopped fruits and boondi to it to enhance the taste. With this recipe, I have attempted to deconstruct it and serve it in the form of separate layers just like a parfait. But a much healthier and simpler one.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 1/2 cup beaten rice
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ghee
• 2 tsp freshly grated coconut
• 3 tbsp chopped berries (I had only dried ones)
• 2 tbsp chopped orange
• 1/2 cup hung curd (Greek yogurt)
• 1 tsp chopped pistachios
• 1/4 cup sweetened boondi ( or 1 motichoor laddoo)
• 1-2 green cardamoms
• a pinch of cardamon
• a pinch of saffron

Preparation - Take the beaten rice, 2 tbsp sugar and cardamom in a mixer. Give a buzz to get a coarse mix. Add the ghee and freshly grated coconut to the mixer jar and give another buzz. This is the regular chuda ghasa which looks like breadcrumbs.

Mix the hung curd with 2 tbsp sugar, a pinch of saffron and pistachios.

Mix the boondi/crumbled motichoor laddoo with the 2 tsp chuda ghasa.

Take two small glasses . Spread a thick layer of the chuda ghasa on the bottom. Top it with the oranges and chopped berries.

Top it with the hung curd .

Finally add a layer on boondi mix and garnish it with toasted pistachios.

Chill it in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

Do not forget to check this out !!

Parinaaz's recipe - Assorted Chocolates (feat.) Liquor & Honeyed-Pistachios

And

Saswati's recipe - Labanga Latika

Bok Choy Dal (Bok Choy cooked with yellow lentils)

"When is something classified as foreign ?". That is a question that has been on my mind for the last few days. Why are we hesitant or scared to accept something that has been branded 'foreign' ? Is it because we are unaware of its characteristics/benefits or is it because we think that it might end up corrupting our indigenous ways. But haven't many of these so called foreign things, become a part of our life over a period of time. So when does foreign stop being foreign ? I think that happens when it has been accepted and assimilated ( with a tweak ofcourse ) into our culture in such a way that it becomes difficult to filter it out.

For example, take the Bok Choy. It is chinese cabbage and lot of folks are not aware of it or prefer to cook it in a style that is more appealing to the Chinese or the Europeans. No wonder folks are hesitant to put it on their regular menu. But it is one wonder vegetable which is nutrient dense while being low in fat. Enough reason to consume it regularly. That inspired me to cook it in the way most greens are cooked in Odisha, i.e., with split moong dal. And it turned out to be delicious. I can also vouch that my son who will grow up eating this yummy dish will not consider Bok Choy as a foreign vegetable.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

Ingredients -

• 2 heads of Bok choy
• 1 cup split moong dal
• 7-8 garlic flakes
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp oil
• 2 dry red chilis
• salt to taste

Preparation - Remove the outermost leaves and cut off the end/stem (not too much but abt 1 cm ).

Wash with loads of water to rinse off any dirt and insects. Drain and then chop into small bits.
Crush the garlic flakes.

Dry roast the moong dal till it gives off a mild fragrance.

Cooking - Wash and cook the dal with 1 1/2 - 2 cup water for 1 whistle. Keep aside till steam escapes.

Heat the oil in a pan. Once hot, throw in the mustard seeds and broken red chili.

Then add the garlic and allow it to brown slightly.

Now add the chopped bok choy, stir fry on high for 2 mins and then pour the cooked dal over it.

Let it simmer for 5-6 mins or till the bok choy is cooked yet firm.

Serve hot with rice or rotis ,

Jhili (Or Jhiliya) (A very Odia legacy)

None of us are above greed. It exists in each one of us to some extent. While it is easier to recognise it when it exerts itself in more obvious ways, but it also affects some very sublime decisions that we may take. For example, the typical Odia fare from western Odisha is very much frugal and is devoid of spices like cardamom, saffron and rich nuts like almond and pistachio. But in our quest (greed) for a better taste makes us skip the indigenous ingredient and lean in favour of something more exotic.

I remember from my conversations with my grandmother that the green cardamom was a very late entrant into her kitchen. Bay leaves, peppercorn and cinnamon were the most popularly used flavoring agents. But over a period of time, cardamom became an intergal part of every sweet dish/mutton curry. Indigenous nuts like the peanut and charoli were overtaken by cashews and pistachios. In fact a lot of ingredients that we use today have slowly crept into our menu over the decades and have become firmly rooted over time.

I was ruminating over the indigenous Vs foreign debate last week when I suddenly remembered this dish cooked by my grandmother. A fitting tribute to the frugal yet delectable Odia cuisine, I decided to make it minus any adaptations (Read condensed milk, cardamom, cashews, and so on). Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients -

• 2/3 cup raw rice
• 1/2 cup boiled rice
• 1 liter milk
• powdered jaggery as per taste
• bay leaves for flavoring
• a little bit of salt

Preparation - Wash and soak the rice for 5-6 hours. Drain the water and transfer it to a mixer. Grind into a smooth but thick batter (like Bara/vada batter or even thicker).

Cooking - Boil 3-4 liters water in a wide mouthed pot till it gets to the full boil stage. Pass the batter through a seive and let it fall into the boiling water. It will form thin elongated shapes or globules depending on the size of the holes and the thickness of batter.

Let it cook for 5-6 mins. Then drain the hot water and transfer the tiny globules it into cold water (abt 1 liter) . Let it languish for 15-20 mins or till it firms up.

Add milk to the mixture and put it on boil. Throw in the bay leaves.

Once the milk has sufficiently reduced,  add the jaggery. Boil it for some more time.

Switch off the burner and let it cool. It tastes good when at room temperature and even better if consumed the next day ( do not forget to refrigerate ).

Stays good for 3-4 days.

Welcoming Raja Festival 2015 !!!

Raja or the advent of monsoon is a big festival in Odisha. This year it is being celebrated from 14th to 16th of June. It is time to don the chef's hat and indulge in making some of Odisha's glorious 'Pithas'. Apart from the regulation Poda pitha, karara and chunchipatra pitha, there are lots of delectable pithas that one can sample from. Check below -

Check out the recipes HERE.

Mudhi Mansa ( Puffed Rice with Mutton Gravy - A Baripada Special)

For me, 'Mudhi Mansa' evokes those childhood memories of eagerly awaiting for the pressure cooker to be emptied of the mutton curry (jholo). My mom would then put in a bowl of mudhi inside the pressure cooker and use it to scarpe off the gravy that remained clinging on the walls. This mudhi would then be garnished with some chopped onions and green chillis. Finally it would be presented to the ever hungry kids who had been eyeing the entire process with fidgety impatience. The entire bowl would be emptied within 5 mins with almost an mini war taking place for that last handful. That kind of sums up my memories about it. Now if you have been thinking about so much fanfare over what should technically be a leftover, let me educate you that 'mutton' is almost a revered ingredient in any Odia household and every bit of it is treated with the respect that it commands.

But moving on to Baripada, it is not just considered a leftover but an entire recipe that is part and parcel of the culinary heritage of the district. And you have to beleive this because no wedding menu is considered complete without it.

Here is the recipe for Mudhi mutton -

Ingredients -

• 3-4 cups puffed rice
• 1/3 cup mutton gravy/jholo ( just warm, not too hot or cold )
• 2-4 pieces of mutton (from same curry)
• 1-2 small pieces of mutton fat or charbi (also from the same curry)
• 1/2 of a small onion ( chopped into thin pieces )
• 2 green chilis (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp chopped coriander
• 1 small tomato (finely chopped)
• 1/4 th of a small cucumber (chopped into thin long pieces)
• 1 tsp mustard oil
• pinch of salt (optional)

Preparation - Take everything into a mixing bowl. Toss together and serve immediately.


Click here for the recipe of mutton jholo .

Batibasa Omelette

Was feeling quite lazy today and got this bad craving for some comfort food ! So decided to make some vegetable pulao and a nice omelette to go with it. But instead of a regular omelette, I thought of going for something that my grandma used to make for us.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 12 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp chopped onion
• 1 green chili (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp mustard oil
• salt to taste

Preparation -  Take a thick steel bowl and rub oil on its insides. 

Beat two eggs with a little salt, onion and green chili . Pour into the greased bowl and add 4-5 drops of mustard oil on top.

Cooking - Cover and place the bowl on a tawa which has been placed on low flame. Cook for 7-8 mins. 

Batibasa omelette is ready.

Enjoy as it is or serve it with rice .

Chachindra Raee ( Snake gourd cooked in mustard paste )

Chachindra or snake gourd is not a very regular vegetable in my house. My mom used to cook it at times but I did not like it much as a kid. Later as I started making a lot of healthy changes in the menu, it started appealing to me as an easy to cook and tasty vegetable. As my husband is not fond of it, I usually make a quick 'Raee' or cook it along with channa dal/toor dal for lunch. Getting my kid habituated to all kinds of vegetables is my top priority and hence I an trying to introduce him to new vegetables (especially seasonal ones) on a weekly basis.

This is a simple recipe and the preparation is not different from the usual 'raee' that is prepared in most Odia homes. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 10 -15 mins

Ingredients -

• 4 cups chopped and peeled snake gourd
• 1 medium onion chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp pancha-phutana/mustard seeds preferred)
• 1 green chilli
• 2-3 garlic flakes (crushed)
• 1/3 tsp turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil
• 2/3 cup grated coconut
• cilantro for garnishing

For the mustard paste -

• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• 1 red chilli

Preparation -Grind the mustard, cumin and red chilli into coarse powder in dry state .Then add a little water along with garlic flakes and grind again into a fine paste.

Chop onion into small pieces. 

Cooking - Heat 2 tsp oil in a wok. Add the broken green chilli and mustard seeds. Follow with the crushed garlic. Allow to garlic to brown lightly.

Add the chopped onion and stir fry for 2-3 minutes till translucent

Add the mustard paste along with 2 cups water. Add salt and turmeric, and bring to a boil.

Add the snake gourd pieces and cover with  a lid. Cook till it softens. (Do not throw away excess water as this curry tends to be watery.)

Garnish with grated coconut and cilantro.

Serve with rice and dal.

Badaa Piaji ( Twice Fried Onion Fritters from Odisha )

'Dahi Bara - Ghuguni - Alu dum' maybe the most iconic street food that defines Cuttack. But another yummy snack comes a close second on the list of must-try's whenever one visits the city which is also famous for the silver filigree artifacts. However it remains little known even within the state. The 'Badaa Piaji', a unique twice fried version of another popular snack 'piaji', is quite crispy and delectable.

Unlike the 'Piaji' which is made from a batter of soaked and ground Bengal gram, the 'badaa piaji' uses Bengal gram flour along with loads of chopped onions in the batter. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -

• 2/3 cup Bengal gram flour / Besan
• 2 large onions (finely chopped)
• 2-3 green chilis (finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander stems
• a few curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• a pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of baking soda
• salt to taste
• oil for deep frying

Preparation - Take all the ingredients (except oil) in a mixing bowl. Add water in small quantities to make a batter which is about the same consistency as 'Bara' or Vada batter .

Cooking - Heat sufficient oil in a wok. Drop small balls ( about a heaped tablespoon each) of the batter into the hot oil and fry to a light brown shade. Remove and keep aside for about a minute.

Flatten the balls with a heavy object (use a rolling pin) . Do not make then very thin else they may break.

Put them back into the hot oil and fry till brown and crisp.

Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.

Serve hot with 'Ghuguni' and some sliced onions. DO NOT forget to sprinkle a generous amount of black salt.

Happy Makar Sankranti

Happy Makar Sankranti/Pongal to all my readers !!

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.

Koli achara /Ber ka achar/Kuller Achar ( and a whiff of nostalgia )

'Koli' or 'barakoli' used to be one of my favorite fruits during the school days. I still prefer it to strawberry, raspberry, blueberry or for that matter, any other berry on this planet. Almost everything about it was so much fun. Eagerly gobbling a few of the still green ones and spitting them out in disgust, waiting for them to take on that slightly golden hue which signaled the ripening stage, throwing stones/beating the branches with long sticks to pluck the ripened berries from the tree, all accompanied with the admonishing from elders who forbid us to eat them before Saraswati Puja. Growing up in a small town like Rourkela where there were lots of 'barakoli' trees in almost every neighborhood, we surely had a great time. It was considered quite cool to snatch some berries from a neighbour's tree while the occupants of the house were having their afternoon siesta. And thankfully nobody branded a bunch of kids as 'kleptomaniacs' in those days.

Once Saraswati Puja was over, one would find the fruit being sold everywhere in the local markets. Though it was less fun as compared to savoring the first (read 'stolen') berries of the season, we still consumed them till we got stomach cramps or sometimes even a bad cough. But still these minor side effects did not deter us kids. Finally it would be time to pickle the berries. The ladies of the house would wash and dry the berries before pickling them. And we would finish more than half of the stuff even before they reached the pickling stage. So, my grandmother would pickle the remaining lot and keep it out of reach. Somehow she managed to ration the stuff so that it lasted almost the entire year. Aaah, those days were quite magical.

But these days we always buy our pickles off the supermarket shelves. Neither do they have the taste which my grandmother's pickles had nor will my kid have any such memories to hold on to. Maybe that's why I made this pickle so that he can experience some of the magic though in a much subdued manner. Here is the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins (this is the coking time only, the drying process takes days)


Ingredients -

• 250 gms koli/ber
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel/saunf seeds
• 3-4 dry red chilis
• 1 cup jaggery
• 4-5 tsp mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Preparation - Wash and clean the berries. Dry them a bit so that the surface moisture evaporates.

Crack open each one and check for insects. This is the most time consuming part but one has to be careful while doing it.

Sprinkle turmeric and a little salt on the berries. Mix thoroughly and sun dry for 3-4 days.

Cooking - Dry roast the mustard, fenugreek and fennel seeds. Once cool, grind them into a powder.

Separately dry roast the red chilis and cumin seeds. Once cool, grind them into a powder.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the jaggery and the red chili-cumin powder. Sprinkle a few teaspoons of water. Once the jaggery melts and starts bubbling, add the dried berries. 

Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the jaggery thickens. Remove from flame and sprinkle the mustard-fenugreek-fennel seed powder and mix thoroughly.

Allow to cool down completely before bottling it up. Stays good for an year or even longer (that is if you can control the urge to gobble it up).

Note - Some people also prefer to make this pickle by cooking the dried berries in jaggery to which some chili powder has been added and finally adding a tempering of pancha-phutana or panch-phoran at the end.

Pancha-phutana or panch-phoran is a mix of mustard, cumin, fenugreek, nigella and fennel seeds in equal proportion. It is very frequently used in Odia and Bengali cuisine.

Alu Pitha (Potato Dosa)

During my childhood days, my grandmother used to travel to her native village frequently. She used to bring back all kinds of freshly harvested produce from our ancestral fields and we would eagerly lap it up. Among all the things she brought back (including the smoked fish and the bamboo shoots), i loved the newly dug out baby potatoes the most. They had a taste and such a wonderful texture that one does not find in the variety sold in the markets.

Most of the times we used to cut it into half and stir fry it with a little mustard paste. That would be the heavenly accompaniment with 'Pakhala' (Read more about the famous 'watered rice' from Odisha HERE) during the hot summer months. Sometimes, we made alu dum with it. But on rare occasions, we turned it into a pitha or a dosa/uttapam kind of dish that goes very well with rice. I had quite forgotten about this recipe but when my mom made it during my recent trip to Rourkela, the memories came flooding back.

Read on for the simple recipe -

Preparation Time - 10-12 mins


Ingredients -

• 9-10 baby potatoes
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 dry red chili
• 1 tsp rice (i used arwa/raw rice but one can also use Sona masuri instead)
• 2-3 tsp mustard oil
• salt to taste

Preparation - Soak the cumin seeds, red chili and rice for 30 mins.

Slightly crush the potatoes using a mortar and pestle . (else you can also chop it into small bits)

Take the soaked cumin seeds, red chili and rice in a mixer jar. Buzz it to get a smooth paste. Then add the crushed potatoes and give it another quick whiz. The mix should be coarse.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a pan/tawa. Add the potato mix to the pan and flatten it out like a pancake or uttapam. (do not spread it too thin)

Cook on one side till it turns reddish. Flip it over carefully and cook it to the same extent on the other side as well.

Remove from the pan.

Serve it piping hot with hot rice or pakhala.

Note - It does not taste good after it cools down. Re-heating also affects the flavour adversely. So, make it the last dish you cook when sitting down for your meal.

Fried Fish Parcels

Bored with the various kinds of fish curries and fries, I had been planning to try out something new with fish. And the Rohi fish being so very fresh in Odisha, I was reluctant to try anything crazy lest I spoil it. It was during one such confused moment that I came up with this rather simple preparation.

After marinating the fish in a salt-turmeric-mustard-garlic-green chili paste, I placed it on a banana leaf and drizzled it with more mustard oil. Then I threw in 2-3 pieces of slit green chili before wrapping up the leaf and securing it with the drumstick fibers( it was the first thing that I could find in the kitchen). People in villages usually use some kind of bark strips or natural fibers to secure the parcels.The parcels were then pan fried on low flame till the leaf turned black and shrunken. Though similar to a Bengali Fish Paturi, this one uses minimal spices.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -

• 4 pieces of Rohi (Rohu) fish
• 2 tsp mustard-garlic-green chili paste 
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard oil
• 2-3 green chilis (slit lengthwise)
• 2 pinch turmeric
• 1/5 tsp salt
• 2 tsp mustard oil for frying
• 4 pieces of banana leaf (8" X 8" preferably) (tender leaves are best)


Preparation - Wash and marinate the fish with salt, turmeric and mustard paste. Leave aside for 10 mins.


Place each piece on a banana leaf. Drizzle mustard oil over it and place 2-3 pieces of slit green chili. Close the parcel and secure it with a string.


Cooking - Heat the mustard oil on a pan. Once it gets smoking, add the parcels and immediately lower the flame. Once the leaf on the bottom surface has turned brown with black spots showing at some places, flip it over. Let it sit on the pan till the leaf turns brown. (it takes roughly 7-8 minutes to cook on each side)






















Switch off the flame and remove the pan. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

Carefully open the parcels and discard the leaves.

Serve hot with white rice and dal.

Note - For the mustard paste, the ratio of the ingredients is ' 2 tsp black mustard seeds : 4 garlic cloves : 1 green chili '. 

Ghora Manda

Yesterday was the first Gurubar(Thursday) of Margasira month (2014). The custom in my father's family is to observe Manabasa for every Thursday of this month, so my mother kept the Manaa (which symbolizes Goddess Lakshmi) and offered prasad three times a day. This may vary for some folks who may choose to keep the Manaa only after 'Prathamashtami' has been observed or even others who choose to keep it after Sankranti. Apart from this, these days one may also find some Odia women (m ostly those who are working) observing only the last Thursday of the month.

Each Manabasa Gurubar calls for a special 'bhoga' or offering. While the offering of the 'chakata bhoga' or mashed banana, chenna, milk and sugar/jaggery at the first prasad in the morning is common to all parts of the state, the anna bhoga or afternoon meal offered to the Goddess widely differs. Kheeri, Tarana, Khechudi, Arwa bhata, Dahi pakhala, Kanika are some examples of the 'anna bhoga'. The evening bhoga is usually a type of a pitha like Kakara, sijha manda, Malpua, attakali, gaintha, chakuli, etc. While some folks may also choose to offer the pitha along with the anna bhoga, the general rule it that it should contain rice as one of the ingredients. Though not a hard and fast rule ( and people do have a general tendency to twist the rules as per their convenience ), one can add a small amount of rice flour if making the kakara/manda/malpua with suji or maida.

One such pitha that is very popular in the Sundargarh (or more specifically Bonei) district is the Ghora or Ghura Manda. Made with a watery rice batter (not flour), this one has an amazing texture that it akin to to a pudding. The stuffing or 'pura' can be a mix of coconut, chenna (cottage cheese), sesame and groundnuts. Soft and melt-in-the-mouth types, this takes a few trials to perfect but is very much worth the effort. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 45-50 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 1/2 cup arwa rice
• 1 coconut (grated)
• 1 1/2 cup chenna (cottage cheese)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• jaggery/sugar as per taste
• 2 tsp ghee
• a pinch of camphor
• 1-2 pinch cardamom powder

Preparation - Wash and soak the rice for 2-3 hours. Drain excess water and grind into a fine paste. Adjust the consistency to a flowing liquid one ( just like Chittau Pitha batter or Neer Dosa batter ).

Take the grated coconut, chenna, camphor and cardamom powder in a mixing bowl. Mash everything together.

Cooking - Slowly drain the batter into a large wok taking care to leave behind any solids (residue) in the bottom of the grinder/mixie jar. (If this residue gets into the wok, it makes the pitha grainy and spoils the overall texture.)

Add salt and a little jaggery to the wok. Switch on the flame taking care to keep it low. Keep stirring at regular intervals so that it does not catch at the bottom. Once the mixture thickens to that of a custard ( or somewhat thicker than Ragi malt ) consistency, switch off the flame.

Pour ladles of the hot mixture onto a greased steel plate or banana leaf. Gently spread (but not too much) using the back of a spoon. Layer with the stuffing of sweetened coconut and cottage cheese. Seal it or top it with more of the hot mixture. (While the more seasoned cooks can afford to touch the hot stuff, the rookies are warned to keep their fingers safe and unscathed)

Allow it to rest till it is completely cool.

Serve. (It tastes even better the next day so do remember to pop in a few pieces into the fridge)

Click here for details on the Manabasa Gurubar Puja .

Pani Santula

Pani Santula or boiled veggies in a soupy base is one of the healthiest side dish that one can have with rotis. Most people in Odisha consider it as a must-have component of their dinner as it contains a heavy does of fiber and nutrients while being light on the stomach. It uses minimum spicing and one can also make it without adding any onion or garlic.

While I have used quite a few veggies as stocked in my fridge, one can also add more or skip a few as per convenience. Some veggies like cauliflower, carrot, drumstick add a lot of flavor to this dish. Read on for my version -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup red pumpkin
• 1/2 cup raw papaya
• 1/2 cup raw banana
• 1/2 cup yam (mati alu)
• 1/2 cup taro (saru)
• 2-3 pointed gourd (potolo)
• 1 small eggplant
• 1 cup chopped yard long beans (jhudunga/barbati)
• 1/3 cup beans
• 1 medium potato
• 1-2 tomatoes
• 1 large onion (roughly chopped)
• 3-4 crushed garlic flakes
• 1 tsp pancha phutana
• 2-3 dry red chili
• 1/2-1 tsp roasted cumin-chilli powder (jeera lanka gunda)
• salt to taste
• turmeric (optional...but I have used it)
• 2 tsp oil/ghee for tempering

Cooking - Boil 2 cups water along with a little turmeric and salt to taste.

Add the pumpkin, papaya, raw banana, yam, taro and potato. After 3-4 mins, add the remaining veggies except tomato. Cover and boil till they are cooked but not mushy.

Heat the oil/ghee in a pan. Add the broken chili and pancha phutana followed by the onion and garlic.

Once the onion turns translucent, add the chopped tomato. Allow the tomato to turn soft before pouring the tempering over the boiled veggies. Sprinkle cumin-chili powder and boil on high for 20-30 seconds.

Remove from flame and serve immediately with hot rotis.

Budha Kakudi Raee

After making the khatta last week, I was still left with a big chunk. Since I was in a rather lazy mood (which is becoming a permanent fixture btw) for the next two days, I decided to make a simple raee that my mom used to make. While the raee can be made in a dozen ways, I stick to the method which is simplest and most frugal. It is something like one of those '5 ingredients fix' that one sees on lifestyle or cooking channels but I have used seven instead of five.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 cups budha kakudi/ripened cucumber (chopped into small pieces)
• 2 tsp mustard seeds + a pinch for tempering
• 7-8 garlic flakes (crushed)
• 1-2 green chilis
• 2-3 pinch turmeric
• 2 tsp mustard oil
• salt to taste

Preparation - Grind the mustard seeds, 1 green chili and half of the garlic flakes into a smooth paste.

Take the mustard paste, chopped green chili, budha kakudi and turmeric in a mixing bowl. Mix together.

Cooking - Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds and 2 crushed garlic flakes. Allow the seeds to splutter.

Add the budha kakudi and mustard seeds paste to the wok. Add salt and 1/2 cup water. Cover with a lid and allow to cook till the pieces soften.

Once the budha kakudi or cucumber pieces are cooked, drizzle the remaining oil over it and add the remaining garlic flakes. Remove from the flame.

Serve with white rice and dal.