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Showing posts with label besara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label besara. Show all posts

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Mula Besara ( Radish in a mustard-yogurt gravy )

Radish is one of those vegetables which is a must include for a weight loss diet.  It is low on carbs, high on roughage/fiber and loaded with water. It is low GI food which helps manage sugar levels more efficiently in diabetics and its high vitamin C, folic acid and anthocyanins make it an anti-carcinogenic. It also happens to be a wonder food for disinfecting, detoxifying and nourishing all the organs involved in the digestive system.

This vegetable is consumed in most Odia households in the form of khatta, raita, salad, bhaja and besara. All of these recipes are simple, doable and low in calories. Though my husband is not very fond of this vegetable, I quite enjoy it and make it when I am cooking a meal for myself. Today's recipe is a simple mula besara or radish cooked in a gravy of mustard-yogurt-garlic. I have tweaked the recipe a bit.

Read on -



















Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -


  • 1 1/2 cup radish ( peeled and cubed )
  • 2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1-2 green chili
  • 3 tbsp thick yogurt
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 1/2  tsp mustard oil
  • salt to taste
  • freshly grated coconut for garnishing

Preparation - Grind the mustard, garlic and green chili into a fine paste. Dissolve in 1/2 cup water. Strain to remove all the black bits (skin). [ I was a bit clumsy while doing this and some of the un-strained paste fell into my mixing bowl. Hence you can see some black specks in the final dish]

Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the strained mustard paste. Mix well.

Cooking - Heat a wok. Add the contents of the mixing bowl . Cover and cook till the radish is just cooked.
(I prefer to leave it a bit crunchy/chewy)

If there is still lot of liquid remaining, remove the radish and then reduce the sauce till it is thick. Pour this thickened sauce over the radish and sprinkle freshly grated coconut.

Serve at room temperature with white rice.


Note - One can also leave out the garlic as the radish is quite pungent in itself. The yogurt and coconut also help to reduce the pungency.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Guanra Besara Bhaja ( Guar bean Fry )

Another one from the drafts. This one dates back atleast six months. Made it on my last visit to Odisha. As my husband and in-laws tend to stay away from this vegetable, I  never cook it at home.

A simple stir fry made with a touch of besara ( mustard and garlic paste), this is most common preparation method of bhajjis (or 'bhaja' as we call it) in Odisha. Quick, easy and healthy. Read on to get the recipe -






Preparation Time - 12-14 mins

Ingredients -

2 cups guar beans ( cut into  1 1/2 inch long pieces )
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 garlic flakes
1 red chilli
1/4 tsp pancha phutana
2 tsp oil
2 pinch turmeric
salt to taste

Preparation - Grind the mustard and garlic into a fine paste with very little water. This is besara . Some people also add a little cumin to this.

Cooking- Take 1/2 cup water in a wide vessel. Add salt and turmeric followed by the guar beans and the besara. Cook covered on medium flame till the beans are cooked through.

(Check this by pressing a spatula against one. If it cuts through, it is done. Most water should have been evaporated by now. If not, turn up the flame a bit.)

Heat the oil in a wok. Add broken red chilli and pancha phutana. Once the seeds start popping, add the boiled beans and fry for 2 minutes. Remove from flame.

Serve immediately with white rice.






Monday, October 28, 2013

Besara ( Vegetables in a light mustard gravy )

Besara is an authentic oriya dish that is light and spicy, all at the same time. It is part of the abhada or the prasad offered to Lord Jaganaath during midday. While the former does not make use of any onion or garlic, I have been generous with garlic in my version.

Also i have skipped ambula in favour of tamarind as the latter adds a lovely color to the dish. This is one recipe which my South Indian friends would really enjoy (Most of them find the Oriya vegetarian fare stuff a little bland). Read on:




















Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients - 1 cup diced pumpkin, 1 cup diced eggplant, 1 cup sliced potato, 1/2 cup diced pointed gourd,1/2 cup chopped okra, 2 medium sized tomatoes, 4 slit green chillis, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 4 tsp oil, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 2 dried mangoes slices ( ambula ) or 1 tsp tamarind paste.

For the mustard paste - 2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 7 garlic flakes, 1 red chilli.

Preparation - Dry grind the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chilli. Add the garlic flakes and a little water at a time. Grind into a smooth paste.

Add 1/2 cup of water and allow to stand.

Soak the ambula in 1/2 cup water . Or if using tamarind paste dilute it with 1/2 cup water.

Cooking - Heat 3 tsp of oil in a wok. Add the chopped okra and fry on a high flame for 2-3 mins. Add pumpkin, potato, eggplant and pointed gourd. Fry on medium to high flame for 3 minutes. Remove from wok and keep aside.

Add 1 tsp of oil to the wok and add the tomatoes. Fry for 2-3 minutes till soft. Remove and keep aside.

Add 4-5 cups of water to the wok. Add the mustard paste ( drain the cup slowly into the wok so that the sediments settle down in the bottom of the wok. This removes the bitterness of the mustard seeds. ), salt and turmeric.

Bring the water to a boil and then add the fried vegetables. Once the vegetables are almost done, add the fried tomatoes. Boil for 8-10 minutes or till veggies are a little mushy.

Add the ambula/tamarind and slit green chillis. Boil for 3-4 minutes.

Remove from wok and serve hot with white rice . ( Garnish with coriander leaves/fried boris if desired )





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