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Showing posts with label spring onion vada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring onion vada. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Piaja Sagaw Bara ( Rustic Spring Onion fritters )

In most Odia homes, a pakhala meal calls for the inclusion of the 'Ulli piyaja' or sambar onions as they are commonly known. So, it hardly comes as a surprise that almost everyone with a vegetable patch would be found growing a batch of these flavorsome onions. They are a hardy lot requiring minimum care and even a small patch yields enough to last through the summer season when 'Pakhala' becomes the staple food of a scorched Odisha.

But it is not only the onions that are prized. Even the leaves are quite tasty and can add a lot of flavor to the dals or other mixed vegetable curries ( especially santula ).However, my favorite recipe with those greens happens to be the yummy fritters that they yield .

It is a rather unremarkable recipe that just calls for the use of a bit of rice paste that acts as the binding agent. But the taste is simply unparalleled. These fritters can be had with Pakhala or hot rice though you will definitely get tempted to bite into a few straight from the skillet. 

Read on for the recipe -

















Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients - 

  • 2 cup chopped onion greens ( tightly packed )
  • 1 small onion ( finely chopped )
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • salt to taste
  • 3 tsp oil

For the rice paste -

  • 1/4 cup raw rice
  • 2 pinch cumin seeds
  • 1 dry red chili

Preparation - Wash and soak the rice for 3-4 hours. Grind into a smooth paste along with the cumin seeds and red chili using little water.

Muddle/crush the onion greens and potatoes lightly. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add just enough of the rice paste ( 2/3 of the given quantity is enough ) to bind the greens. Sprinkle salt and the sesame seeds. Mix everything.

Cooking - Heat a thick bottomed skillet. Drizzle oil over it. 

Take about two teaspoonfuls of the spring onion mixture for each fritter and place it on the skillet. Flatten it a bit but do not spread it too thin. Let it cook on a low flame till it turns a little brown on one side.

Flip it over. Drizzle a little more oil on top. Cook to a similar brown hue.

Remove and serve immediately with hot rice or Pakhala.


Sunday, January 5, 2014

Piaja Sandha Bara ( Onion flower stalk Fritters )

Onion stalks are another seasonal delicacy that has flooded the local markets in Orissa these days. These crunchy greens are great as a stir fry ( with some potatoes ) or as baras/fritters ( pithau bhaja ). Moreover they are quite easy to prepare. Read on the recipe:

















Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients - onion flower stalks/piaja sandha (500 gms), 1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 2/3 cup raw rice(for making pithau), 4-5 tbsp besan/gram dal flour, garam masala/meat masala ( 1/3 tsp), cumin powder (2/3 tsp), salt to taste, 4 tbsp oil.

Preparation - Soak the raw rice for 3-4 hours. Wash and grind into a smooth paste (this is called pithau).

Wash and chop the onion flower stalks into small pieces. Remember to discard the flowers.

















Transfer into a mixing bowl. Add the rice paste, besan, salt, cumin powder, red chilli powder and garam masala/meat masala. Mix thoroughly into a dough without adding any water.

















Cooking - Heat a non-stick frying pan. Drizzle with 1-2 tbsp oil.

Divide the dough into 10 equal portions. Put each portion on the pan and spread a little with your fingers. Repeat with the remaining portions. ( I made the fritters in 2 batches )

Cook till a little reddish brown and crisp .Then flip over and cook on the other side as well.

















Remove from pan and serve hot with rice or just by itself.

















Note - This recipe is also prepared with spring onion greens. In that case the besan is usually skipped and only pithau is used.

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