Zero Oil Spinach and Lentil Pulao

"Have you taken the iPill ?"

For a few seconds, I thought I had heard it all wrong. Here I was bleeding profusely and withering in pain, and not in the least expecting a question about emergency contraception. I repeated my words once again. "It has been 16 straight days and my period shows no signs of abating....".

The gynecologist smiled coolly and reiterated the offending query. This time I got her point and replied in the negative. While it seemed very weird to me, it was a rather normal question for her given the rampant abuse of iPill. Apart from hastening or delaying the period by up to a week, the pill does causes heavy bleeding in some women by messing up their normal hormonal cycles.  And if one happens to be among the 20 percent of Indian women who suffer from PCOS, one has more reason to stay away from the pill.

Anyways, my tests ruled out anything abnormal except for a few nutritional deficiencies and the doctor prescribed me some medicines to stop the bleeding. But the whole process rattled me. Blame it on the hours spent in the reception, I got enough time to ruminate over the underlying issue. From an instrument of women's empowerment, the iPill has now been reduced to being a mere contraption for entertainment by some folks. More precisely, the types that keep on iterating that sex is more pleasurable without a condom. Sadly, a majority of the educated folks still think that all the action is happening 'down there' when much of it is taking place 'up there' in the temporal lobe. Anyways since I don't judge people or sermonize on their behavior, the whole point of putting this on a food blog is just to create awareness about the side effects of the iPill. To all the sisters reading this, please do remember that awareness is the first step towards empowerment.

Just like sex, diet too is an individual's personal choice and responsibility. So while it is important to enjoy it, it should not jeopardize one's health in the long run. This nutritious one pot meal is packed with protein and prepared without using a single drop of oil. No need to starve oneself when you have such healthy options available.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup rice ( i used small grain jeera rice )
• 1 cup chopped spinach (lightly packed)
• 1 cup boiled mixed lentils ( Bengal gram, garbanzo beans, whole red lentils, kidney beans )
• 1 large ripe tomato
• 6-7 almonds
• 8-9 raisins
• 2 inch cinnamon
• 2-3 cloves
• 6-7 peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tep coriander powder
• 2 pinch turmeric
• 1 tsp kasuri methi
• salt to taste

Preparation - Blanch the tomato and the almonds.  Peel the almonds and put it in a blender along with the tomato and the raisins . Grind into a smooth paste.

Cooking - Put a cooker on a flame. 

Add the dry spices and roast till fragrant.

Add the tomato, raisins and almond paste to the same cooker. Cook for 4-5 mins on a low flame.

Add the chili powder, turmeric and coriander powder and cook for 2 more mins.

Add the washed rice, boiled lentils and chopped spinach. Add 2 cups of water and salt as per taste.

Close the lid and cook for 9-10 mins or for 2 whistles.

Keep aside till steam escapes. 

Open lid and serve with yogurt.

Note - cooking time will differ according to the rice variety used. 

Horse Gram and Spring onion Soup ( Comforting Monsoon Broths Collaboration )

Monsoon and romance. Well, these two have always seemed synonymous to me. Thankfully I am not the only one prone to their magical madness. The bewitching monsoons have fueled the imagination of many a creative souls resulting in those rain drenched Bollywood sequences that are symbolic of the heavens melting into the embrace of a scorched earth.

From watching those dark clouds traverse the canopy of the blue skies to catching those first rain drops with my hands, I find myself soaking in the beauty of this spellbinding season. And even if it scares the shit out of me at times, I am still fascinated by it. My childhood memories are littered with instances where I hid behind a thick curtain to take a peek at those almost mysterious lightning displays while closing the ears tightly every time the thunder rolled. In fact there are a dozen of those monsoon memories clearly imprinted in my memory.

Once the storm blew over, I would rush out to find the whole garden/terrace littered with Gulmohar blossoms from a huge tree that dominated the entrance of our locality. The lawns resembled something like a piece of modern art with splotches of red and yellow on a verdant canvas. And I would compete with my brother in gathering the most number of intact blossoms. Even if it meant venturing out in the muck and all. Replete with slithering earthworms and creepy crawlies. But somehow in those days, even though we were young, we had the values of 'peaceful co-existence' inculcated in us. So one was never bothered about these creatures.

While growing up has taken the fun out of the rains, it has certainly fired up the romantic in me. A dozen hopeless poems and passages in my short stories bear testimony to this. But speaking practically and sticking to realistic goals, every time it rains, I just want to cozy up with a book, a cup of warm liquid and a blanket. Good enough for most people, don't you agree ?

Now that I have already mentioned it, a warm broth aka soup seems to have become the mainstay of my monsoon diet. From the typical indigenous fare like Kanji, rasam and shorba, to chinese brews and healthy vegetable based nourishment, everything gets a chance to be on the menu. On a rotation basis of course. And the last entrant on this bandwagon is the 'Horsegram soup', a hearty decoction inspired by the 'Kolotho dali' which is an important past of Odia cuisine.

Check out the recipe -

[ and more !! Collab Post Alert *** ]

Preparation Time - 25 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup roasted and split Horsegram
• 2-3 spring onion bulbs
• 4-5 tsp chopped spring onions (including the greens)
• 2 medium sized tomato
• 10-12 peppercorns
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1-2 dry red chilis
• 1 tsp oil
• pinch of turmeric
• salt to taste
• additional spring onion bulb for garnishing

Preparation - Wash and soak the horsegram for 2-3 hours. 

Cooking - Cook it for 5-6 whistles in a pressure cooker along with 2-3 spring onion bulbs, tomatoes, salt, turmeric, peppercorn and 3 cups water. 

Once the steam escapes, open the lid and use a hand blender to puree the cooked lentils and tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the crushed garlic and whole dry red chilis. Once it is fragrant, remove the chilis.

Add the chopped spring onions and saute for 2-3 mins. Pour everything over the pureed ingredients.

Put the pressure cooker back on the flame and let it simmer for 5-6 mins (without lid) . Adjust the consistency by adding hot water and check for the salt.

Pour into serving bowls. Serve.

Dont forget to dunk in some sliced spring onions for extra flavour.

Check this striking soup recipe by my amazing friend Parinaaz  who is a part of the ongoing Comforting Monsoon Broths Collaboration !! Don't forget to visit her blog - A Dollop Of That for some mouthwatering Parsi fare :).

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup

Methi Sagaw Tarkari ( Fenugreek leaves cooked with poppy seeds )

Fenugreek leaves are a boon for folks suffering from diabetes and high cholesterol. It is proven to improve the fasting blood sugar levels and reduce bad cholesterol deposits. But otherwise too, these aromatic leaves make for a delicious addition to various curries, stir fries and even breads. From the Jeera Aloo Methi to methi parathas, North Indians have their share of iconic recipes that make use of these leaves.

While fenugreek leaves were never a dominant ingredient in Odia cuisine, we have successfully adapted them to our style of cooking. The usual preparation is a simple stir fry with some vegetable like ridge gourd, aubergine or even finely chopped potato/tomato and a garnishing of crushed lentil badi (vadi). The other popular recipe is to make a semi-dry curry with a lentil like split moong dal.

However, very recently I came across this wonderful preparation that was shared by a blog subscriber who is also a childhood friend of mine. Coming from a family that does not permit onion/garlic in the kitchen, she often shares the most delicious 'niramish' or 'sattvik' recipes that I have come across. With her mom being a fabulous cook, some of these are preparations that are very exclusive to their home. And I actually feel very privileged when she shares something like this with me.

So, here is this fabulous 'Methi-Posto' recipe that I am sharing with her due permission -

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 cups Methi/fenugreek leaves (lightly packed
• 1 medium sized tomato
• 1 medium sized potato
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp mustard oil
• 1-2 dry red chilis
• 2 pinch pancha-phutana
• salt to taste
• a pinch of turmeric

Preparation - Wash and drain thefenugreek leaves.

Bring 4-5 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add a little salt to it.

Add the fenugreek leaves to the boiling water. Wait for 3-4 mins. Switch off the flame and strain the leaves.

Make a fine paste of the poppy seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds.

Chop the potatoes into thin long pieces. Cut the tomato into 4 halves.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok.

Add the pancha phutana and broken red chili.

Once they start spluttering, add the finely chopped potatoes. Fry on a low flame.

When the potatoes are half done, add the tomato. Sprinkle a little salt  and turmeric. Cover for 2 mins.

As the tomato softens, add the spice paste and cook for 3-4 mins.

Finally add the fenugreek leaves along with a little water. Adjust the salt.

Cook till the excess water is gone.

Switch off the flame.

Serve hot with white rice.

Kahwa ( Kashmiri Green Tea )

There is something innately special about teatime rituals. Some find it therapeutic or rejuvenating, others use it as an opportunity to bond and a few like me consider it as sacred. For me, those 15 minutes in the morning when I take my first cuppa set the tone for the rest of the day. The morning breeze accompanied by a silence that is broken only by the fluttering of the pigeons helps me reach a state when I strike a conversation with my inner self. And on most days, it is the only cherished 'me' time that I can manage to find.

There is no denying that tea is akin to a holistic experience. But being the tea addict that I am, I end up trying various flavours of tea on a regular basis instead of sticking to one. Every time I visit a hill station or a shop that sells gourmet tea, I never forget to pick up a new blend. And it happens quite often that the half finished packets end up in a corner of the cupboard as I move on to a new blend.

Recently it was post on Pintrest that got me all excited about trying out Kahwa. While I did look up quite a few recipes on the net, this one comes straight from Sanjay Raina who runs Mealability that specializes in Kashmiri cuisine. I did not have the Kahwa green leaves in stock so made it with some green tea leaves that I had picked up from Coonoor . 

Read on -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients - 

• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp green tea leaves
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 1 green cardamom
• a few strands of saffron
• a few slivers of almond

Preparation - Bring to water to a boil along with sugar and the spices. Let it simmer for 5-7 mins.

Rub the tea leaves gently between your palms before adding to the water. Remove from flame and let it steep for 2-3 mins.

Strain into cups. Add the almond slivers. 

Serve hot.

Khaja / Pheni ( Happy Ratha Jatra to everyone )

Walking down the narrow lanes of Puri and turning on to the Bada Danda thronging with devotees, if there is one thing that is impossible to be miss, it is the 'Khaja' or 'pheni'. A crisp and flaky sweet that is a favorite of the Mahaprabhu, it makes it's presence felt right from the moment one enters Jagaanath Dham. Stacked in circular mounds or even heaped into baskets, there is so much of it in plain sight that one might just be mistaken into thinking that the copious quantities are meant to appease an army.

The parallel is apt though. Puri does witness an army of worshipers and tourists everyday. While most of them relish the Anna bhoja at the temple, the 'Khaja' is the dry or 'sukhila' Mahaprasad that they are able to carry back to their homes. And in large enough quantities to be able to distribute it among friends, relative and neighbors for sharing the Mahaprasad is considered to be a pious deed. Even my earliest memories about the Lord are tied up to this sweet that is delicately flavored with edible camphor.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 tsp ghee
• a pinch of salt
• cold water to make a tight dough

for the syrup -

• 3 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 pinch edible camphor

Additional -

• 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ghee
• sufficient oil for deep frying

Preparation -  Take the flour, salt and ghee in a mixing bowl. Rub together for 5 mins.

Add cold water little by little and knead into a pliable ball.

Smear a little ghee on the dough. And keep it aside for 30 mins.

Make a paste out of the 2 tsp flour and 1 1/2 tsp ghee.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.

Roll out each portion into a rectangular shape. 

Rub some of the flour-ghee paste on one such sheet. Place another sheet on it. Rub more of the paste over the second sheet. Roll into a tight cylinder.

Cut into 1 1/2 inch wide pieces. Roll out each into 5 inch long pieces. DO NOT make it too thin else it wont puff and turn flaky. 

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok.

Once it gets heated to a sufficient temperature, put in 2-3 pieces at a time. Fry on both sides till a golden brown and crisp.

Remove and keep aside on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Repeat the process with all the pieces. 

Keep them aside till completely cool.

For making a syrup, heat the sugar and water in a deep saucepan. Once the sugar melts and gets to a two string consistency, remove from the flame.

Dip the fried khaja in the warm syrup and remove immediately.  Sprinkle the powdered camphor all over the sweetened khajas.

Allow to cool down.

Serve warm. 

Store the rest in airtight containers and store up to 2 weeks .

Anar Gulab Sharbat ( Ramadam Special Collab with ADollopOfThat )

For the majority of foodies, Ramadan means a month long period of indulgence. From scouring for a treat in those tiny lanes that sell mouth watering kebabs and other delicacies to enjoying a full fledged meal at a friend's house, one does not leave any stoned unturned when it comes to making the most of this opportunity.

But for the people who actually observe the month long fast ( or 'roza' ), it is quite taxing to abstain from food and drink for almost 14 to 15 hours on an everyday basis. While it is supposed to help one develop the qualities of self control and abstinence, and the fasting does help detoxify the body, the whole process can leave one dehydrated and exhausted if one does not care to replenish ones energy reserves.

Hence the drinks also form an important part of the sehri and iftar meals as one needs to keep oneself hydrated. And if the weather is especially hot, it should additionally cool the body. Here is a very simple Ramadan drink that one can prepare in no time . Made with rose petals, pomegranate juice and a dash of Roohafza, this is one soothing concoction that smells heavenly.

Just in case the very description of this Sharbat leaves you with a whetted appetite, there is another delicacy to make it even more special. For my very talented friend Parinaaz is sharing the recipe for Quatayef, a luscious Middle Eastern pancake.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 10 mins ( standby time - overnight  or 8 hours )

Ingredients -

• 2 cups of deep pink rose petals
• 3 cups hot water
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 4 tbsp Roohafza
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• a few rose petals for the garnish
• a squeeze of lemon ( optional )
• sugar syrup as per taste

Preparation - Grind the rose petals in a blender and steep the paste in the hot water. Pop it in the fridge and let it stand for 7-8 hours. 

Strain into another jug using a fine mesh. Add the pomegranate juice and Roohafza. Taste and add more sugar syrup if required. 

If it is too sweet for your liking, squeeze in some lemon as well.

Pour into glasses. 

Garnish with pomegranate seeds and rose petals.

Serve chilled.

And here is the delicious Quatayef !!

Luni Poda Pitha ( Savoury Rice Cake from Odisha )

Raja Parba has come and gone. And has left behind a legacy of Poda pithas never witnessed before in Odisha. Every Odia lady with a presence on social media has as gone out of her way to reaffirm her pitha making skills and even hone them further. In the last three days, my Facebook, twitter and instagram feed looked more like a beautiful kaleidoscope with Pithas of various shapes and hues. And as an Odia, it makes me feel proud indeed to witness the ethnic food from my region getting it's fair share of appreciation.

The Luni Poda Pitha is a savoury version of the more popular Poda Pitha. 'Poda Pitha' literally translates into burnt cake as the batter/dough is wrapped up in leaves before being tossed over the dying embers of a dying wood fire. But that was in the days of yore. Nowadays pithas are being prepared in ovens or even microwaves by the tons. Yes, they do lack the smokey flavor but everything else is just amazing.

My version is loaded with veggies like cauliflower, carrot, tomato, capsicum and onions. The seasoning is fairly frugal with some crushed green chili, ginger, a few curry leaves and freshly chopped cilantro.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Ingredients -

• 1 cup skinless black lentil ( chopa chada biri )
• 2 cups rice  ( arua chaula )
• 1 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower (small florets)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot (small pieces)
• 1 small capsicum (finely sliced)
• 2 finely chopped tomatoes
• 1 large onion ( thinly sliced )
• 2 green chillis ( coarsely crushed )
• 1 1/2 inch ginger ( finely crushed )
• 3-4 tsp chopped cilantro
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil

Preparation: Soak the rice and lentil overnight. Wash and grind into a fine paste the next morning. Allow to ferment for 10-20 hours depending on the climate.

Cooking - Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok.  Toss in the cauliflower and carrot. Saute for 5-6 mins on a medium flame.

Next add the capsicum and saute till it starts getting a bit limp.

Switch off the flame and let the veggies come down to room temperature.

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees centigrade for 10 mins.

Take a good quality ovenproof dish which is about 2 inches deep. Grease the container with 1 /2 tsp oil.

Add the sauteed vegetables and the remaining ingredients to the batter and mix thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the baking dish.

Put in the oven and cook at 180 degrees for 30 mins. Then lower the temperature to about 150 degrees and bake for another 30 mins. Insert a toothpick to check if it comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let it cool down completely . Cut into pieces and serve with by itself or any curry of your choice.

Have a great Raja with the Poda pitha !!