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.

Badi Jholo ( A Frugal delight from Odisha )

In a country of 631 million women, how is it possible to have just one ideal of beauty ? The Dove advertisement rightly challenges the concept of the fair skinned and dove eyed beauty that has been ingrained into our psyche for generation. In the face of such diversity, it makes much more sense to celebrate our uniqueness instead of looking for stereotypes.

The same applies to our cuisine as well. Somewhere in between the opulent excess of the North Indian cuisine (again a misnomer) and the fearsome spices of the Southern states, there are many unacknowledged cuisines that need to be explored. And one of them is the cuisine of Odisha. Odia cuisine revels in it's frugality and simplicity. And this curry is yet another example of both traits.

Badi Jholo is a rather simple dish which consists of Urad dal vadis cooked in a thin gravy of mustard and garlic. The right amount of chilis and just a hint of acidity is what makes this dish click. And for that reason it was usually prepared when one was convalescing from a fever or cold. Along with the 'Kanji', it is considered to be a sure-shot remedy for bitter taste buds. My grandmother used to call it 'Badi Phulaa' because once we put the fried Badi in the gravy, it tends to soak up the water and doubles up in volume. 'Phulaa' literally means 'to swell up'. Quite an interesting name for a recipe, isn't it ?

While it tastes best when prepared with the 'Kakharu Badi' or urad dal badis made with ash gourd extract, the regular badis will also do. Read on for the recipe -

Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

• 10-12 Urad dal Vadi/Badi (the pumpkin(pani kakharu) variety)
• 3-4 nos green chillies
• 1 dry red chili
• 4 tsp mustard seeds
• 7-8 garlic cloves
• 4 tsp mustard oil
• pinch of turmeric
• salt to taste
• 1 piece of ambula (dried green mango)

Pre-cooking: Keep aside 2 garlic pods and 1/4 tsp mustard seeds. Grind the rest into a fine paste along with the dry red chili.

Pure Nostalgia - Coconut shell bowl to keep the ground spices

Slightly crush the garlic pods and the green chillies.

Preparation: Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Fry the Badi till it becomes slightly golden and keep aside.

Add 2 tsp oil to a kadai (deep vessel). When it starts smoking, reduce the flame. add the mustard seeds, pounded garlic pods and green chillies.

Once the seeds start spluttering, add 1/2 cup water to the kadai. This cools down the temp and prevents the mustard paste from curdling.

Now add the mustard paste and another 2 cups water. Boil for about 6-7 mins.

Add the fried Badi and the ambula. Simmer for another 2 mins.

Take off the fire and let it stand for a while. Serve at room temperature.

Drumstick potato vadi curry ( chuien aloo badi )

Cooking time required: 20-30 mins
Cost of cooking: 30-40 rupees

Ingredients: Drumsticks ( 4 nos), potato ( 1 large), tomato ( 1 medium ), onion ( 1 large, optional ), garlic pods (5-6 nos), mustard seeds ( 3-4 tsp), turmeric powder (1/2 tsp), Badi (sun dried balls made from rice and dal paste), red chilli (1-2 nos), oil (2-3 tsp), salt to taste.

Preparation: Cut drumsticks into 2-3 inch long pieces. Also cut the potato and onion into medium sized chunks. The tomato should be finely cut . Grind the mustard seeds along with garlic pods into a fine paste.

Cooking: Heat oil in pan. Add turmeric, potato and onion pieces. Fry till the potatoes are half cooked . Then add the drumstick and tomato pieces. Fry for 2 more mins. Add the mustard paste and hot water (2-3 cups). Add salt to taste and cover the pan. Cook on medium flame for about 5-10 mins.
Fry the badi separately . Add to the curry just before removing from the fire. Serve hot with rice.


Tips: The traditional oriya recipe substitutes potato with Colocasia( also called saaru in oriya ).

Mango chutney

Cooking time : 10-15 mins
Cost of preparation: 10 -15 Rupees

Ingredients: Mangoes ( 1-2 nos, slightly ripened), 1 onion( medium to large depending on the number of mangoes), coriander seeds (2-3 spoons), jaggery (1-2 big chunks, according to taste), salt to taste, 1 tsp oil.

Preparation: Grate the onion and mango . Roast coriander seeds(without oil) and grind into coarse powder.
Heat oil in a pan, add the grated onion and mango. Cook for about 5 mins. Then add coriander powder, salt and jaggery. Keep on fire for about 5 mins. Remove and serve with rice.

Green pumpkin curry - oriya preparation

Cooking time : 30 mins
Cost of preparation: 50 rupees

Ingredients: Green pumpkin( 250 gm), tomato (2 medium sized), garlic pods (lagre,5-6 pieces), green chillies(2-3 nos.), mustard seeds (4-5 tsp), cumin seeds( 1/2 tsp), sunflower oil (3 tsp), mustard oil (1 tsp), coriander leaves, turmeric powder, salt to taste.

Preparation: Discard the outer rind of green pumpkin and cut into small pieces. Grind the mustard seeds and garlic pods into a smooth paste.

Cooking : Heat the sunflower oil in a pan. When smoking, add turmeric, cumin and mustard seeds. Add the green pumpkin pieces to the spluttering seeds and cook for about 4-5 mins. Remove from fire.
Put the half cooked cucumber pieces into a pressure cooker, add the diced tomato pieces, green chillies, mustard-garlic paste, mustard oil, coriander leaves and salt. Close lid, put on fire and allow for one whistle. Remove from fire and serve hot.