Amba Khata - Savior on weekdays

-

Someone very very intelligent had once said.. "When the going gets tough.. the tough gets going" ! It essentially means, that when life throws you off the road.. you've gotta be very tough to get through its challenges..

Well, in my opinion.. everyone has their own way to get out of tough situations. We don't really need anyone to tell us how to manage our problems or how to get out of crappy situations.. somehow I feel.. we do approach people when we are lost.. but in the process of getting suggestions and consolations and what not... we eventually figure out our own way... do you guys agree??

Anyways... why am I talking about all this?? Well.. I came across a very similar situation myself.. and I had no one to reach out to.. I wanted to make the very famous Odiya "Amba Khata" at my sister's place.. but the her spinster pad kitchen had no jaggery .. no chili-cumin powder.. and no curry leaves.. but she wanted "amba khata".. and it put me in a fix.. how am I going to make her smile.. I am not my mom..

Mom?? Well.. it was very very late.. and I could not call her.. so I started thinking myself.. and here's what I came up with.. the end product was delicious.. and we both loved it .. and she still makes this at her place... when she needs "Amba Khata".. :)


Ingredients:
  • 1 big green mango (cut into big cubes .. ensure that the seed in the middle is cut out of course)
  • 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
  • 4-6 tbl spoons sugar
  • salt to taste
  • mustard oil
  • Wee bit red chili powder (You can skip this but Amba Khata is supposed to have Meetha + Khatta + Spicy)
Process:
  • Heat oil in a flat pan (which will make it easy to saute' the big mango pieces)
  • When oil is hot, add 3 tbl spoons of sugar in it. Make sure it dissolves and does not turn dark brown.. just slight brown is good.
  • Now add cumin + mustard seeds and let it splutter.
  • Now add the mango pieces and add a little salt (to taste)
  • Saute' until mango seems to be coated enough with the browned sugar
  • After 2-3 minutes, add 1/4 cup water and the rest of sugar
  • Let it all simmer away together. When the simmering is done the mangoes will be soft and juicy with sugar+salt mixture.
  • Sprinkle a wee bit of red chili powder and mix everything well.
This dish is usually a side dish in Odiya kitchen. We have it with rice+dal+subzee etc. Little girls like my sister, would just take it in a small bowl and use their fingers and tongue to slurp away the juicy mango !!

Enjoy this chatpata mango stuff.. have fun !!

Comments

  1. Soma PradhanFebruary 13, 2013 at 11:13 PM

    Yummy.. Post some of the cake recipes specially one which u got in college days from home.
    The microwave one

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gluten Free Almond Flour Mango Cake

-
Image
 Here's my take on the Gluten Free mango Cake.... There's not a story behind it other than the fact that I am trying to reduce sugar & gluten in my diet due to the health reasons & this cake gave me everything that I need for those late evening sweet cravings without feeling guilty or sad or having to plan extra time on the treadmill the next day.  This cake is made from almond flour so it's on the denser side & not entirely fluffy BUT it is soft & makes for an awesome tea time accompaniment.  Here's what I used... Wet ingredients 1 cup mango puree 3 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or butter) Dry ingredients 2.5 cups of Almond flour 2 tsp baking powder Process First mix all the wet ingredients in a clean bowl using a wire whisk Then add in the baking powder & almond flour Mix nicely using a spatula - DO NOT USE Wire whisk  Transfer the contents to a greased 10 inch round cake tin Bake until tooth-pick comes out clean on 325 F for ab
Read more

Chicken Patra Poda

-
Image
 Since the last few days, I have been binge watching YouTube videos of some Odiya Vloggers in the US. There are some really entertaining folks who sing & dance & go about their lives while sharing ups & downs with us (their subscribers). Sometimes they get too personal but it's the age of Social Media so I guess that is perfectly fine if the creator is OK with that. These folks that I watch are mostly girls ..Actually they are all girls.. hmm.. time for me to expand the scope a bit?? may be !!.  Anyways, one of the girls, lives in the eastern part of US & has a HUGE Odiya friends circle who meet almost every week for a party or picnic or potluck and she makes these yummy (almost) contemporary style Odiya food recipes that it makes me want to go back to the east coast & make her my sister. Yes, I used to live there & the first chance I got I left because of the harsh winters. I just could not bear the mere thought of getting up at 7am in the morning & spe
Read more

Masala Atta Chakuli

-
Image
"Chakuli" in Odisha comes in mainly three forms: Regular Chakuli - Made with Dosa batter (Rice + Urad Daal) -  Maida Chakuli - Made with Maida a.k.a Refined All-purpose flour And finally Atta chakuli - Made with "Atta" a.k.a Whole wheat flour Atta Chakuli is usually a form of sweet pancake in Odisha. It is a very good breakfast usually made on week days where making roti/paratha is either boring or time consuming. Growing up, I was not a fan of the dish though because it is sweet & as a kid I did not have a sweet tooth. I still don't & I think I am blessed because sugar kills (like literally).  This recipe was a result of three things... - I was sick of eating rice & poha (basically gluten-free) and wanted something different but should have tons of veggies 🍅 🌽 🌶  - I wanted something that is NOT sweet - I did not want to make roti (I am not very good at it & the Rotimatic is resting in the garage) Because of the above mentioned reasons, I sta
Read more