Saaga Bhaja

-
"Green khaiba katha... green khaile aakhi aau chuti bhala haba"... used to say my mom.. it literally means.. "You should eat greens.. if you eat them.. you'll have great eyes & hair"... well.. I don't know why but having greens was always a torture for me.. but my mom will always make sure that whenever there's something o' so delicious.. she'll sneak in the green colored lump of "Saaga Bhaja".. Its good for health she said.. Well.. I didn't agree then.. I mean..why should I .. right? I mean.. who serves spicy chicken curry or mustardy fish curry with a side of saaga bhaja... 

But today is a different story altogether.. I love greens.. especially made the Odiya way.. Here's how.. 
And I have to comment this officially that I have apologized to my mother for being such a snob as a child..I have assured her that I am a different person now.. 


Ingredients to be used:
  • Saaga (of course)... You may use many varieties of green together.. or just stick to one.. I usually just stick to one.. and I use Red Amaranth
  • 1 tea spoon pancha phutana + 1 dry red chili broken into 2-3 pieces
  • 1 small potato cut into long thin slices
  • Salt to taste
  • Badi (hard lentil balls - fried & crushed into small pieces)
  • Mustard oil (any doubt?? We Odiyas can not survive without it)
Process:
  • First of all washing & chopping the saaga is a tedious job. So I'm very patient with it.. or I ask my aunty to help with that. (She makes a killer Saaga bhaja too with egg plans & all.. YUMM.. recipe later)
  • Heat mustard oil (no other oil will do) in a wide wok or kadai..
  • When oil's hot.. in goes the pancha phutana + red chili pieces
  • Next goes the potatoes .. cover & cook till little bit cooked
  • Next goes in the saaga.. & salt (very little)
  • Cook covered for like 3 mins.. until the saaga wilts.. 
  • You may remove the cover & let the water evaporate while Saaga & Potatoes cook nicely.
  • When done, remove from heat & sprinkle the Badi on top. 
Saaga can be served as a side dish with Rice + Dal or with Pakhala.. Yummy !!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...
Read more

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...
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