Odisha Mo Odisha

This last Diwali, my family was on a Snack-A-Thon... this essentially meant, we made snacks at home, snacks that usually we get from outside or those that are made only by mommy dearest on holidays or special occasions. Well, this post is not about that though... its about the sweet coconut stuffing that we used in one of those snacks, which was left out.. So I thought of making Suji Kakara (Deep fried semolina cakes stuffed with sweet filling) on a lazy Friday evening for the evening snacks.. Am home on maternity leave now, and while I eagerly wait for my little bundle of joy to arrive, I thought I should give my tongue & tummy a sweet treat... ohh and my current family also.. ha ha ha.. Suji Kakara 1 cup suji (semolina) (made around 10 kakaras - it also depends on how much stuffing you have) 2 cups of water 1 table spoon ghee 2-3 table spoons sugar (add more of you like sweeter coating for the kakaras) 1 tsp salt Sweet coconut stuffing (grated coconut + j

Its fall already…. colors everywhere… everyone’s gearing up for festivities.. both eastern and western… this year Diwali & Halloween are just a day part… how exciting !!! Back home, we did not really care much about weather & season changes etc. Everything pretty much happened by the school events or cultural festivities.. like Durga Puja.. followed by Diwali etc etc… Now in Cuttack, food is (always has been) the center of attraction no matter what the event is… especially snacks during evenings… and extensive lunches and all… Speaking of snacks… we have all grown up eating Singada (Samosa), Bara (Wada), Piyaajee (Onion lentil fritters) and Vegetable Chop… The vegetable chop is this colorful mash up of veggies coated with semolina (Suji) and deep fried (Yummy) !! So here’s my version of the vegetable chop (beware its not the healthy of options)… made it with veggies that I had on hand, but I didn’t add any chillies because of my son… feel free to make variations &

Craving for some veggies, not gravy but dry... don't know what masala powders to put...don't have enough time... well this is my way of answering the questions... Mixed veg with mustard paste... simple, elegant & yummy !! What I used Cauliflower - cut into small florets Beans - Cut into 1 inch pieces 1 Carrot - Scraped - cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small red potato - skin on - cut into 1 inch pieces 1/2 red onion - thinly sliced 1 tablespoon of mustard paste (Remember me? Black mustard seeds + garlic + Green chillies + water) Salt & Turmeric to taste Mustard oil for cooking How? Heat mustard oil in a pan (non stick or otherwise) Once oil's hot, add the onions & fry till they are golden brown. Next goes all the veggies + mustard paste + salt & turmeric Give it a good mix, cover & let it cook till the veggies are tender. (I needed to sprinkle some water because the veggies were sticking to my pan. Next time I'll use a non-

After may be a decade, we had fish eggs cakes, totally Odiya style at home. I remember Baba used to get fish eggs (very rarely ever) & Mami would make these yummy cute little pan cakes & we would just gobble them up without waiting for the actual meal to come out to the table. It was silly but so much yummy fun.  So this fish eggs packet was in Bangla market in Sunnyvale, CA which we bought imagining many many things. Both my husband and I are fish fans, so getting the fish eggs in a store in US of A in itself was a big deal. I don't think I even looked at the price. I am sure, it was overpriced, but who cares. We had fish eggs & I knew exactly what to do with it.  Macha Manji Bara - Fish Eggs PanCakes (Not the type in Denny's, these are small almost bite size) Things I used Macha manji or fish eggs/roe (1/2 Lb) - I know its too much but thats what the Bangla store had. It was frozen, so had to defrost it in luke warm water (not in MW) for about an h

We Odiyas are very particular about their spices when it comes to non-veg recipes... just ginger+garlic won't do...we need a little onion in there... must have whole cumin in the wet masala paste... should roast a bayleaf in oil.. etc etc etc... So here I was.. all set to make mom style chicken curry (without the pressure cooker) and the minute I opened the refrigerator... the ziplock bag full of methi leaves stared back at me.. taunting me.. that I had bought them... picked them... cleaned them.. and stuffed them in the ziplock.. but never used them.. anywhere... ever.. since like a week almost... Hence.. the birth of this recipe.. Honestly, I don't know whether this is original or not, but I surely did this for the first time & I must say the result was quite good.. all cleaned up in one sitting !! What I used 2 Lbs chicken (Cut into medium size pieces + washed + marinated with salt, turmeric & mustard oil) Oriya style masala paste (See this recipe for

When I'm working from home & don't have any urgent meetings to sit on... I crave for some good old "Pakhala bhata" with some fish fry or some other sort of fritters... after all, rice for lunch is good :) What I tried today is a Odiya favorite dish which is made on lazy afternoons with the smell of small fish (aka Chuna Machha) spreading all around... But I used smelt fish (which is the nearest to what we get in Odisha). I have tried other recipes with this fish which are in the blog already. This one is a quicker version & dry-ish dish for accompanying the all time favorite "Pakhala Bhata". What I used Smelt fish (1Lb), cleaned, marinated with salt & turmeric for around 20 mins.  1 small red onion sliced 1 small tomato chopped 1 table spoon of mustard paste (Mustard seeds + garlic + green chili + cumin seeds + water) 1 tsp pancha phutana Mustard oil Salt & turmeric Process here Heat mustard oil in a non-stick pan (

My family has always been a sucker for "fresh only" but thats just in our dreams. We tend to appreciate fresh fruits, fish & meat but eventually when the going gets tough the "frozen" gets going !! We do depend a lot on frozen foods & sometimes it easy to work with them rather than the fresh counterpart. I can't say much about the chicken that we get from the frozen section, but for this recipe, I would have preferred fresh yet I worked with frozen & it worked like a charm. Such a charm that my 3 yr old also ate with joy (with his daily dose of khichdi* & curd of course). What I used A pack of frozen chicken thigh nuggets (I defrosted in the MW). Weight was around 1.18 Lbs 1 medium red onion - chopped fine 1/2 inch of ginger - chopped fine 6 fat cloves of garlic - chopped fine 1 medium plump red roma tomato - chopped fine 8 - 10 Pepper corns 2 tsp pepper powder 2 tsp red chilli powder (may be less) 1 tsp turmeric powder 2 t

I know its not Christmas yet.. but I was going through some old pictures in order to make some more space for new pictures.. when I found these cute fruit kebabs we made for the last christmas party at our house. These are strictly fruit appetizers & were used for just warming up the tummy for a more lavish Italian style Christmas dinner (more about this in another post) !! Here's what we used: Medium sized strawberries - Trimmed Bananas - Sliced (marinated with a wee bit of lemon juice to prevent coloring) Mini Marshmallows Green grapes Kebab sticks Method is real simple.. Create a work station.. First the kebab stick.. Start with a Green grape.. followed by Bananas .. followed by Strawberry & then finally the marshmallow !! They looked so cute.. people were taking pictures with them before eating them up !! This was a hit with kids.. they thought they eating Santa !! Funny !!

Eggs + Curry : Good combination But what if you are bored with the old style boiled eggs fried & then added to the curry?  What if you wanted something with eggs which seeps in the curry so richly that every bite renders all flavors in your mouth.. Well then this is your solution.. tried tested & validated !! Egg Omelette Curry What I used: 2 Eggs 1/4 cup chopped red onions 1/4 cup chopped veggies if you'd like a healthy version of the omelette some chopped tomatoes (not much.. the gravy will have tomatoes) salt + pepper for the omelette For the gravy we'll just follow the simple onion + tomato curry like in this recipe How I did it: First I made the gravy exactly the way it is in this recipe here . Its the simple onion + tomatoes light gravy which can be savored with rice & roti/chapati equally well. Then I made an omelette just like I'd make a regular egg omelette. Beat egg, chopped onions, chopped veggies +salt +

Rice items are a darling in Odisha.. come what may.. we love our rice.. in any form or color.. So I want to share with you.. this nice & simple vegetable pulao recipe.. which is simple yet elegant & the color from the beets make it princess-y !! What I used 2 cups of cooked basmati rice - cooled to room temperature or even lower !! 1/4 cup of cubed carrots 1/4 cup of cubed beets 1/4 cup or so - small cauliflower florets 1/4 cup of green peas (I used frozen for I put them in water for sometime to thaw) Fist full of raisins Fist full or so of cashews Garam masala powder Salt To make the pulao..  Fry separately all the veggies with sprinkle of salt (only for the veggies) till they are tender to cut through but not mushy. It is important to fry them separately in ghee (or refined oil if you are watching ghee intake).  In the same pan, heat some ghee & roast the cashews & raisins. When cashews are slightly colored, add the rice & salt.