Odisha Mo Odisha

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 (