Odiya Shrimp Thali

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It's yet another weekend & you know what that means?
That means, a ton of house work. That means loads of laundry and cooking & cleaning and what not.
That also means, we get to cook elaborate Odiya food. 

But then how do we decide what to cook? 
Do we ask folks? 
Do we take a vote?
Do we poll? 
Do we just randomly select ingredients & see what fits? 
Yes exactly.... that's what we do. This is where the challenge lies...

This is the day, when we had really less ingredients at home but we had enough to cook a good Odiya thali & serving it in the stainless steel tray (Sectioned plates) is the way to go. 




This Odia Thali has:
  • White steamed rice
  • Shrimp curry
  • Egg plant fry (Chinese egg plant --> Cut into circles --> Marinated with salt & turmeric --> Pan fried with mustard oil)
  • Janhi raee (Ridge gourd cooked in mustard paste)
    • Mix Mustard Paste + Thick slices of ridge gourd + salt + red chili powder + turmeric + mustard oil
    • Put them all in a heavy bottom pan
    • Light up the stove & cover and cook for 15-20mins in low-med heat (stirring occasionally) until veggies are cooked. 
    • Yes, it's a literally dump & go recipe
    • It's called "Baati Basa" (Baati : Pan , Basa : Sitting - Meaning Veggies sitting in a pan & cooking - Like all other times, they stand????)
  • Cucumber salad
    • Thin slices of cucumber (AKA pickles) sprinkled with salt.


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