Odisha Mo Odisha

Tomatoes are an integral part of every kitchen.. and I don't just mean every Odiya kitchen... they are  everywhere... no matter what cuisine we are preparing.. tomatoes will be there... in some form or the other... Curries... Gravies... Salads... Chutneys....Sauces... and one of my favorites... Tomato Khatta (Literally means Tangy Tomato)  But in Odisha, this tomato khatta is more on the meetha side.. i.e. sweeter.. Made usually on Mondays because it's a no-onion-no-garlic dish... goes very well with Rice+Dalma combo... And is also seen in menus of weddings... mainly because of their ease of preparation I think hee hee hee .... and the fact that no matter what.. everyone loves the dish... Full of Iron and Vit.C (I think, not so sure), tomatoes are "YUMMY" in this preparation ... I am still wondering, why they call it " Tomato Khatta" .. when it is actually quite "Meetha" Here's what I used 6 big size garden tomatoes (These days ...

Come summer and its always "pakhala bhata" for lunch. What can we do? We Odiyas are crazy about pakhala, the poor man's staple food. Hee Hee Hee.. thats such a big joke now, because big restaurants like Grand Hotel in Puri (Puri Jagannath) also serve Pakhala with delicacies that we dream of... Here is one more bhaja (or hash as we say it in English) which goes very well with Pakhala bhata. Add some dahi into the rice+water mix and enjoy with this quick and easy kunduri bhaja . Here are the ingredients Kundru (1/2 Lb) cut into longitudinal slices. 1 tea spoon Panch shoran 1 tea spoon turmeric 1 tea spoon red chill powder Salt to taste 1 table spoon Mustard paste {mustard seeds + garlic + green chilies} Oil (as needed) How you do it? Heat oil and add turmeric. When oil is hot, add the panch phoran and let it splutter. Then add the kundru slices + salt and cook with the cover on. Fry regularly so that the veggies do not stick to the pan. After the...

Before I start writing the recipe.. Let me tell you that 20th March is World "Pakhala" Day !!!  You know, when we start to talk about "pakhala bhata" all we Odiyas go crazy...Yes.. we are crazy for food.. we are food "crazies" !! The side dishes for "pakhala" are simple to make and yet delicious..one of them which I adore is drumsticks in mustard sauce... Ohh, please do not think that it is some curry.. it is quite dry.. and yummy... Since this takes mustard paste, mom used to make a lot and store in glass closed containers. Why make the paste again and again? Odiya kitchens use mustard paste for many many other things.. Drumsticks are just one teeny tiny part of that.. What she used: 6-7 medium sized drumsticks. 4 table spoons mustard seeds. 6 fat garlic cloves 4 green chillies 1/2 spoon panch phoran (If you don't have panch phoran, you can use only jeera and mustard seeds) Mom would clean and cut the drums...

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 ...

A few years back..I used to have crazy eating habits... I'd go vegetarian for a year and then again start eating non-veg for some time and then go veg again.. Not sure what made me do all those things.. but Hey... only human beings do crazy things right !!!!.  It was a time when I had started eating non-veg after a break of year and half.. and all my friends are very happy because I would not drag them to a vegetarian restaurant anymore for Friday lunch or dinner. But, I had not started eating everything non-veg. It was only eggs, fish and shrimp.  Talking of shrimp, I made this easy curry that is the basic style Odiya gravy (used for almost every non-veg dish) and we had it for a Wednesday lunch. Of course, I was at home that Wednesday... otherwise cooking lunch on a weekday is a far-fetched dream here.  Mami used to make this typically on weekends (or whenever Baba gets shrimp from the market) and we would slurp the gravy off of the plate and eat loads of ri...

An odiya can do anything (absolutely anything) for a good meal. May it be a simple daal-rice-subjee or a special Sunday non-veg meal. Mostly during the weekdays, an odiya household tries out some simple (a.k.a easy to make) yet flavorful recipes.  The Odiya moms and aunts are specially trained and professionally skilled in making such recipes. One of them which is very close to my heart and also to my stomach is the "Chuna Macha Besara Tarkaari" (Smelth Fish with Mustard Paste). Sounds very common and simple right? I mean, mustard paste to an Odiya kitchen is like Onion-tomatoes to any kitchen. But... hold on right there... my heart called out, it'd be so nice if I could add some veggies to it and make it more healthy and not give my family a chance to complain that when I see fish I forget the whole world.. well its true, but this time I decided otherwise. Here's what I did.... First the list of things I used and then the process... 1 lb Smelt fish (about 15...

Since the day that I left Cuttack (which is my second home town), there are a few occasions that I've had good fish fry. Cuttack is a city which is sandwiched between two huge rivers.. Mahanadi and Kathajodi . Thats why, the morning fresh fish that we get in Cuttack is unbeatably nice. Well, no one can say No to the outside business also, so we also used to get fish imported from outside states like Andhra Pradesh, which is kind of frozen and not so great. Well, I spoke too soon. My job and fate brought me to the United State of America, where getting fresh water fish is a far-fetched dream. The asian markets here sell good fish but they are all from the ocean. Well, anyways.... an Odiya.. no matter what.. needs fish. Else.. as they say in Hindi "Hamara khana hazam nahi hota" (We can not digest our food). For some time, we tried every kind of fish available in the market...Then we switched to frozen Rohu and Hilsa from the Bangla store... and after a lot of hit-and-tr...