Pakhala Party

-
Thanks for my Odiya friends here in the bay area, that I am continuously reminded of the yummy food that we miss every day.. far from home.. they are the ones who feed me till my throat with tasty home-made Odiya food..

Especially, in this hot summer, "Pakhala" is almost a every day affair now.. either in the morning or night.. the combination of overcooked soft rice, curd or lemon, green chillies, ginger etc.. makes this dish a completely fragrant one.. which when put into mouth disappears immediately...

When its a potluck with Odiya friends.. and everyone has so many ideas of side dishes.. we decided to take one side dish each.. and try our hands on them.. It was a potluck so the responsibility was one everyone.. so here goes the menu, a few pictures and the recipes (very very simple and easy to make at home).

Occasion : Nothing special.. It's summer.. and we all wanted to eat Pakhala.. :)



Menu:


  • Pakhala Bhata with (Rice cooked and kept overnight + water + curd + grated ginger + salt).. Lemon was additional if anyone wanted the rice to be more sour. 
  • Aloo Bharta : Boiled potatoes mashed up with raw red onions + green chillies + salt to taste
  • Badi Chura : Pan fried "Badi", crushed and mixed with crushed raw garlic & green chillies (crushed red onions is optional)
  • Saaga Bhaja with red amaranth leaves - Green leaves washed clean, chopped & pan fried with panch phutana + crushed garlic + slit green chillies (salt strictly to taste)
  • Macha Bhaja with Pomfret fish (recipe is super simple & its here)
  • Chingudi Kassa (Recipe coming soon.. very soon.. I promise)
  • Pariba Bhaja (Pan roasted veggies) with Sorisa Masala (Mustard Paste) - Assorted veggies pan roasted with salt + turmeric + mustard paste. This recipe is a speciality of my friend from back home Sinu.. Will update the exact recipe & pictures soon.. :) I promise again..
  • Amba - Ripe & sweet Mangoes - Sliced in thin slices
  • Green Chili + Lemon + Raw onions + Koli Achar (Boroi Pickle)

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 & spe
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 ab
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