Odisha Mo Odisha

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 ...