Odisha Mo Odisha

Hello & welcome to Pakhala Series on Odisha-Mo-Odisha Blog. Today's Pakhala Episode is brought to you by the Das sisters.  In today's Pakhala Thali.. we have.. Pakhala Bhata (Of course) Potala Alu Bahia Slices of Potala (Pointed gourd) & potatoes stir fried with salt+turmeric+cumin-coriander powder Baigana Bharta Mashed Pan grilled egg plant with raw onions + garlic + salt + green chillies Macha Bhaja (Fish Fry) Amba (Mango)

Posto (Poppy Seeds or Khus-Khus ) is a very delicate spice used often (not very frequently) in my Odiya household. When we were in Odisha, mother used to make posto dishes very rarely - but whenever she made it, it was a vegetarian dish and would taste yummy. Things like Posto Bara (Pan fried fritters of Posto), Aloo Posto, Janhi Posto, Potola Posto are a few to name. Posto is also accompanied by its yet another rich friend Cashew to create a mesmerizing spice masala paste for rich gravies like the ones you get in wedding receptions. Deep fried Paneer balls/squares cooked in onion+tomato gravy & Posto+Cashews paste added to it is an all-time favorite at Odiya weddings. This posto preparation is dull simple if you have " Posto Bata " (Posto Paste = Few tbsps of posto soaked in water for 1 hour or so & then ground to a fine paste). I have a feeling that this can be made with any soft vegetable like Zucchini or any soft squash. But I made it (have always made...

As of right now, I have two most favorite Beets recipes. One is the Odiya style - always made during new Year get-togethers - Veg Pulao Second is this "Beets Paratha" What can I say about this recipe... It came to us during the 2020 Pandemic.. so Thanks Corona Virus It had a bright red color.. Winner with the kids.. It had an amazing India Garam Masala taste.. Winner with everyone else.. Making the dough itself was so much fun to watch...  Here's what we used.. 2 small beets Peeled --> Chopped super fine using a chopper 2 cups whole wheat flour Salt to taste Garam masala - 2 tsp Cumin + Coriander powder - 2-3 tsp Vegetable oil - 1/4 cup (For making the dough) Wee bit chat masala Process To make the dough, mix all the ingredients & mix using your fingers.  Do not add water at the beginning because beets have water.  Wait until you are have a mixed up flour Add small amounts of water to make a soft dough Knead the dough ...

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 chi...

When I was living in Odisha, we almost never had Hilsa fish at home. Hilsa aka Ilish Macha was available abundantly in our city but it was not a family favorite. I am not quite sure if it was because my father did not like the taste or because my mother did not like the smell while cooking it (She's a vegetarian) or because it was expensive or whatever. We stuck with Rohi (Rohu fish) or Bhakura (Katla) fish or Pohala (small Pabda fish) and shrimp (sometimes). Fish curry was usually a mid week affair like a Wednesday lunch or dinner with fluffy white rice and some vegetable bhaja (stir fry) and YUMMMM... HEAVEN !! Anyways, long story short is that my love for Hilsa started only after I got married & came to California and stayed in an apartment right across the road from the Bangla Market which sold frozen Ilish (Whole Hilsa fish frozen). We used to walk to that store on Sundays, get the whole Hilsa fish & the store keeper would slice it up for us. Sometimes we'd...

Odiya Luni Khaja - Sounds exotic right? - Odiya (from Odisha) - Luni means Savory - Khaja means "Fried snack like thing" Well, you got me, translating Odiya language into English is definitely not my forte'. But this snack is (well almost). This is a very basic ingredients evening snack which is super famous in Odisha & is made in almost every household (some more than others). It makes the best tea-time partner & "off-meals" "mindless" snacking snack. I'll be honest & say it right now that this is not exactly very healthy but does give you the feel of home. Ingredients 2 cups or 260 gms Maida (All purpose flour) 80ml melted ghee (Clarified butter) 1 tsp Kala Jeera (Nigella seeds) 1 tsp Salt 1/2 cup col water Oil to fry Equipments Deep fry pan (Or Kadai) & Deep frying spatula (the one with a lot of holes in it) Rolling Mat Rolling Pin Knife Process First mix Maida + Ghee + Salt well with your...

Every year Mother's Day, we make something vegetarian, eggless due to respect for our Mom who is pure vegetarian. She cooks the greatest Chicken Curry ever made by mankind but does not even taste it. Can you believe it????? I know it sounds crazy but even if Mom is far away from us most of the year, the sheer thought of having her on Facetime or WhatsApp video on Mother's Day rejoices our heart and hence the need of preparing vegetarian & eggless recipes and sharing with her over video chat.  This cake is a time-tested, tried & signed-off-by-Mom recipe. We made this one year when Mom was actually with us for Mother's Day and she LOVED it. She must have eaten most of it even if we kept saying that it has too much butter & probably very fattening but she didn't care & kept raving about how yummy it was. Thanks Mom !! Here's what I used. 1 ¼ cups All purpose flour (Maida) 1 teaspoon Baking powder 1 teaspoon Baking soda 1 teasp...

During this shelter-in-place situation, there's nothing much to do around the house other than cooking & cleaning & then cooking & cleaning again. The social media is full of lively recipes, things that people are cooking all over the world as we go through these unprecedented times of uncertainty. People are stuck in their homes & cooking is definitely the most popular pass time activity (other than working out in the garage or binge watching Netflix). So obviously, platforms like Facebook & Instagram are flooded with lovely recipes for stuff that people will only think of making if there's a dire situation (like the lockdown). One of those recipes is Jalebi. No this blog is NOT about Jalebi. But Jalebis definitely are making the rounds on social media & getting made at almost every household kitchen these days. Hence we decided to make jalebi too. Well, let me just say that I did not add the jalebi to this blog (yet) because for me it was a total ...