Potala Rassa in Odiya Vegetarian Thali

-

 There's no story today. It's a weekend & I got tired of being lazy so I cooked some yummy vegetarian Odiya recipes today for the family. I made it into a Thali & went all out to make it look pretty using a stainless steel tray (divided plate i.e.)

    Add caption

    Menu was simple & did not take much time other than the Potala Rasa (Recipe below)

    Menu

    • White Basmati Rice
    • Green Papaya Daal (Yellow lentils cooked with green papaya & tempered with hing & jeera with desi ghee)
    • Potala Rasa (Recipe below)
    • Baigani & Kobi Pakudi (Eggplant slices & cauliflower florets --> dipped in spiced Besan mix --> Deep fried --> Yes.. It's Pakudi or Pakoda or Fritter whatever you want to call it)

    What I used for Potala Rasa
    • 1.5 Lbs of Potala (Pointed gourd) --> Washed --> Trimmed --> Cut diagonally 
    • Onion+Ginger+Garlic Ground Masala Paste - About 2 tbsp
    • Another paste made of 1/3 cup grated coconut + 10 half cashews + 1 green chillies + 1 ripe red tomato
    • 1/4 red onion - chopped
    • Mustard oil
    • 1 bay leaf + 2 cardamons + 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    • Salt + Turmeric + Kashmiri chili powder + Cumin-Coriander powder
    • Garam Masala powder - About 1 tsp
    • Heavy bottom pan with lid (I used my stainless steel kadhai)
    • Stainless steel spatula (Helps in scarping if anything sticks to the pan)

    Process
    • Heat mustard oil in the pan & let it smoke up
    • Next add the Poatala pieces & fry on med-high flame until they have gained slight brown coloring in their edges
    • Take them out on a plate
    • In the same pan add bit more oil --> Splutter the bay leaf, cardamom & cumin seeds
    • Next add the onions & fry for 3-4mins till they brown
    • Next add the Onion+Ginger+Garlic paste & fry with sprinkles of water until raw smell is gone
    • Next turn the flame to lowest possible & add turmeric + Kashmiri chili powder + Cumin-Coriander powder and fry everything together
    • Next add the tomato paste (with cashews & coconut i.e.) and fry on low heat until all masala is combined & oil seeps out. This will take time as you have coconut & it needs to be cooked ONLY on low heat. 
    • When the masala is ready add the fried potala pieces & cover & cook with wee bit water until the vegetables are soft & shiny
    Add caption
    • At last, add garam masala powder & give it a good mix and leave it covered until ready to serve. 
    • Serve hot with Rice & Daal.


    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    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

    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

    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