Odisha Mo Odisha

Some may call its Shrimp biryani but I call it Shrimp Pulao. Why? Because my friend, Biryani is not made with Shrimps (ever). Neither is it made with Vegetables or Paneer or Fish by the way. Biryani is something that my definition is made with meat. So let's just call this recipe Shrimp Pulao.  Anyways, this shrimp recipe is easy & flavorful and with  the correct amount of spices, it is a one pot kid-friendly wholesome meal.  The flavors are very close to what I usually use for Biryani but you can easily make changes to suit your taste buds (or your family's).  What I used My dependable Instant Pot 6 Qt. Duo 1.5 Lbs of medium frozen shrimp - Shelled & De-veined (Defrosted & marinated with salt + turmeric) 2 cups Basmati Rice - Washed nicely & soaked in water for about 15 - 20mins.  2 cups Water 2 tbsp Ghee Whole Garam Masala - 2 green cardamoms + 1 black cardamom + 1 bay leaf + 8-10 pepper corns + 1 star anise + 1 tsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp Ground Ma...

 It's a weeknight. The instant pot is looking at you with sad eyes because you have not used it in a while.  "Why have you not not opened me in a while?" it asks... I looked at the instant pot & said, "Because I don't want to eat Pulao or Biryani anymore" and I don't know what else to make in you which will have veggies & will be liked by the kids". The instant pot smiled back at me. It said "Do you have any bread at home? any kind?" I said " Yes we have some eggless dinner rolls. Why do you ask?" "Viola....... Let's make Bhaaji in the instant pot & surprise the family with it".. said the Instant Pot Making Bhaaji in the instant pot was so easy & so less time consuming that I could not believe I pulled off a proper pav-bhaaji dinner on a weeknight. YAY !! What I used My IP 6Qt Duo (of course) 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 cup each of cubed carrots + green peas + red potatoes (skinless) + cubed cauliflower + gr...

 It's going VIRAL.... everywhere you see, you will find people making these... the catch phrase is that, it is a NO-KNEAD paratha.. meaning, you don't have to knead the dough (which is tough if you are a beginner or don't have a kitchen-aid stand mixer) and you don't have to roll the dough into the perfect paratha shape too. I stumbled across this recipe on one of the youtube channels that I regularly watch & follow and she made it look like it was easy to make. I am telling you YouTube influencers do not show the real hardship that goes into their channels & they make everything look so easy & inspire us all to try out new things. It's truly commendable.  Anyways, I saw the recipe & it seemed pretty straight forward so I set out to give it a go.  Half way through making the parathas my legs started to hurt & then my hands & then my back. This recipe TAKES TIME.  So spoiler alert... If you want to make this recipe, just make for yourself. Do ...

 Winters always call for hot soup & lately my family & I have been relishing home made Instant Pot soups  with garlic bread (made out of $1 Walmart Bakery's French Bread). Using the Instant Pot is so so easy & the best part of the clean up or the lack thereof. Soups are best cooked in an Instant Pot where the steam cooks the vegetables & also you don't have to watch the boiling pot (literally). I have not made any soup yet in the IP using anything other than vegetables & the results have been amazing.  Making anything in the IP is less time consuming & less cleaning up & less waiting & less hassles. Literally, this soup can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes.  What I used 1/4 cup chopped red onions 2 medium heads of broccoli  chopped into small pieces 1 cup shredded carrots came prepped in a packet from walmart 2 tbsp butter 2 cups chicken broth (Can also use Vegetable broth or just plain water or a mix of either) Salt + Pepper...

 While the holidays are really good time to make up for all the sugar & carbs that I lost over the last year, I was really craving for some simple flavorful chicken stir fry one day. But eating only chicken would mean that I missed out on my fibers for the day & that won't be good.. not good at all.  So thats why I decided to thrown in high fiber low carb Broccoli along with some chicken thighs (always thighs, never breast) and some sauces together to create this easy breezy stir fry that did not take much time but packed a punch. So much punch that even the kids ate it all up. Paired with just some white basmati rice this stir fry made for a really really good & easy lunch menu in our household.  What I used 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs - Cut into bite size pieces Marinated with Salt + Pepper + Ginger Powder + Garlic Powder + Onion Powder + Paprika + Soya sauce + Corn Starch (GF) (All eye-balled - Use 1 tsp first & add more if you think needed) 3...

 The concept is super simple.  You want to eat vegetarian food which should... Be One-Pot which can then be put in the Dishwasher Use frozen vegetables so that I don't have to chop them Take very very less time to cook Be flavorful with typical Indian flavors Not have Gluten because it is not good for me to have gluten at night (causes Migraine) Be good for kids & grown-ups equally. That is when you take out the ever so dependable Instant Pot 6Qt, thaw some frozen organic mixed vegetables like carrots, peas, beans & corn kernel, wash up some basmati rice.... and Lo & Behold... Your One-Pot Light Gluten Free Dinner is READY. What I used 1 cup Basmati rice 2 cups of Frozen vegetables 1/2 red tomato chopped 2 tsp Neutral oil or Ghee 1 tsp cumin seeds + whole garam masala (Cardamoms + Cinnamon stick etc) 2 tsp Pulao masala 6 Qt. Instant Pot Wooden spoon/spatula Process Wash the rice thoroughly until water runs clear & keep them soaked until they are ready to be use...

There is no story for this recipe. This recipe is what I call a "CRY FOR GREEN FOOD IN YOUR DIET". Yes, I have been trying to get as much greens into our diets since many months now. Especially because they are nutrition dense & when it comes to baby spinach, they are really tasty too. I am not a huge fan of the regular spinach and they can be bitter but the baby spinach is not.  But then, what can you make with baby spinach? I tried them in Soup & Pasta and then in Khichdi and everywhere they lost their authority & face. While their taste lingered, their color was gone.  So I thought if instead of pureeing them, I just chopped them fine & added them to the Flour and made a paratha dough, then it'd look nice & surely it did.  Here's what I used 2 cups of roughly chopped baby spinach 2 tbsp dried fenugreek (aka Kasuri Methi) 1 cup of whole wheat flour Salt + Turmeric + Red chilli powder + Garam masala powder (all to taste) 1/4 cup yoghurt 2 tbsp Bes...

Let's start with translation first since the post title is actually Odiya. Machha : Fish Kobi  : Cauliflower Tarkaari : Curry So basically you must have guessed that today's recipe is about Fish & Cauliflower. It might sound weird to mix a vegetable into a non-veg curry but it so happens that in Odisha it is most common. We use potatoes in everything. All curries have some amount of potato. This recipe is an addition to that. In this recipe we will use Cauliflower to enhance the taste as well as the nutrient density of the dish.  What I used 10 pieces of Mirkali fish. It's a fresh water fish which we get from the Bangladeshi market The fish comes frozen so the store folks cut it into pieces & I have cleaned it afterwards Marinated with salt + turmeric 11 big florets of cauliflower 2 medium potatoes cut into wedges 2 tbsp Odiya Onion+Ginger+Garlic paste 1/4 med. red onion finely chopped Whole garam masala 1 cinnamon stick 2 cardamoms 2 bay leaves 2 tsp Pancha Phutana...

 Let's start with the fact that I really do not like the "Prathamastami" as a festival. For whatever reason, the Odiya society decided to venerate & praise & give new clothes to the eldest child of the family along with a whole set of responsibilities & what-not. In my humble opinion, it should be a festival to celebrate all children of the family not just the eldest one.  Someone was even smarter to come up with something for the second child (in case they felt bad) called "Duhaan Podhuan" but then that was a weak attempt too because many (many) families have more than 2 children. What about the 3rd child now? What are we going to do about them? Aren't they humans? Don't they have hearts?  So anyways, in all I am not a huge fan of the festival in it's concept.  The food attached to it however.... YUMMM... The fragrant Enduri Pitha made inside of a pocket created with fresh turmeric leaves & steamed to perfection.. OMG..  Whether it i...