Odisha Mo Odisha

 Chicken & Veg puffs were the rich kids' samosas back in the day. Of course, now everyone can afford it. I remember when we settled for "singada" (samosas) & "bara" (Urad Wada) for our evening snacks, some of our (richer) friends would get puffs. These were buttery puffed pastry filled with spiced vegetables (mainly potatoes) and sometimes chicken. Of course, in Cuttack, chicken was not that popular with snacks. I am sure, later on everything became OK. So these puffs are actually a way to use up the left overs from a chicken keema biryani where as usual I made a lot of keema & did not soak as much enough rice. So I used up about 3/4th of the keema for the biryani & then the rest went into this buttery puffs.  These puffs are of course good for snacking but they are also a very good breakfast option. You can prep them ahead of time & then bake them while your guests have their drinks & they will serve as a very good appetizer for the dinn...

 So lunch is over, we had left overs. Breakfast was super boring as well. I can't remember what we had. I am wondering if I did justice to my heart by not loving what I ate? I know, I should always love what I eat else it will not do any good to my stomach. It is definitely not doing any good to my heart today.  So I get up & scour up the social media for quick dessert inspirations. I remembered seeing an Eggless version of a Coffee Cake & had wondered what that'd be like. So here I am, all ready to go with that recipe from a Food Blogger who makes yummy looking Vegetarian food.  No Eggs - 2 mins recipe What I used (Measurements are for 1 mug cake) 2 tbsp AP flour 1 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 baking powder 2 tbsp Milk 1 tsp vegetable oil Topping Ingredients 1/2 tsp brown sugar  1/4 tsp ground cinnamon MW safe ramekins or MW safe coffee mugs Process is super simple --> Mix everything except for the topping ingredients in a ramekin until everythi...

 Post-Holiday Breakfast can be a killer. After hours of slogging in the kitchen the night before, no one (I repeat, NO ONE) wants to slog again for breakfast the morning after. These spiced Apple muffins are designed to serve as the best breakfast. They are "make ahead" .. "store in an air-tight container for days"... "Can be consumed with milk or coffee & taste equally good" and last but not the least have the yummy flavor of spices & Apples which are so apt of the winters. I have used regular gala apples & I am sure the Granny smith kind will be good as well.  I have peeled the Apples however a lot of recipes ask to keep the skin intact.  I have used a mixture of Ground All-Spice  & Cinnamon for that kick of warm spices.  This recipe uses Eggs & regular AP flour.  What I used 2 cups Maida or AP flour 1.5 tsp Baking Powder 1/4 tsp Salt 2 tsp Ground All-Spice + 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon 2 medium Gala Apples Peeled Chopped into very small pi...

 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...

 The holidays always brings the zeal to bake. I am unsure why that is but every time Thanksgiving & Christmas holidays come around, you'd see almost everyone in the world will be baking something at home. The sweet smell of home baked goodies is so satisfying that even if I am staying away from Gluten, I want to bake cakes & cookies & tarts and stuff my family with them.  PS : No, I am not allergic, I am just reducing gluten in my diet to help with my migraines Growing up in Odisha, cakes & cookies were a rare thing. Mother would bake this simple vanilla cake in her Bajaj electric oven (with a glass top) or in her BIG HUGE Hawkins pressure cooker without the sealing ring or whistle and it'd be perfect in taste. Sometimes the cake's top would be so puffed up that it'd look like a volcano (Hindi word : Jwalamukhi).  This simple tutti fruity cake is kind of inspired by that home made vanilla cake that mother used to bake. Most of her bakes were eggless ...