Garma Garam Gulab Jamun

Another recipe from my SIL's archive of delicious desserts to devour and feel guilty later! My Maa, SIL and MIL are like a treasure-trove of dessert recipes. Even if I made one dessert per week, this lifetime is not enough, I bet!

My mom is here with me these days. So she makes the dishes that keep us alive and rocking (Second thoughts on rocking since I have gained so much weight now! Cherishing all that she churns out; sometimes from the most under-estimated ingredients!). I cook once in a while, most often desserts and snacks.

Though like a good daughter (!), when they were planning their US trip, I swore vehemently that I will take care of everything and would like Maa to use this as an opportunity to relax and chill out. Right from the evening she landed here, she has been the matron of the kitchen. Anyone else who has done the same, please confess so that I can feel better that "I am not the only one with this problem" :)

You guys must have guessed it from the scarcity of new posts on this blog. At least I would like to be under the impression that my fellow foodie bloggers missed me ;) Enough of babbling from my end, here is the recipe of gulab jamun. It involves two main steps - preparing the hot sugar syrup and dunking the fried gulab jamuns in the hot syrup to absorb the hot syrup and soften up.

Step 1 - SUGAR SYRUP PREPARATION
Water - 2 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Saffron strands - few
Cardamom - 5-6 pieces

Heat water and sugar. Let it boil and sugar to melt. As it develops a slight golden color, add the saffron and cardamom. Keep it boiling till it is golden in color. It will be runny in consistency so that when you drop the fried jamuns in it the jamuns should be able to absorb the liquid. The whole process takes about 15-20 mins.

Step 2 - JAMUN PREPARATION (40-45 Jamuns)
Milk Powder - 2 cups
Flour - 2/3 cup
Baking soda (NOT baking powder) - 1 tsp
Heavy Cream - 1.5 cups (You can substitute with half-and-half milk 1 cup, but heavy cream is preferred)

Mix all the ingredients together. Make it a dough using heavy cream. It will be initially a little wet. Keep it aside for 30-45 minutes. It becomes thicker - more wet than roti/chapatti dough definitely.

Heat oil in Medium heat. Wet your hand with water and make 1 inch balls (NOTE - It will increase to at least twice its present size in the whole process due to the baking soda.) of the above dough. Drop it into the hot oil such that when you drop it, it should slowly bounce to the surface. The side which is inside the oil will slowly develop a dark brownish color. Turn it such that the top half facing you is next inside the oil and develops the same color.

Once the whole jamun is dark-brown in color, drop it into the hot sugar syrup of Step 1. Leave it aside for 1 min. Remove the jamun from the syrup and keep in a separate container. Once you are done with all the jamuns, pour the remaining sugar syrup on the prepared jamuns.

Storage - Keep refrigerated. Lasts for a week and a half at the least.

Serving suggestion - Serve warm. Surprise, surprise -- It is a good combination with cold vanilla ice-cream. Bon appetit!

Yummy Masala Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji - a fast food that goes equally well as a lunch or dinner item. Isn't that a live-saver! :)How many times it has come to my rescue when I felt too lazy to cook!

I loved the analogy in Wikipedia entry for Pav Bhaji what states that "The connection of pav bhaji is to western India is similar to what pizza is to Italy or the hot-dog is to America. ". And whoever thought of calling these "Indian Sloppy Joes"..ha ha. Well, they are right in a way! An interesting article that chronicles the history of Pav Bhaji is here.

Well, I should mention that even though I had been making Pav Bhaji before, my dear friend Meenal's tips have definitely taken it to a completely different level. Thanks, Meenal! I can never forget how we gobbled the Pav Bhaji prepared by her on our Wintergreen Resorts (Virginia, US) trip. This is a mountain resort and we did a lot of walking around in the morning. So you can guess how hungry we were and to add on, hot yummy Pav Bhaji for lunch -- it just doubled our appetite and we just gobbled and gobbled :) (Gobble, gobble, gobble - Remember "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode where the twins are teasing their sister). Coming back to the topic, here is my version of Pav Bhaji recipe.



Ingredients (makes 6 servings)

Potatoes - 4, boiled and mashed
Onion - 2 large, chopped
Ginger - 2 tbsp, grated
Tomato - 1 large, chopped
Tomato Paste - 1/2 can of 6 oz. can
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Jalapeno/Peppers - as per taste (optional)
Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup boiled (optional)

Pav Bhaji Masala - 3 tbsp (I use MDH brand, thanks to my friend Meenal!)
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp or as per taste
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Dry Bay leaves - 2
Sugar - 1/8 tsp
Canola oil - 1 tbsp

Garnishing Ingredients

Chopped Coriander Leaves - few sprigs
Onion - 1 large, chopped
Lemon Wedges
Butter

Masala Pav Ingredients

Pav or Bun
Butter
Pav Bhaji Masala

Boil the potatoes and cauliflower and mash it.

Heat oil. Temper with sugar, cumin seeds and dry bay leaves. Add chopped onion and let it cook till it is transparent but not brown. Add grated ginger paste and let it cook. Once the ginger is cooked, add the chopped tomato. Once it is slightly cooked, add the tomato paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt and the Pav Bhaji Masala. This provides the orange enchanting color to the bhaji. Add mashed potatoes and cauliflower and mix well. Add the green peas and chopped jalapenos to the mixture. Add 1/2 cup water at a time to get the desired consistency. We prefer it a little bit runny, not exactly dry. Garnish with chopped Coriander Leaves, chopped onion and a lemon wedge. A dash of butter also as garnish enhances the taste.

Melt some butter. Sprinkle Pav Bhaji Masala and mix. Toast the bread in this butter.

For a different take on Pav Bhaji, check Nupur of One Hot Stove's version. Link here.

Toor Dal with Poi Patra Bhaji

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)

Toor Dal - 1 cup
Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry bay leaf - 4
Dry red whole chilli - 1
Tomato - 1 medium

Tempering Ingredients

Canola oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1 medium
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

Pressure cook the washed toor dal and chana dal with chopped tomato, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, dry bay leaf and dry red whole chilli. After 1 whistle, let it sit in Medium-Low heat for 10 mins.

Heat 1/2 tsp canola oil. Add mustard seed. Once it crackles, add jeera. Once the jeera is browned, add the onion. Toss it till the onion is transparent and then add the ginger paste. When the entire mixture is cooked, add it to the cooked dal mixture.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.



Pic shows plain basmati rice with toor dal and Poi Patra Bhaja. Last when I posted about Poi leaves/Pohi leaves, I did not have the bhaja pics. Making up for that here.

Kheer Sagar

Most of the Oriya household sweets are milk-based. This is one of the many such sweets. Kheer Sagar literally translates to "Ocean of Milk"...and that is exactly the feeling you get when enjoying the mild flavors of this sweet. Though it takes quite a long time to make, approximately 4-6 hours, it is not that much effort. So do try it, if you have a huge sweet-tooth. You can refrigerate it and enjoy it for a week.

After receiving comments, I do realize that this is pretty similar to Rasmalai. Only Rasmalai's milk-base is slightly thinner in consistency (I may be wrong here!). Let me find out!



Ingredients (makes 10-12 servings)

Half and Half - 2 gallons
Sugar - 8 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1 tbsp
Saffron - few strands for garnishing
Swad Rasagolla - 2 cans (Any other brand will do or self-made rasagolla also works.)

Bring the milk to a boil in High heat. Reduce the heat to Medium-Low heat and let it simmer.

After an hour, add the sugar and cardamom powder.

Let it simmer for another two hours to three hours. Keep stirring it every 15-20 mins to prevent it from sticking to the sides and burning.

Check the consistency of the milk. It needs to be thick, more than evaporated milk but much less than condensed milk.

Half an hour before you stop the simmering of the milk, add the Rasagolla. Before dropping the rasagolla in the milk, squeeze it to remove the sugar syrup that comes in the can.

Remove from heat. Garnish with saffron strands. Let it cool. Then refrigerate it and serve cold. You can also serve it at room temperature. My mom tells me if you eat it warm, it may upset your stomach.



I am submitting this for the event "Think Spice...Think Saffron".

It is being hosted by Sunita of "Sunita's World" blog. The announcement for this event is here.

This is a monthly event.

Khaman Dhokla

Dhokla has been favorite Gujrati food since childhood. Ever since I started cooking, I have made several attempts at it..need I say unsuccessful attempts!! :) Then I stumbled across Jai and Bee's Khaman Dhokla recipe on Jugalbandi. Thank you, Jai and Bee! Below is the same recipe with minor modifications.

Note - The ingredients are spread across the post till the end. Please make sure to read the entire post for all the ingredients.



Ingredients (serves 3 or serves 1 if it's me)

Besan - 1 cup
Canola Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Green chilli - 4 chopped
Water - 1/2 cup

Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside. This will be a thick batter.

Lemon Eno - 1 tsp

Just before you put the above mixture in the presssure cooker without whistle (just for steaming), add the Eno and mix it well quickly. It will develop a whitish color.

Take an utensil and spray it lightly with oil. I use the Pam Spray. You can use Canola oil as well. Drop the above mixture in this utensil and let it settle down evenly. You don't need to mix anything now.

Add some water to the pressure cooker to develop steam. Place the above container with the dhokla mixture inside the pressure cooker with the water surrounding it. Pressure cook on Medium-High heat for 15 mins without whistle. After 15 mins, put off the heat and let the pressure cooker rest as is for the next 5 mins. Take out the container and temper it with the tempering ingredients.

Tempering ingredients

Canola oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5-6
Water - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Lime juice - 2 tbsp
Fresh coriander leaves - few sprigs chopped

Heat oil. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves and let it crackle. Add this to a mixture of water, sugar and lime juice. Mix well and add to the prepared khaman dhokla cake.



Enjoy with pudina chutney or dhaniya chutney.

Machha Chencheda \ Maccha Ghanta

My mom is here with me now. So I am learning a lot of our Oriya authentic dishes which are healthy as well as tasty for the appetite. Things which used to be made almost every other day in our house and I used to avoid eating them. But now when I am getting to eat the same thing after 2 years, it tastes heavenly. My mom tells me that the below combination of veggies is preferred, but you can mix and match - a ideal way to clear up your fridge ;) Different places in Orissa call this by different name - two of them being Chencheda and Ghanta. Maccha means fish.

Ingredients (makes 5 servings)

Rohi Fish Head - 1
Potato - 1 big, chopped and cubed
Brinjal - 1 big, chopped and cubed
Pumpkin (Calabaza) - 1/4 of a medium sized one, chopped and cubed
Tomato - 1 chopped
Onion - 1 medium, ground to paste and 1 medium chopped and cubed
Garlic - 2 tbsp
Ginger - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 2 tsp (1 tsp to marinade the fish and 1 tsp for the curry)
Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste
Curry powder - 1 tsp
Fish Masala - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Dry Bay leaf - 2
Cumin seed - 1/4 tsp
Canola oil - 1 tbsp

Step 1

Marinade the fish head with salt and turmeric powder for 30 minutes. Fry with canola oil till the fish is cooked and crispy. Keep it aside. Note - If you don't have fish head, you can use 2-3 pieces of meaty fish pieces. Alternatively, you can use tiny shrimps as well with their shells on and this dish becomes "Chingudi Ghanta or Chingudi Chencheda". :)

Step 2

Heat oil. Add dry bay leaf, dry red chili and cumin seed and let it crackle. Add the chopped onion and cook till it is golden brown. Add ground masala, chopped tomato, turmeric powder and curry masala. Fry till the oil separates. Add chopped potato, chopped brinjal and chopped pumpkin. You can add Poi leaf as well. Add salt. Saute on High for 5 mins. Next keep it covered on Medium heat till the veggies are half cooked. Add the fried fish head and cover the fish with the veggies. Cover the dish and let it continue cooking. Once the veggies are cooked, remove the cover and add a pinch of sugar, fish masala and garam masala. Saute till the curry is dry or slightly wet, as you prefer it.



Serve hot with roti or rice-dal.

Shrimp Malaikari

Labor Day Weekend - no big plans, what to do? Make something special to eat :) What do I make? Search my favourite bloggers recipes. Yahoo..found it! Let's make Shrimp Malaikari by dear Sandeepa. Thank you, Sandeepa for sharing this delicious recipe. It was so long since I made anything with coconut milk that I had almost forgotten it's taste. This dish turned out great. Do try it. As usual, I will try to use this gravy with some vegetarian ingredient sometime :)

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

Tiger Shrimp -15
Onion - 1, ground to paste makes about 10 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Dry Bay leaf - 2
Cardamom- 4
Cloves - 6
Cinnamon - 1 stick
Sugar - a pinch
Canola oil - 1 tsp
Chaokoh Coconut milk - 2/3 cup (1 can for 45 shrimps)
Water - 1/2 cup
Chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/8 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Marinade Ingredients

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp, or as per taste
Chili Powder - 1 tsp

Step 1

Marinade the shrimp with the marinade ingredients for 30 mins. Sandeepa recommends the shrimp with their heads on. Shallow fry the shrimps till they turn golden brown. Note - They will cook a little in the coconut-milk based gravy in Step 2.

Step 2

Heat canola oil. Add garlic paste. Let it cook till the garlic is cooked. Next add dry bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. When these spices crackles, add the onion paste with a pinch of sugar. When the oil separates, add the ginger paste and let it cook. Add the coconut milk with water, chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. When the gravy bubbles, add the fried shrimps of Step 1.

Sandesh Mitha

Was looking for some new sweet dish recipes when I came across the "Sandesh" recipe posted by Sharmi of Neivedyam. In almost all the sweet-shops of Bhubaneswar, you will definitely find this sweet. It used to be such a regular sweet in our place that I stopped eating it. Another item that you disliked when mom served it to you as a kid, but now you crave for it! :)

Ingredients (makes 20 pieces)

Ricotta cheese - 2 cups
Condensed milk - 3 tbsp
Milk powder - 1tbsp
All purpose flour - ½ tsp
White sugar - 4 tbsp
Raisins/Cashewnuts to garnish - same as the number of Sandesh pieces

• Mix all the ingredients together.
• Using a thick-bottomed pan, cook this mixture in Medium-Low heat till the mixture thickens and leaves the side of the vessel. Keep stirring continuously, approx every 5-10 mins, so that it does not stick to the sides and burn. I had to cook for approximately 1 hour.
• When the mixture is cooled down, make small balls and garnish it with dry fruits. I used raisin tossed and lightly roasted in very little butter.
  
  
  

Bisi-Bele-Bhaath with Kosambari

Since I started blogging to learn more about the different cuisines round the globe, there was no chance that I would not participate in Regional Cusines of India (RCI) event-Karnataka (one of the southern state of India) being hosted by our dear Asha of Foodie's Hope. The announcement for this event is here. RCI was originally started by LakshmiK of "Veggie Cuisine" blog and other foodie bloggers take turns hosting this event

More about Karnataka tourism here.

Karnataka, in particular Bangalore, is a place very dear to me. As a kid, this was the very first place (Bangalore and Mysore) my parents had taken me on sight-seeing. After every trip, my dad would require (read, trouble) me to write an essay about it (Well, I hated it as a kid. But now you know why I loved writing GRE and eventually blogging). The grandeur of the Mysore palace and the vast expanse of natural beauty Brindavan Gardens with Mysore all decked up for Dussehra was enchanting. And the simplicity and the warmth exuded by the people made the essay-writing a cake-walk..even here I have to mention food ;)

Fast forward a few years and I land up in Bangalore for training (and eventually work for a year) with all my dear friends. We have literrally grown up there. This was the first time we were away from home and away from the secured environs of the dorm. But Bangalore was home - a city with warm loving people who are cosmopolitian while maintaining the Kannadiga culture - the modern-day India. I miss Bangalore!

I cherish the memories of our weekend movie outings (first movie was at Rex theater, yeah! remember, Vrindu?), window-shopping in MG Road/Brigade Road ;), actually shopping at Commercial Street and Jayanagar 4th Block. Or stuffing ourselves with yummy chat at Gangotri, Koramangala. First bite of KFC Chicken - Thanks to the yummy Indianized version of KFC Chicken, I can never develop a liking for the KFC Chicken in US :( Dosa outing at Dosa Corner, Jayanagar. And the multitudes of other eating places! How easily we slip into food memories! :)

Since I have provided more than enough background on why I am excited about RCI-Karnataka, you would think that contributing for this event was easy for me. Not at all. Since I never cooked back then. :( How could I ever just eat without finding the recipe...That's not the present day me :) Now I get so inquisitive, I wonder if people think I am confirming whether they actually made it or not :) So I searched and searched and finally narrowed down on Kosambari and Bisi-Bele-Bhaath. Funny thing is I loved Kosambari when it used to be served for lunch in office cafeteria. I used to like it so much that I would eat only Kosambari for lunch. But I did not know it was called so and that it was made of Moong dal till exactly two days ago! :)

Enjoy the recipes and do let me know if anything can be modified to make it authentic Kannadiga. Please let me know if you have any authentic Kannadiga non-veg dishes. I would love to try them.



Kosambari (makes 4 servings)

I used Payaswini's Recipe as noted here.

Ingredients

Yellow split moong beans - 1/2 cup (Initially soak in hot water, leave soaked for 3 hrs and then drain)
Cucumber - 1 medium , peeled and finely chopped
Coriander - 2 tbsp, chopped
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste

For Seasoning

Canola oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 2, chopped
Asafoetida - a pinch

Step 1

Place the drained moong beans, coriander, ginger, lemon juice and salt in a bowl. Add cucumber at the end, just before tempering so that it does make the mixture watery. Mix well and set aside.

Step 2

Heat oil in pan, add the mustard seeds and allow the seeds to pop.Add green chillies, and fry a few seconds. Add asafoetida and remove from the heat. Add this seasoning to the cucumber mixture from Step 1 and mix well. Serve cold.

Bisi bele bhath (makes 5 servings)

I used Nupur's Recipe from "One hot stove" blog as noted here with some modifications.

Ingredients

Rice - 1 cup
Toor dal - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium, chopped or Peanut
Mixed vegetables - 2-3 cups (green beans, frozen peas and carrots, zucchini, eggplant)
Tamicon Tamarind Concentrate - 2 tsp
Sambhar Powder (or MTR BBB Powder) - 4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt 2 tbsp or as per taste

For seasoning

Ghee - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 10
Asafoetida - 2 pinch

Step 1

Soak rice and dal for 20-30 mins.

Step 2

In the pressure cooker, add ghee. Temper with mustard seeds, cumin seeds , curry leaves, asafoetida. When the mustard seed crackles, add chopped onion.When onion turns translucent however still crunchy, add turmeric powder, chili powder, sambhar powder and salt to taste. Stir in vegetables, dal, rice, tamarind concentrate, roasted cashews (optional) and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil and then pressure-cook for two whistle on Medium-High heat.

Garnish with coriander. And ghee (optional). Enjoy with chips, papad, something crispy!

Pohi Leaves / Poi leaves

I had seen certain posts in Asha's Foodie's Hope and Indira's Mahanandi about Pohi Leaves (called Poi in Oriya). Thought of sharing this pic for everyone. It is available in H-Mart Korean store and Subzi Mandi (New Jersey).



My MIL introduced this green to me. I had never tasted it before. Since this tastes similar to fresh pumkin flower fry, I immediately loved it and have continued preparing it. Poi leaf is supposedly used in Oriya cuisine for other recipes such as "Ghanta" aka wet veggie curry.

Sidenote - Fresh pumkin flower fried stuffed with potato filling dipped in rice flour batter is one of my favourite veggie dish. If I ever manage to get fresh pumpkin flowers, I will post about it. Have heard that New Jersey local farmers have these flowers available for sale during their season.

Coming to Poi leaves I love the Poi leaves shallow-fried with gram flour (besan), rice flour, fresh ginger paste, red chilli powder and salt. For example, 1 cup gram flour, 1 tbsp rice flour, 1 tbsp ginger paste, 1 tsp red chilli powder and 1.5 tsp salt or as per taste for about 10 Pohi Leaves. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics to share for this.

Noodles with Spicy Chicken Pakoda

Spicy Chicken Pakoda is one of the most popular street-food item of Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Other mouth-watering delicious street-foods include:

• gup-chup (alias gol-gappa, hot pani-puri),
• chicken egg rolls (hot and spicy chicken in a wrap),
• kachodi chat,
• dahi wada-aloo dum,
• hot guguni (yellow peas curry)

School lunch-time or end of the school day - The parents can be late to pick up the kids, but the street vendors promptly position themselves near the school entrance. No matter how much you try, you can never avoid the enticing smell of the goodies. You will succumb to it irrespective of how hygenic or unhygenic it is. Irrespective of how often how your dad has tried to explain and convince you to avoid eating it. Your's truly used to do so. Even in spite of the fact that her mom is a wonderful cook and can recreate the exact same taste at home! :)

Fast forward to the present day - These items are in the first list of items to eat on India trip. Some things never change!

Noodles (Makes 3 servings)

Ingredients

Oriental style noodle (I used Tomoshiraga Somen) - handful
Canola oil - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 3
Large onion - 1 cut into thin slices
Green Beans - 12 pieces cut at an angle into small pieces
Carrot - 1 cut into long pieces (optional)
Ajinomoto - 1/4 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Worchestire sauce - 1 tsp
Green chilli sauce (I used Chings brand) - 1 tsp

Step 1

Boil water. Add an handful of the vermicelli. Let it cook al dente. When cooked, put it in a strainer and wash it with cold water. Keep it aside so that all the water is drained from the vermicelli.

Step 2

Heat canola oil. Cook onion till it is just cooked. Don't let it turn golden brown. Keep it aside.

Chop green beans at an angle. Cook it while keeping it crunchy. Keep it aside. You can keep it in the same container as the onion since you will mix them all together.

You can also add carrot cut into long thin slices. Cook it while keeping it crunchy (similar to the green beans above). Keep it aside. I did not use it.

Heat a few drops of oil. Break the eggs into the pan and stir it so that the 3 eggs are mixed up. Stir it occasionally and finally break them into small chunks. Keep it aside.

Step 3

In the hot pan, add the boiled vermicelli. Add the cooked onion, cooked beans and scrambled eggs and mix. Add ajinomoto along with soya sauce and worchestire sauce. Add green chilli sauce (I used Chings brand). Use more if you like it more hot. Mix well. Caution - Do it slowly so that you don't mash up the noodles.

Spicy Chicken Pakoda (Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

Chicken - 1 lb, cut into small pieces
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Flour - 4 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Sweet Paprika - 1/2 tsp (I used McCormick's brand)
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Fresh ginger paste - 2 tbsp
Shan Tandoori Chicken BBQ Mix - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp or as per taste

Step 1

Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside for 30 mins.

Step 2

Deep-fry the chicken pieces. Drop the chicken pieces one at a time into the oil.



To serve as a snack, garnish it with fresh onions and a pinch of rock salt (optional). Or combine it with fried rice or noodle and savour as a meal.

Tomato Shorba ( not Shorbet ;) )

The first time I had Tomato Shorba, I thought that the restaurant had cheated me by giving me flavoured tomato water ;) I slowly and gradually developed a taste for it. And it has become one of my favourites now. I got so addicted at one time that whenever I had friends visiting me, I would literally kidnap them to this restaurant! Remember, Vrindu?

Note - This was in a restaurant in Adyar, Chennai. Since morning, I have been raking my brain (read Google and Google Maps) trying to remember the restaurant's name :( Even then, no complaints against google since I got the Tomato Shorba recipe using it :) The link is here. This is supposedly a Maharastrian recipe as per Tarla Dalal shown here.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

Large tomato - 3 chopped into cubes
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup (I used the Chakoah canned coconut milk.)
Gram Flour (Besan) - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice from half a lemon
Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste
Sugar - 1/4 tsp or as per taste

Olive oil - 1/4 tsp
Butter - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaf - 4
Small Green chilli - 4, sliced into halves

Fresh coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Ground pepper

Step 1

Pressure cook the chopped tomatoes for 1 whistle in medium-high heat with half a teaspoon of salt and sufficient water. After the whistle, cook for 10 mins in low heat. Mash the tomatoes. Use a strainer to separate the skin-seeds residue from the juice. We will only use the juice.

Step 2

Mix the coconut milk with gram flour. Take care to avoid lumps of gram flour. To this, add the tomato juice prepared as part of Step 1. Add the lemon juice, salt and sugar. Mix it well.

Step 3

Heat olive oil. Add butter. Olive oil is only being used to prevent the butter from burning (Tip from Paula's Cooking in Food Network).
Add cumin seeds, curry leaf and green chilli. Once the cumin is brown, add the tomato-coconut milk mixture prepared in Step 2.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and fresh ground pepper powder.




I am submitting this for the Super Soup Challenge being hosted by Tami of Running with Tweezers. Due date for this is September 10th, 2007.

Luchi-Aloo Bhaja-Simei

Luchi goes great with any potato curry. Following is one such combination. Aloo Bhaja is stir-fried potato. Simei is vermicelli. It can be prepared as a sweet dish to serve as a good partner in taste to the spicy potato fry.

Aloo Bhaja aka Potato fry (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

Mustard oil - 1 tbsp
Canola oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 4 whole
Dry bay leaf - 2
Medium onion - 1/2, chopped into thin slices
Medium potato - 4, chopped into long thin slices
Turmeric powder - 1.5 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander (Dhaniya) powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - a pinch
Salt - as per taste

Heat oil. You can prepare this fully with mustard oil. In order to dilute the mustard oil taste, I mix canola oil as well.

Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilli and dry bay leaf. After the mustard seed crackles, add a pinch of sugar and the copped onions.

When the onion appears cooked, add the chopped potatoes with turmeric powder and salt.

First cook on High till the sizzling sound almost stops. Add garam masala and coriander powder. Next cook covered on Medium-Low heat for approximately 15 mins. Keep checking frequently to prevent the potatoes from burning. When you can break a potato slice comfortably using the spatula, it is cooked. After that, if you want the potatoe fry to be crisp, cook on high heat for about 2-3 mins. Serve hot.

Simei (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

Canola oil - 1\2 tsp
Simei\Vermicelli - 1 cup
Cashewnuts - a handful dry-roasted
Fat-free milk - 3 cups
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Sugar - 6 tbsp
Salt - a pinch

Step 1

Heat canola oil. Roast the vermicelli in the oil till it is translucent and slightly brown. Keep it aside

Step 2

In the same container, add milk and sugar. Bring it to a boil. Add the cardamom powder followed by the roasted vermicelli and the roasted cashewnuts.

Chennapoda - Odiya Cheese Cake

It is customary to take sweets as a token of love when visiting friends/relatives back home. Chennapoda is one such common item. It is very popular back home. One of the most authentic Odiya milk-based sweet-dish.

Anytime we travelled between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on National Highway 5, we used to stop by Pahala village. On the side of the freeway is a set of eating places where they serve fresh rasagolla and chennapoda. A nice detailed article on Pahala sweets is available here. This place has not changed a bit in past years, irrespective of their popularity and demand.

Miss the earthen pots in which they serve the sweets :( In the present age of recycling, aren't these earthen pots real cool? And they add such a nice grandeur and ethnic feeling to the food.

This is a modern version of the age-old recipe adapted to the NRI-Odiya's kitchen. :) I learnt this recipe from my SIL first. After a series of mishaps and experimentation failures, I finally found the correct proportion of the various ingredients. A sweet-dish that you can easily prepare irrespective of the number of people. Just mix everything and let it bake! Here you go...

Ingredients (makes 2 cakes, about 25-30 pieces)

Ricotta cheese - 3 lb
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 14 oz
Light brown sugar - 15 tbsp
Butter - 4 oz (1 stick)
Semolina\Rava - 10 tbsp
Cashewnuts - 1\2 cup or as per your taste
Raisins - 1\2 cup or as per your taste

Melt the butter.

Mix all the above together by spatula. Keep moving the spatula in either clockwise only or anti-clockwise direction only.

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line the baking tray with butter paper or spray on lightly with canola oil before pouring the mixture. Fill the baking tray to 3/4th of its height with the mixture to let it rise. Bake for 1hrs. (2/8/08 -- Better texture if cooked for 1 hr instead of the earlier post requiring 1.5 hrs)

Let the trays remain in the oven for another 10 mins so that the outer crust gets time to burn lightly and become dark-brown in color while the inner stuff remains white.

Poke a knife or pointed edge into the cake. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is ready. Else let it bake for a few more minutes.



Note - Once cold, store in the refrigerator. Before eating, if you want it warm, microwave the piece for a few seconds.

Sorisha Paneer Bhape and Keema Naan

Sorisha Paneer Bhape (makes 4 servings)

This recipe is inspired by Sorishe Chingri Bhape recipe posted last week. Since the base of this recipe is so tasty, I wanted to try out a vegeterian version of the same curry by substituting Shrimp with Paneer.

Step 1

Cube the paneer (about 4 ounces) and lightly fry it with a few drops of canola oil.



Repeat Step 2-3 of the Shorshe Chingri Bhape recipe.



Enjoy with Roti, Naan or plain Rice.







I am submitting this for the "Think Spice...Think Mustard". It is being hosted by Sunita of "Sunita's World" blog. The announcement for this event is here. This is a monthly event.

Update on 10/07/2007 - Round-up for this event is posted here.



Yeast-free Keema Naan (makes 6-8 Naans)

This recipe is from Asha's Foodies Hope. Look for "No-yeast Indian style Naan". This is exactly the same recipe, no changes.

Only effort in this receipe is in preparing the dough. Once the dough is fermented, the Naan gets prepared in 6 mins. Have patience while rolling-out the dough since it keeps shrinking back if you leave it lying around. Almost a tug-of-war between you and the dough :)

This tastes lot better than any of the store-bought Naans. And you can stuff it with any filling, as per your taste. I prepared this with Mutton Keema stuffing. Thanks Asha for sharing this recipe with us. I am sure I will making this often for our get-togethers! Note - I forgot to brush the prepared Naans with butter and poppy seeds. Even then, it tasted great.

This recipe is for Nathan, my colleague and a dear friend. He is a true Naan-fanatic. And cup-cakes, too! :)

Ingredients for Naan

Milk - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Flour - 2.5 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Warm water - 1/2 cup

Step 1

Microwave milk for 1 min in a small dish. Once the milk is warm, add baking powder. Let it rest for 2 mins.

Step 2

Mix the ingredients - flour, baking soda and salt. Rub with ghee. Add the milk and baking powder mixture. Knead this with enough warm water to be a smooth dough, similar to the chapati dough. Smear few drops of canola oil,cover and let it rest for 3 hrs. If possible, knead it every 1 hour. I knead it only once after 2 hours of letting it rest covered.

Step 3

Pre-heat the oven to 550F. Divide the dough to 6-8 pieces and roll them out to circles. Place the filling in the center, pull the edges to the center and roll it out again. Do it slowly and uniformly so that the filling does not come out. Place 3 of them at a time on baking sheet. Let it bake for 6 mins. Watch out so that it does not get overcooked and become hard. However, as Rachel Ray says, dont keep peeking into the oven! :) Once the Naans are prepared, take them out of the oven immediately and brush with butter and poppy seeds mix (optional).

Repeat Step 3 for the remaining dough. When the first set of Naans is getting baked, you can roll-out the second batch. Serve with yogurt mixed with cumin-chilli powder. Sidenote - I got so excited on seeing the Naans that I did not have the patience to take a good pic of the naan. See what a disastrous pic I have now :(



Note -

• Be careful while taking out the Naans from the oven - it is very hot. I had to use two mittens overlapped on the same hand.
• Keep the prepared Naans covered. You can eat it the next day also - warm it for 2 mins in the microwave and it becomes soft and almost fresh.

Ingredients for Mutton Keema Filling

Mutton Keema - 1/2 lb
Large onion - 1
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Medium Tomato - 1
Shan Meat Masala - 1 tsp
Coriander (Dhaniya) Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Sugar - a pinch
Canola oil - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Heat canola oil. Add cumin seeds and let them roast. Add sugar and onion. Once the onion is golden brown, add fresh ginger-garlic paste. As soon as ginger-garlic is cooked, add chopped tomatoes, Shan meat masala, coriander powder and salt as per taste. After the tomato melts down and mixes with the rest, add the ground keema and garam masala. Let it cook for about 30 mins in Medium heat. Wait till the oil separates. You can either use it as such or pressure cook for 1 whistle.

Let it cool before using as a filling for the keema naan. Else it will become extremely difficult to roll the naan without the filling squirting out all over the place. :)

A summer evening with Mango Lassi and good books!

A summer evening with Mango Lassi (yogurt-drink) and a good book to give company is perfect! You will have to get the book as per your taste. I can provide the recipe for Mango Lassi definitely! :)

Ingredients (Makes 2 tall glasses or 5 small glasses)

Fat-free yogurt - 1 cup
Mango Pulp - 1 cup
Fat-free milk - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2

Blend all the ingredients together. Serve cold. Enjoy the summer!



I am submitting this for the event "Monthly Mingle: Liquid Dreams". It is hosted by Meeta of "What's for Lunch Honey?" blog.

Update on 10/07/2007 - Roundup for this event is posted here.

Melodious Odiya music

I don't listen often to Oriya music. However, there are certain songs that I used to listen as a kid. My dad and grandpa used to own numerous records - remember those black round discs! :). Today when I hear them, get very nostalgic. This is one of them. This song was very popular and is one of the all-time hits. This is from the 70's when some of the best Oriya songs were composed. Warning - The video is not all that impressive.


Oriyas/Odiyas revere Lord Jaganath. Trivia - The word "juggernaut" has its root in Lord Jaganath. Ask any Odiya staying outside of Orissa and they will tell you that a trip back home without a visit to Puri Jaganath Dham is incomplete. While generally browsing around YouTube, came across these two devotional songs.



One new song that touched my heart is linked below. It echoes the sentiment of any mother whose kids stay far away from them. This is dedicated to my Maa and my MIL.

Shorshe Chingri Bhape

Since the day I prepared Shorshe Chingri Bhape from Sandeepa's Bong Mom's Cookbook, we have become major fan of it. Dahi Maccha (Fish in Yogurt gravy) with Rohi fish is one of our favourite fish curry. The present recipe is quite similar and tastes out-of-this-world. It is also very easy to make. Yummy food without too much effort - who does not like it? ;) Seriously, let me know if you are in this category :)

Shorshe Chingri Bhape - Literal translation is Steamed Prawn with mustard.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

Mustard seed - Poppy seed Powder (as shown in Step 1) - 13 tsp
Tiger Prawns - 13
Large Potato - 1
Green chilli - 5
Salt - as per taste, approx 2 tsp
Turmeric poweder - 1.5 tsp
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Mustard oil - 2 tbsp

Step 1

Using a coffee grinder, make a powder of mustard seeds, poppy seeds and salt (2:2:1).

Step 2

Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside for 15-30 mins. If you are using frozen prawns, make sure the prawn is thawed and has reached room temperature. The prawn's shell should be removed.



Step 3

Pressure cook on High heat without the whistle for 45 mins. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.



For the vegeterian version, you can prepare this recipe with shrimp replaced by paneer or potatoes or mushrooms. Enjoy!

Chicken Little :)

Indian-style Chilli Chicken (makes 3 servings)

Ingredients

Chicken cut into small pieces - 15 pieces
Onion - 1 large sliced
Green chilli - 4, cut into halves length-wise
Egg - 1 beaten
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Worchestire Sauce - 1 tbsp
Tomato Sauce - 3 tbsp
Canola Oil - 1.5 tbsp
Salt - 1 tbsp, as per taste
Ajinomoto - a pinch (optional)

Step 1

Mix all the ingredients together and let it marinade for 1 hr.



Step 2

Cook the above marinaded mixture on High heat. Till all the water being released by the chicken has evaporated. Continue cooking on Medium heat till the oil separates. Add a pinch of ajinomoto (optional). Enjoy with fried rice or jeera rice! :) Pic below with jeera rice.



Chicken Curry (makes 6 servings)

Ingredients

Chicken - 40 small pieces
Canola Oil - 2 tsp
Large Onion - 1
Ginger - 3 inches
Garlic - 3 cloves
Tomato - 1
Curry Powder - 2 tbsp
Large Potato - 1 cubed
Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Tempering Ingredients

Cinnamon stick - 1
Cloves - 4
Cardamom - 4
Dry Bay Leaf - 2

Marinade Ingredients

Turmeric Powder - 3 tsp
Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Sweet Paprika Powder - 1 tsp (I used McCormick's brand)
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - 1 tbsp, as per taste

Step 1

Mix all the marinade ingredients with the chicken and let it marinade for 1 hr.

Step 2

Heat canola oil. Temper the oil with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, dry bay leaf. Add one large onion cut into thin slices. Let it cook till it turns golden brown. Then add ginger-garlic paste and let it cook. Once the ginger-garlic paste is cooked in the mixture, add tomato sliced thin with curry powder. After the tomato breaks and oil starts separating, add the marinaded chicken with the cubed potato. Cook on High heat so that all the water released by the chicken evaporates. When the oil separates, garnish with garam masala and/or fresh minced coriander leaves.



White Karahi Chicken Curry (makes 5 servings)

Shan is one of my favoritestest :) brand of spices. The Chicken White Karahi Mix is one of my favourite. An easy dish to prepare quickly without requiring lot of ingredients/spices. If you don't prefer too spicy food, you will like this. I prepared this recently for a team potluck event at work. Everyone is safe and sound! Note particular stress on "everyone" :)

Ingredients

Chicken - 5 boneless skinless chicken thigh (1 packet)
Dry Bay Leaf - 1
Sugar - a pinch
Cumin seeds - a pinch
Small onion - 1
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Canola oil - 1 tsp

Marinade ingredients

Shan Chicken White Karahi Mix - 1/2 pack
Yogurt - 4 tbsp
Fresh Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

Garnish ingredients

Yellow Pepper - 1
Salt, Pepper - as per taste

Step 1

Marinade chicken thigh cut into cubes with 1/2 packet Shan Chicken White Karahi Mix, yogurt and fresh ginger paste. Leave it aside for 30 mins.

Step 2

Heat oil. Add sugar, cumin seeds and dry bay leaf. Let the cumin seed roast. Then add thinly sliced onion. When the onion turns golden-brown, add coriander powder. Cook covered on Medium-Low heat till the chicken is cooked for approximately 35 mins. Increase the heat to high and cook till the oil separates. This takes approximately 15 mins.

Step 3

Fry yellow pepper with few drops of oil. Add black pepper and salt as per taste. Use this to garnish the chicken. Enjoy with Naan or Roti!

This past week of 08/12 - 08/18...

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award
My first blogging award! :) Feels really great. Feel accepted into the blogging world. Thank you, Sandeepa for passing this on to me. You are such a sweet little angel!

Going on with the tradition of forwarding this to other girl bloggers, I am forwarding this on to (in alphabetical order):

• Asha of Foodie's Hope
• Jenn from The Leftover Queen
• Meena of Hooked on Heat
• Sangeeta of Ghar Ka Khana
• Vidya of Foodie Confidential
• Zarah of Food & Thoughts

You guys rock! Keep on blogging and spreading the joy to one and all! :)

Foodie BlogRoll

Finally got sometime to enroll sorisha in the Foodie Blogroll and add the code to sorisha. This is a really great idea. One link to all the great foodie bloggers and their sites (read 'babies' :)). So very convenient! Jenn from the "The Leftover Queen" is the originator of this. Looking forward to have lot of fun as part of the monthly food event "Royal Foodie Joust" organized there.

Monthly Food Events in the Foodie Blogging Community

Monthly food event reminds of the three events for which I submitted my articles this week. Lucky me or pure coincidence, I had prepared the food items this month that were eligible to be submitted for these events.

Ever since I started blogging, I have a huge ever-increasing list of potential recipes to try out. Now with the monthly events, it just gets bigger and better :) Should I say "Lucky R" now? ;). R has been more than happy with my recent interest in food blogging..he gets to try out new food delicacies and provide his expert opinion. Well, I take on his expert opinion when it is in my culinary skills favor ;) If it is otherwise, the weather is to blame! :)

• Luchi and Potato curry for It's Party Time!
• Goat curry aka Mangso Tarkari for RCI: Orissa
• Fried rice and Jeera rice for JFI: Rice

Save Darfur
Fellow bloggers, as you are blogging and spending time online, I humbly request you to take a moment and take a look at The Save Darfur campaign. Quoting from the FAQ in there, they "utilize media outreach, public education, targeted coalition building and grassroots mobilization to pressure policymakers and other decision-makers in the United States and abroad to help the people of Darfur.". It is indeed a shame. At this age when we think "Its a small world", in a corner of this same small world, there is a genocide taking place. Please contribute to this purpose. One of the simplest way to contribute is to just forward messages to your Senator. Does not take more than half-a-minute. Let's make the world a better place!
Note - Recipes will be coming in a post later today evening.

Rice recipes - Egg fried rice and Jeera Rice

I am submitting this for the "Jihvā for Ingredients (JFI) event: Rice". It is being hosted by Sharmi of "Neivedyam" blog. The announcement for this event is here. JFI was originally started by Indira of "Mahanandi" blog. An Indian food ingredient is selected and other foodie bloggers take turns hosting this event. This is a monthly event.

Update on 09/08/2007 - Round-up link is here.


Fried Rice (makes 3 servings)

Ingredients

Eggs - 3
Cold cooked rice - 2 cups
Frozen Carrot-Peas - 1 cup thawed
Jeera - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 2
Soya sauce - 1 tsp
Worchestire sauce - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Canola oil - 2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Scallions - 2 (optional)
Ajinomoto - a pinch (optional)

Step 1

Heat 1 tsp canola oil. Add the beaten eggs and pinch of salt. Scramble the eggs.

Step 2

Heat 1 tsp canola oil. Add the jeera and the dry red chillies. When the jeera is slightly brown in color, add the thawed peas-carrot mixture. When the peas and the carrots are cooked, add the scrambled eggs and the cold cooked rice. If the rice is in the form of mounds, break it. Once the rice is a little warm, add the soya sauce and the worchestire sauce. Mix it well. Add the pepper powder. And ajinomoto (optional). Garnish with some chopped scallions (optional).



Jeera Rice (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

Ghee - 1 tsp
Sugar - a pinch
Jeera - 1 tsp
Rice - 1.2 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Step 1

Soak rice in cold water for 30 mins.

Step 2

Heat ghee. Add sugar and jeera. When the jeera is slightly brown, add the soaked rice and salt. In Medium heat, keep stirring the rice at regular intervals till the rice stops sticking together. Add double the amount of water and garam masala.

Increase the heat to High and let the water come to a boil. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat to Medium and cover the utensil. In five minutes, stir the rice so that it is uniformly cooked. Once you find that all the water has been absorbed by the rice, check the rice. Three conditions possible:

• If it appears cooked, remove the cover. :)


• If it appears slightly uncooked, keep the rice covered for some more time. :(


• If it appears overcooked, you can at times salvage it by spreading the rice on a flat surface and cooling it immediately. :(

Next week will be a collection of chicken recipes. Do look out for it. That will have the picture of Jeera Rice.

Breakfast Ideas!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Though we often feel inclined to skip it in our hurry to get a head-start to the day ahead, don't we? Well, the following breakfast items are not for those days. We usually have them on weekend when it is a lot more relaxed.

Maida Chakuli (makes 5)

Maida Chakuli used to be my favourite breakfast item as a child. You can have it all by itself or with Spicy Aloo Bhaji (Potato fry) or with some hot mango pickle. My mouth just waters writing about it ;) Not sure if this is a common item in Oriya household or if it is one of my Mom's many delicious cooking inventions! Here is the recipe. Pic below is shown with Potato Curry.



Ingredients
Maida / Refined flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 6 tbsp
Water - 1.5 cup
Salt - a pinch

Mix all the above ingredients. Stir till you see some bubbles. Keep stirring only clockwise or only anti-clockwise for faster result.



Put a flat griddle (tava) on medium heat. Non-stick preferred so that less oil is required for cooking. Add a few drops of canola oil. Take one ladle full of batter and drop on the tava. Let it spread by itself. You will find bubbles on the top as it cooks.



As the lower surface of the maida chakuli cooks and takes on a brown colour, turn it upside down and let the other side cook. Take care that it does not burn while trying to get the brown colour :)



Upma (makes 4 servings)


Ingredients

Rava - 1.5 cup
Water - 3 cup (Rava:Water::1:2)
Frozen Peas and Carrot - 1 cup
Canola oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 2 OR Green Chilli - 2 (optional)
Onion - 1 small
Ginger - 1 inch minced
Cashewnuts - 10 pieces
Hing - a pinch
Sugar - a pinch

Heat canola oil. Add sugar, mustard, jeera, chilli and cashewnuts. Once the mustard crackles and the cashewnut is golden-brown, add onion. When the onion is golden brown, add ginger and let it cook. As soon as the ginger is cooked, add the defrosted peas-carrot mixture and let it cook. Add hing and salt. Next add water and let it boil.



As soon as the water boils, stir in rava slowly. NOTE - Keep stirring continuously as you are adding the rava. Serve with tomato sauce or garlic pickle. Optional - Add a tsp of ghee on top while serving.

Goat Curry with Raita

I am submitting this for the "Regional Cusines of India (RCI) event: Oriya Cuisine from the state of Orissa in India". It is being hosted by Swapna of "Swad of India" blog. The announcement for this event is here. RCI was originally started by LakshmiK of "Veggie Cuisine" blog and other foodie bloggers take turns hosting this event.

Update on 09/08/2007 - Round-up link is here.

Goat Curry aka Mangso Tarkari (Makes 10 servings)

Ingredients

Baby Goat Meat - 2 lbs
Large tomatoes - 3
Canola oil - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 stick
Dry red chillies - 4
Dry Bay leaf aka Tej Pata - 2
Cloves - 4
Cardamom - 4
Large Onion - 1
Ginger - 3 inches
Garlic - 1 pod
Lemon juice - 4-5 drops
Shaan Meat Masala powder - 2 tbsp
Minced coriander leaves - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Salt as per taste

Marinade ingredients

Salt 3tbsp
Paprika 2 tbsp
Shaan Meat Masala 3 tbsp
Yogurt 2 tbsp
Garam Masala 1 tbsp
Mustard Oil - 2 tbsp
Turmeric - 2 tbsp

Step 1

Marinade the meat with the marinade ingredients for an hour. Before cooking, make sure the meat has reached room temperature.

Step 2

Boil 3 large tomatoes in plain water. Once the water boils, cook covered in Medium heat for 15 minutes. After this, place the boiled tomatoes in cold water. This not only reduces the temperature, but also makes it easy to peel the skin off the tomatoes.



Step 3

Heat 1 tsp canola oil. Season the oil with 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp jeera, 2 stick cinnamon, 4 dry red chillies, 2 Bay leaf aka Tej Pata, 4 cloves, 4 cardamom for a minute. Next, add sliced onion and fry till it is golden brown on High heat. Add minced ginger and garlic and cook on High heat for about 5 minutes.

Once done, add the boiled tomatoes. The tomatoes will melt in the mixture. Add 4-5 drops of lemon juice to retain the bright red colour of the curry. Add 2 tbsp Shaan Meat Masala powder and salt as per taste.



Add the marinated mutton and cook on High heat for about an hour. Till the masala is uniformly coated and the oil separates on the almost cooked meat. (In Oriya, this state of the meat is called "Kasa Mangso". Since this recipe takes so long, family members will have their first serving of this curry in this state and comment on how delicious it tastes! Yes, it is ALWAYS delicious :) )



Pressure cook for 1 whistle on Medium heat. Wait for 10 minutes and then open the pressure cooker. Garnish with 3 tbsp minced coriander leaves and 1 tsp garam masala.

Note of caution - The whole process takes approximately 2 hours!



The above pic includes Basmati Rice and Raita.

Raita (makes 4 servings)

Onion - 1 small sliced
Tomato - 1 large sliced
Cucumber - 2 small or 1 large sliced
Green chilli - 4 sliced OR red chilli powder - 1 tsp(optional)
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Mix all the above ingredients. Don't mix till you are ready to eat. Else cucumber will release water-content and make the salad watery.

Sunday in a Oriya house - This curry is a regular item for Sunday lunch in most Oriya houses. Dad will head out after breakfast to get fresh-cut mutton. Meanwhile, ladies of the house will make the required preparation for the curry. As well as any other side dish such as brinjal fry or cauliflower fry or raita or badi-chura or so on. Atleast two sides has to be there. Everyone will have a heavy lunch and retire for an afternoon seista. Don't worry, by 4PM, everyone is back in full swing for evening snacks! :)

A marriage reception is considered incomplete if the host did not serve mutton in the menu. Even if it was a ten-course meal! In Mayurbhanj district of Orissa, one meal before the marriage ceremony has to be mudi (Puffed Rice aka Bhel) and mutton curry. Try it! It just tastes awesome.

Update on 04/12/2008 - Another recipe for Goat Curry from Maa

Make a paste of 2 big onions, 6 garlic pieces, 1 inch of ginger and 1 tomato. Keep aside.

Marinade 20 pieces of mutton with 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric pd and 1/2 tsp chilli pd..

Heat 3 tbsp canola oil on high heat. Add 2 dry red chilli, 3 dry bay leaves. Add 10 tbsp of the ground paste of onion-ginger-garlic-tomato, 1 tsp of turmeric pd. and 1 tsp of meat masala. Keep stirring on high heat for about 5 mins or till the oil separates. Add the marinated mutton and cook till the mutton is cooked. Add 1/2 tsp of paprika powder for bright red color. Add 3 small or medium-sized potato cut into half a few minutes before the lid is put on the pressure cooker. Pressure cook on high heat for 1 whistle and 5 minutes in Medium heat. After opening the lid, add 1 tsp of garam masala. Maa advises NOT to put coriander leaves as it tends to take over the taste of mutton.

What is Sorisha?

When I was thinking of a name for my cooking blog, I wanted something unique, relevant to cooking, very Oriya and yet also very Indian. Something that is used in international cuisine as well. Thought, thought and thought! Finally I narrowed down on the Oriya word "sorisha".

Sorisha is used in almost every Indian cuisine..be it Gujrati, South Indian, Bengali! Most of Indian dishes are incomplete without some sorisha. It is used heavily in Oriya and Bengali cuisine for sure. No tempering is complete without some sorisha. Jeera is its closest competitor. It is used as a condiment in salads, subs and dressings. No barbecue is complete without it!

Any guesses on what it stands for? It is the "mustard". :) I feel no other ingredient is so extensively used in almost every possible cuisine. I would like this blogging site of mine to exhibit the same essence. Amen!

More details about mustard can be found here.

Luchi And Potato Curry

Luchi with Aloo Curry has been mine and R's favourite breakfast item right from our childhood days. These days, we have it for Sunday brunch after R gets back from his cricket games.

My luchi's are a combination of puri and luchi actually. Puri is made with wheat flour, also known as atta. Luchi's are made with refined flour aka maida. My luchi are made with 1:1 atta and maida. Since I and R cannot avoid unhealthy and oily food, I try to come up with compromises like this :)

Posted this also for Anita's A Mad Tea Party "It's Party Time!". Lots and lots and lots of Puri - Aloo Bhaji recipes in there!

Update on 09/08/2007 - Round-up link is here.

Luchi (Makes about 20)

Ingredients

Refined Flour (Maida) 1.5 cup
Wheat flour (Atta) 1.5 cup
Salt 1.5 tsp (as per taste)
Canola Oil 3 tbsp (or Ghee) + additional oil for deep frying

Mix maida, atta, salt and canola oil. Add water 2 tbsp at a time to knead and get the desired consistency. Keep aside covered for about an hour. Knead again.

Make small balls of the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll out the balls into circles. If you get approximately circle shapes, that also works :)

Heat oil. Check if the oil is ready by dropping a tiny pinch of the dough into the oil. If the dropped pinch of dough bounces up to the surface immediately, the oil is ready for frying luchi.

Tip from Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals - Another method to check if the oil is ready is by putting the handle of a wooden spatula into the oil. If bubbles appear, then the oil is ready for frying.



Drop the rolled out luchi slowly into the oil. Keep pressing the luchi softly in the oil so that the luchi can puff up. Take the luchi out of oil using a slotted spatula. Place the luchi on a tissue paper to absorb away the excess oil.



Best eaten hot with potato curry or potato fry or meat curry (Oriya "Mangso Tarkari").

Potato Curry (Makes 6 servings)

About a month back, I tried the potato curry recipe as per Latha's Masala Magic's Potato curry. Don't think I will ever go back to my old recipe for potato curry. This turns out real yummy and makes the house smell so good also. The smell of chana dal, urad dal, curry leaves and mild hing when used as tempering is heavenly! Following is the same recipe with minor changes, as it suits our taste.

Ingredients

Potato - 5 Large
Onion - 1 Large
Green chilli - 3-4
Curry leaves - 10-12
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For seasoning - 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp mustard, 2 tsp chana dal, 2 tsp urad dal, pinch Asafoetida or hing

Step 1

Cut potato into halves. Boil with water and some salt. After the water boils, reduce the heat to Medium and cook covered for another 15 mins.



Step 2

Heat oil. Add sugar and mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard crackles, add chana dal, urad dal and Asafoetida. As soon as the chana dal-ural dal is roasted, add the chopped green chillies, curry leaves, chopped onions and minced ginger. As soon as the onion turns golden-brown, add turmeric pd. and mashed potato. Add salt to taste. Add 1/2 cup water so that the spices mix well with the potato. Cook for 10 mins on Medium heat. Garnish with coriander leaves and 5-6 drops of lemon juice (optional if you don't like it sour).



Serve with roti or phulka or puri or luchi. Also goes well with Chakuli pitha (an Oriya bread item similar to the South Indian Dosa).

Alternative method:

Heat oil. Season with a pinch of sugar, mustard seeds, chana dal and urad dal. Add sliced onion, green chillies, minced ginger, curry leaves. Once cooked, add mashed potato, pinch of turmeric and water to mix everything well. Add salt. Garnish with coriander leaves.