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.