"Lanka Jeera Gunda" with a click

This view caught my attention during dusk. And every time I take a look at it, I feel like humming the Hindi classic melody "Jalte hai dil yahan.." (literal translation: Heart burns here!).

Along the lines of the above click, sharing a very simple spice recipe in this post - it is a ground spice with very earthy flavors. "Lanka Jeera Gunda" means "Chilli Cumin Ground (spice)". It is used abundantly in Odiya cuisine and an essential item in my pantry. Do you have any such spice which is home-made and an integral part of your spice rack without which you have this mildly nagging feel of "I have to get this refilled soon!"? Would love to hear from you.

Without this hot spice, Dahi Vada is incomplete in an Odiya house. It is used prolifically in Dalma "veggies and lentil soup kinda" as well as any of the veggie shallow fries. Add a dash of this spice for added flavor. I usually make the amount below once a year (typically Memorial Day is the day I pick for such type of pantry replenishment tasks!) 

Ingredients:

1 cup Dry Cumin Seeds

2 cup Dry Red Chilli

Dry roast both of them separately since they both have different roasting times.

Sometime I get lazy and roast them together. In that case I dry roast the chillis first and then add the cumin seeds. Since you are roasting chillis, be very careful not to overcook them else you are sure to have the entire house having the smell, everyone going into an eye-burning sensation and sneezing. I usually try to leave the window open when doing this for easy ventilation.

Let them cool down and then dry-grind them. Voila! You have almost a year's supply of "Lanka Jeera Gunda"! :)

Nan Khatai

When I urgently needed the recipe for Nan Khatai to take as a gift when visiting a relative, I came across this recipe. It turned out the way I used to make earlier on and had lost the recipe. Thanks, Vaishali, for sharing your MIL's much coveted recipe here - she sounds like my mom who has her own rules for cooking. I am not complaining - we have always got some terrific food out of her kitchen! :)

Ingredients: 
Makes approx. 20 biscuits (as shown in pic)

• 1 cup White flour (Maida)
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar (White sugar is also ok)
• Ground Cardamom Powder - 1 tbsp
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch of salt
• 6 tbsp Ghee (I used home-made Ghee from butter)

Method: 

• Mix the dry ingredients - Flour, Sugar, Cardamom Powder, Baking Powder and Salt.
• Add the Ghee (preferably room temperature) to the above. Knead the dough - it will be like the dough meant for roti\paratha, slightly more wet. Keep it aside for a few mins to an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 180°C).
• Divide the dough into 20 equal portions. Shape those portions into oval shape balls. Place an almond or any other nut of choice as decoration.
• Arrange them on the baking sheet giving them enough space to expand and bake evenly.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for approx 15 minutes. Keep a close watch for the first batch coz every oven differs and you don't want to burn the nan khatais.
• Take them out of the oven immediately and let them cool. I move them to a different tray to stop the baking process sooner.
• Store in an air-tight container if you manage to keep some for later. ;)

Enjoy the snacking!

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Update on 04/13/2012:

This  goes to Surabhi's event "Let's Part Every Month" with this month's theme being "Snacks".The event page is here. Check out all the wonderful posts her event has received!

Dosa (not the concentric circle one!) with Aloo curry

Hey All,

Happy Spring, everyone! It is so gorgeous outside these days - wish it was like this all THE time. Out here, weather goes into extremes so quickly that a single moderate weather day is a blessing. Been having a hectic life so much so that a week just zip-zap-zooms by!!

Yes, if you are wondering, Sorisha is still a food blog and someday hope to have a restaurant with this name - another one of those "Mungerilal" moments (translated - a famous Hindi television series "Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne" of the 80's about an ardent day-dreamer named Mungerilal played by the so-versatile actor Raghubir Yadav. Coming to food, today's post is about my constant struggle with making dosa to my liking. I am so talented (yes, sarcastic!) - in my 9 years of cooking, I have never repeated a dosa batter to my liking. Seriously, I am so frustrated with my batter that my blood pressure hits the ceiling everytime the first dosa is spread on the tawa!When Maa visited us, she taught me a trick that gives me good crispy-thin dosa irrespective of whether the batter is from Mars or Venus. :)


Trick is very simple - instead of spreading the batter in concentric circle, work on it in straight lines to spread the batter evenly. End result is paper thin crispy dosa of uniform thickness - bye bye thick edges! Trust Maa to solve any problem :)


 

Ingredients:

Urad dal:Parboiled rice in 1:2 ratio
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp for every cup of urad dal




Method:

Soak urad dal and parboiled rice separately overnight.
Blend into a batter with fenugreek seeds.
Add salt and let it sit for 3-4 hrs
Heat a non-stick pan.
Spread a spoon of batter and using a flat spatula, spread the batter in straight lines evenly spreading it.
Drop a few drops of oil (R likes his with mustard oil while I like Canola oil)
When the dosa looks golden-brown and cooked, turn it over for a few mins (optional).

Serve with Chutney or Potato Curry - however, you like your dosa! Hope you have a nice sunny day! :)

Cherry Blossom 2012 "Sakura Season"

Washington Monument across the lawn

"In the shadow of the cherry blossom complete strangers there are none."

- The 19th century haiku master Kobayashi Issa

Ever since I have moved to DC, Cherry Blossom is a special part of the year for me that I eagerly look forward to. Have always been lucky to spend it with family and friends and build some much-cherished lifetime memories.It signals the end of the cold dark winter with the soft pink hues of the delicate blossoms.

Japanese people believe the Japanese cherry blossom captures and defines all that is vulnerable about being human. The sakura season gives us a timely reminder, once a year, that life is fleeting and time is precious. This is a time to take stock and evaluate what you have achieved, and what you are going to do next, on your own life path. In essence, the cherry blossom cycle is seen as a metaphor for life.

- http://www.tokyotopia.com/japanese-cherry-blossom.html

Jefferson Memorial across the Potomac

First year (2003) was with the newly weds Joe-Merlin and Jose-Lynn, my very first friends here. I had just arrived here newly wed excited to start the new life as well as homesick in Feb. My first visit to the National Mall could not have been in any better time of the year! Anti-climax was when me and hubby had to rush back coz I got allergic to the pollens :( But that experience has never deterred me from going back year after year. The cherry blossom flower viewing is termed as "hanami" in Japanese and I have had the opportunity to enjoy the same over the past couple years - it's special and hope to enjoy it for many more years with all my dear ones atleast once!

An angle I learned from my dad - thanks, Baba, as always!

The next year (2004) was when my undergrad buddies visited me from New York and we got to hang out together - catching up after years but could only talk to all the fun-times in school.

Tulip Garden in the National Mall, DC - Trying a new angle on my SLR which surprisingly turned out good - I love it!

The year after (2005) I believe I and R went down to DC on an impromptu trip only to realize that the blooms were delayed - what a disappointment! But we did have a nice walk by the Potomac in the cold breeze and got to check out newer areas of DC!

Blossoms by the Potomac Tidal Basin

"all the more I wish to see
in those blossoms at dawn
the face of a god"
- The Haiku Poems of Matsu Basho

One year was with SIL and her family. Another year was with my good friends Prajakta, Meenal and Ekta and their families. In the years, we did not go to DC - we enjoyed the "equally serene" colors in our neighborhood with some warm BBQ in a chilly evening. Last year (2011) I missed it due to the cold weather and instead of the outside weather, our friends Bobby and Lori who were visiting us and we went shopping during the day and bowling in the evening - not bad at all! :)

Tulip Garden in the National Mall, DC

This year was with my buddy Siri and her two most adorable and well-behaved sons Neanth and Satvik. I hope they had the great time that I most definitely had. Got to check out the most colorful Tulip Garden upfront and close for the very first time - clickety clack could be my middle name! I was click-happy with my SLR camera that was "actually" being used for the very first time since it's purchase about 3 years back!

Tulip Garden in the National Mall, DC

Cherry Blossom festivities are on till April 15th weekend - we are celebrating 100 years of Cherry Blossom celeb this year. Details are available here. Hope you get to visit and have a great rollicking time with your loved ones!

Tulip Garden in the National Mall, DC

It’s like their bowing over to give their quiet nod
To their talented creator,…to the Great Almighty God

- Tulips by Linda Hogeland

Tulip Garden in the National Mall, DC

A sunbeam caress the only flower from my garden,
What a nice feeling, what a pleasure,
Than to admire the beauty of a flower,
And closing eyes to dream about it.

-  The Only Flower You Are by Crisina Theodore

Washington Monument in the background

Tulip Garden in the National Mall, DC

Each time I see a tulip…. my heart is drawn to Him

- Tulips by Linda Hogeland 

 

Odiya cooking blogs list...and Happy Utkala Divas!

Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar

Happy Utkala Divas!

Yes, as Russell Peters, the very well-known stand-up comedian would say "The comedy practically writes itself!", April 1st is Odiya New Year! For the uninformed, we Indians love celebrations and thus, each state in India representing an unique culture has it's very own New Year (yes, apart from Jan 1st).

For history buffs, the present day Odisha relinquished itself of being typo-written for more than 50 years as Orissa. Don't think this name change can be blamed on the past British rulers similar to Calcutta/Kolkata, Bombay/Mumbai, Madras/Chennai, Bengaluru/Bangalore - seems more like a typo, someone accept it! Prior to Orissa, there have been a few other names - King Ashoka's Kalinga is one (JUST hated it when a contestant in India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" that is, "Kaun Banega Crorepati" could not answer this!!!) and Utkala is another.

To be honest, I don't have as much regional sentiments as some of my acquaintances and relatives do. I am more of a "you are my friend if you are nice to me and can tolerate my peculiarities without being demeaning". Ok, enough of self-talk! So I was thinking about doing something special for April 1st and it stuck me that I should compile a list of my blogger friends with some kind of Odisha connection. So here I go...

• Somoo's Home Cooked Oriya Food here
• Sharmila's Kichu Khon here
• Saswati's Potpourri here
• Shibani's Anyone can cook here
• Oriya Food and Recipe here
• Odia Kitchen here
• Full Orissa recipe here
• Oriya Rasoi - Flavors from a Oriya Kitchen here
• RCI Orissa Event recipes roundup here
• Delicious Recipes 4m Pranati's kitchen here

If you have a cooking blog and you are an Odiya-speaking person or have some sort of connection to Odisha and/or want to connect with the others as an Odiya, please leave a comment and I will add your link.

Would love to hear from one and all..have a great ROCKING day!

Puri Beach, Puri

Shiva Temple, Naraj

Very popular sand sculptures of Puri Beach - this one is from an exhibition in Bhubaneswar

Lord Jagannath, Supreme diety of all Odiyas - the word juggernaut is derived from Him

Traditional wall art form and terracota decoration (no relation to Pannacota! ;))

Konark Temple, Konark - Note the intricate work!

Konark Sun Temple, Konark

Konark Temple, Konark - the familiar Chakra in the India flag, each wheel at Konark Sun Temple has a different design

Baigani aka Brinjal Fritters

There is something sinful about fried foods - evil cousins of another sinful food "Chocolate"! ;) I have promised myself to eat healthy as much as possible with a resolution to remain vegeterian for this entire year but these two types of food are something I am not able to stay tempt-free from. Well, I am human being after all is my excuse else I would be perfect..lol! So here is my "Baigani" aka Eggplant\Brinjal fritter. Baigani is from Baigana, the Odiya word for Eggplant.

There is only so many items that I know to make with Eggplant and they get spoiled so quickly, so the moment I come back from grocery, it is like a "tick-tock" going on in my head if the Eggplants will end up as a food item or in the garbage! If I could get a cent for every Eggplant spoiled, I would definitely have a dollar by now! :p Enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients:

Eggplant\Brinjal- 1 large
Gram flour\Besan - 1.5 cup
Ajwain - 1/2 tsp (aids digestion)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp, as per taste
Salt - 1 tsp, as per taste
Bicarbonate soda - 1/2 tsp (optional, for fluffiness)
Fresh Ginger - 1 tsp, grated
Rice flour- 1tbsp (optional, for crunchiness)

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients Ajwain, Red chilli powder, Salt with gram flour.
Add 1/2 cup water at a time to make a slightly runny mixture (not watery) - add slowly so that you are not adding more water than required. Adding extra gram flour to make up for extra water later messes up the texture!
Add ginger and mix well.
Add the soda a few mins before frying and mix well.
A tbsp of rice flour will give it a crunchy texture (optional).

Cut the Brinjals into thin 1/2 inch slices.

Heat 2-3 cups canola oil for deep frying. When the oil becomes hot enough so that when you drop some gram flour mixture from above into the oil, it should rise to the top immediately.

Dip the Brinjal slices into the gram flour mixture one slice at a time and drop slowly and carefully into the hot oil.

Let it cook one side before tossing it over. It is done when it stops sizzling in the hot oil.

Watch the oil heat - keep changing it from High to Medium to make sure the fritters do not burn, oil does not smoke, temperature drops as the Brinjal slices are dropped into the oil so the heat needs to be adjusted to accomodated for that as well as making sure that the eggplants are well cooked. Use paper towel to soak away the extra oil from the fritters.

Flavor with rock salt for added tanginess!

Enjoy this while they are hot and crisp on a rainy day with bhel/mudi. Relishing them while warmly snuggled in the blanket with a good engaging book for company - oh, the world is all right! :) Look forward to hear from you about what is your comfort "world is all right!" moment.

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Update on 04/13/2012:

This  goes to Surabhi's event "Let's Part Every Month" with this month's theme being "Snacks".The event page is here. Check out all the wonderful posts her event has received!

Maa's Simply Simple Aloo Dum

Warning: A blog post written about 2 years back :) Well, this is the same potato curry I clicked and posted with Poha on 3/18/2012..so here is the recipe and some of my rant from 2 yrs back..wow! Enjoy..I did reading what I had to say but never did! ;) Have a great day, everyone! :)

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Hello All!

Glad to be back blogging again! As always, life just took over and I did not have the patience to post even one recipe in the last few months. Thanks to all the readers for their comments from time to time which kept me in touch with this part of me - MY BLOG! Thanks to my friend Sonali and Silu apa for checking on the status from time to time. Sonali's comment that "everything always turns out good from your blog" was very inspiring.

Partly the reason for my absence is since we moved to the new house, I was a bit disorganized in terms of where the camera is, the data transfer cord is - not very streamlined as it was in my old house (though it was a smaller house, I still miss it!) where I could cook and post in minutes! Getting there in this house....hopefully soon.

To update on my whereabouts, after I cleared my thesis proposal last summer I managed to take a 6 weeks break from work and visit family in India. One would think by 6 weeks, I would be waiting to be back here - no, it was the opposite! Even though I have a great bunch of friends and work is just rocking with an awesome group of colleagues (you guys rock!), there is always such a vacuum you feel leaving the place you grew up in. Since I went back after 5 years, the parting was such a miserable feeling - a feeling of anxiety as to when I will be back again - will LIFE take over again and I will come back after 5 years again (touchwood! no way!). Felt so homesick with R busy on endless workdays - went ahead and called over Maa. It was such a blessing that she could come over and we had an awesome 3 months of summer with her. She did have a harrowing experience flying with Air India (word of advice to anyone even thinking of using that @#@$ airline - ^%^ off!) which I will post about some other day.

Ofcourse with Maa visiting, will cooking new delicacies be far behind. I am one person who can eat potatoes for all the three meals of the day! ;) So here is one of potato recipes - it tastes best with small potatoes and based on your need - have it dry or as a gravy-based dish. Hope you like it!

 

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)



Potatoe - 8 small, boiled and cubed (horizontal cut, vertical cut and cut across half)
Onion - 1/2,chopped into long slices
Tomato - 2.5 medium ones, chopped
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1.5 tbsp
Dry red chilli - 3
Bay leaves - 3
Green chilli - 4-5 whole, if anyone wants to crush it while eating for added hot taste
Onion-Ginger-Garlic paste - 3 tbsp (optional)
Coriander (Dhaniya) powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp or as per taste

Cooking steps:

Heat oil. Add fennel seeds and let it splutter.
Add dry red chilli and bay leaves.
As it roasts, add the sliced onions.
When onion becomes transparent, add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and let it cook.
As the raw smell is gone, add the chopped tomatoes and let it cook. Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the sides of the utensil.
Add green chilli, turmeric, salt, coriander powder.
As the oil starts separating, add the boiled and chopped potatoes. Cook for a few minutes so that the potatoe is well-coated with the spice mixture. Add water, about a cup, and let it boil.

Note - If you want to have it dry, add a few tbsps of water and let it evaporate. Green peas can also be added for a different taste.

It can be garnished with fresh coriander leaves. However, we had it without the garnish and it was just awesome.

Serve with roti\paratha\puri\luchi!

While growing up, this used to be one of my favorite dishes for breakfast and/or dinner. Yes, I was a kid who liked only two vegetables, if they count as veggies - potatoe and cucumber! :) Simple soul food for me...

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