Piyaji - Onion fritters

Ingredients 

Onion - 2 Large, chopped into thin slices
Besan / Gram flour - 2 cups
Ginger - 1 tbsp
Green Chilli - 2-3 or as per heat preference, chopped into tiny pieces
Ajwain - 1/2 tsp - this aids digestion
Turmeric Powder - a pinch for color
Baking soda - 1/8 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Water - to make the Besan batter


Canola oil - for deep frying

Cooking method

Mix all the ingredients except the Canola oil together. First try to mix without adding water. Add a tbsp of water at a time till you get the right consistency - it should not be runny at all so that you an hold small portions of the batter in hand and drop in the hot oil. Add the baking soda (Eno can also be used instead) during the last few folds of the batter.

Heat oil in a wide-mouth heavy-bottom container.

Put a drop of the batter in the oil and wait till the drop rises to the top. Then the oil is warm enough to put small portions of the batter to make the fritters.

We have it as an evening snack or as a side item for main-course. Love some fresh-chopped Onions with Tomato Ketchup\Green Chilli Sauce or some fresh Green Chillies. A dash of Rock salt makes it tangy!

Crumbled Tilapia for Pakhala

Ingredients

Tilapia fillet - 2 (You can use any other fish for that matter! Tilapia is convenient since I don't have to debone it myself.)
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp, or as per taste
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Fish Masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method

Marinade the fillets with the above.
Keep aside for about 15-20 mins.
In a few tbsps of oil, fry the fillets on one side. Let it fully cook and turn golden brown before turning it over.
Cook the other side.

Crumble the fish with some chopped Onions and fresh Coriander leaves.

I loved it as a dish for Pakhala (traditional Odiya food usually had in summer - the blog post for this is here). We had this with Aloo Bhaja (Potato fry) and Baigana Bhaja (Brinjal fry). Beat the heat with some of this! :)

Spicy Mutton Curry - a Sunday tradition relooked

Ingredients

Mutton (Baby Goat) - 2 lbs

Marinade ingredients:

Greek Yogurt - 3-4 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tbsp to marinade + 1 tsp during cooking
Salt - to marinade and cook, as per taste
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp, or as per taste

Marinade the Mutton with the marinading ingredients. Keep aside for approx. 30 mins.

Cooking ingredient:

(2 medium Onion + 1 inch ginger + 5 cloves Garlic + 1 green Chilli) fine paste - Use 16-20 tbsps of this paste

Canola oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard oil - just a dash, for flavor
Dry Bay Leaf - 2-3
Sugar - a pinch to caramelize
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 big pieces
Shan Meat Curry Masala (Spice) - 3-4 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Potato - 5 small, chopped into halves
Water - 3-4 cups

Cooking method:


Heat Canola oil.
As it warms, add  Dry Bay Leaf, Sugar, Cumin seed and Cinnamon. Let the spices sizzle to flavor the oil and the sugar caramelize to impart the gorgeous golden color to the dish.
Add the Onion\Ginger\Garlic\Tomato paste. Mix well. Keep stirring intermittently for even cooking.
As the paste is half-cooked, add Mustard oil - just a dash, for flavor.
Add Shan Meat Curry Masala and mix well.
Add the marinated Mutton and mix well. Let it sit for 2-3 mins before stirring again. This is the most intensive part of this dish. You do develop a few of the hand muscles by cooking this dish. The Mutton slowly starts absorbing the rich flavors of the spices and changes color as it is being cooked.
Add Coriander Powder and Garam Masala as the Mutton is half cooked.
Continue stirring and cooking.
As the oil separates, add small Potatoes chopped into halves. Mix it with the Mutton.
Add Water and mix well.
If you are cooking in another vessel, time to move the dish to the Pressure cooker.
Put the lid on the Pressure cooker and cook till it is about to give the first whistle. Since we get baby Goats, they do not take too long to cook. If you are using older Goats, it will take more time to cook and more whistles in the Pressure cooker.
Let the lid open by itself. Don't force open the lib by flowing cold water on the lid, etc.
If the dish is thin in consistency, heat the dish and let it thicken, if required.

The meat will release fat, so you are more likely to see a layer of fat on top when you open the Pressure cooker lid. One thing to note is that cooking Mutton is labor and time-intensive. It takes about an hour to cook this properly. However, for Mutton-lovers, this is a one-pot meal with plain rice - so cooking actually gets easier per-meal-wise. In Odiya gatherings, people like it so much that they won't even hesitate to ask the host "Mutton acchi na?" (Is Mutton a part of the menu? :) ). I have even seen people not participate in picnics and outings just because their much coveted meat was not a part of the menu - this is a little too extreme, I suggest therapy for these people! :p

Personally, I was never a big fan of Mutton till I got married and started cooking. R loves Mutton and can have it for all three meals of the day, not that he should be allowed to! :) It is always amazing to see his content look when we have this in the menu. Thanks to him - I have an "acquired" taste for this meat after all these years. The other dish that I make well with Mutton is the Biryani - will definitely share it here someday. I make it once too often, but never remember to take a pic. Someday!

Enjoy this favorite Sunday lunch item of Odiya households with Rice \ Naan \ whatever suits you. Have a great day!

Another Mutton curry recipe is here.

Switzerland trip with buddy - June 2012

Day 1 :

Flight was on-time. I had two friendly well-behaved teenagers as co-passengers who kept the flying experience going with their witty comments. A little prelude to the upcoming few days with my dear friend from undergrad days and as her husband often comments "you guys giggle a lot but leave no stone unturned in pulling each other's legs".

Air France magazine cover - temple and priest of Karnataka

With a little bit of drama at the Paris airport where I had my connection to Geneva in 2 hrs but which miraculously appeared too short, I made it just in time. Everything is so "far" off in CDG, Paris! If someone can take my suggestion, they need a flight from one terminal to the next! ;) The Paris to Geneva flight company was a newly wed couple who kept smiling all through the trip! :) Finally, reached Geneva at 9AM.

A little jet-lagged coz no matter how tired I am, flying acts like caffeine for me and I am a wide-eyed owl through the trip! I make the exit and lo-and-behold, my friend is waiting there for me. I was seeing her after a good gap of 2.5 yrs! She is like a sister to me - so even though in the current age, 2.5 yrs is not that long a gap to meet anyone, this was quite long for me. We wanted to do this with a few of my other sister-friends (just coined this term - my copyright now! ;) ) but that did not work out - we will do some other place with them sometime soon! :)

Back to Geneva, we both immediately got chittering-chattering with no concern of where we are. There was so much to catch up on! Immediately we hit the SBB CH (Switzerland Railways) counter with our numerous questions - one thing that hit me immediately was that the lady in the counter was so relaxed, patiently answering our questions and no display of expression to shoo us away as soon as possible and move on to the next-in-line which is so visible in most US service counters (don't get me wrong - US service counters are also very helpful but the hurried and stressed look is very prevalent). She explained to us our options and when we explained our itinerary to her, she gave us the best deal and included the 15% discount they have ongoing when two people travel together without our asking for it. When I remembered and asked her if it was included, she graciously clarified that it was already provided for.


We took the 8 day Swiss-pass which includes all the trains except the special ones like Jungfrau and Glacier express (you have to pay reservation for these but your Swiss pass does get you a discount) With the rail tickets out of the way, we were hungry! We hit the Tea Shop right next to the SBB counter and had one of the best pizza and hot sandwich there - with some friendly banter as condiments! :)

New place and since we were not sure how far and convenient it will be to reach our resort, instead of going around Geneva tagging the luggage, we decided to head towards the resort. After the breakfast (or dinner - whatever you want to call - my body-clock was all messed up anyways) we ran and caught the first train towards the resort.

The refreshing views of Geneva lake with the mountains in the background and the number of weekenders enjoying the sun and the water is exhilarating. I felt a surge of excitement that shooed away my jetlag for some time. The clear blue waters with the long lines of old-time houses and vineries lining the mountain from Lausanne to Montreux is quite a sight. It was reassuring that we are in the right place for a vacation.

We reach Martigny and go looking for the bus stop. A helpful gentleman not too well-conversant in English directed us towards the bus stop sign. In our excitement to reach the resort, we troubled the driver of the standing bus. It took some time for us to understand that he was leaving for lunch break and then the same bus will leave for our destination! We surely must have taken up 5 mins of his lunch time - wonder if he understood when we apologized! People are really nice there - did not hear anyone yell or show their displeasure all through our trip - this dawned the realization on me that for a given place's tourism to grow, it is not just the government's initiative and push but the people themselves should reciprocate as well.


The bus ride from Martigny to Leytron was equally fun-filled! I was just immersed in the greenery and lovely scenery - everything looked like a picture postcard! It all felt so peaceful as well. Luckily there was a scrolldown monitor in the bus that showed the next upcoming 4-5 stops so you knew when exactly to expect your stop.  There is a small red button available for each seat so as your stop is highlighted in the monitor, you press the button and the bus will stop there.

Right across the Leytron Bus Stop - Ovronnaz is in the left mountain

We had about an hour-long stop in Leytron before the next bus to our resort in Ovronnaz which is up in the mountains and you can see it from Leytron actually. I had the grand idea of walking down one of those days - no time for that since as you will soon read, we got ourselves a tight plan once we got down to planning our trips for the rest of the vacation! :) We continued our friendly banter while waiting half-realizing that this bus stop will remain an integral part of our trip! No matter where we go, we will spend a few mins here in the morning as well as evening...and ofcourse, God forbid if we miss our last connection from here to our resort! :) I named it our "hub" while my friend had serious doubts on my understanding of what a hub actually was! ;)

View during the bus ride from Leytron to Ovronnaz

We met a friendly lady in the bus stop and she told us more about the area and Ovronnaz. She helped us when we reached the Ovronnaz stop for our resort while we were ready to step down at the very next bus stop that would come up! :D Many thanks to her for getting two jet-lagged tired souls into the comforts of their resort...

View during the bus ride from Leytron to Ovronnaz - Grape vines adorn!

Checkin was done in a jiffy..we realized very few people speak English in the resort and in the coming days, I could almost hear the heartbeats fasten as they would see us approaching them with our "English" questions! :) But the staff was more than helpful - they were such sweethearts! Language is no barrier if you have the right intentions..hope you are nodding! :)

So we hit the room next - it was a spacious room for four with a huge personal balcony with awesome views of the mountains. And yes, there was a kitchen...cooking can be a chore in normal days, but I love it during vacations! Love the challenge to make up something quick with limited resources - treat it as my "ingredients basket" challenge that is a part of most of the current cooking competition shows! ;)

View from our room in the resort

So we again go chit-chatting and somewhat unpacking and exchanging the thoughtful gifts we had both carried half-way across the world..:) When my friend was laughing at my bulging luggage, I could not help laughing only to realize she would more than compensate to keep the bulge! Hmmmp..loved the gifts..her mom had so thoughtfully sent different types of home-made Murruku..it was very difficult to not finish it off but with Aunty's standing orders to take them for R, we played nice and did not finish it off as much! :) I should add here that Aunty is one of the best cook I have ever met - when I used to visit her in Chennai, she would stuff us with such wonderful delicacies - she is amazing!

Beautiful houses of Ovronnaz

After sometime, we both decide to go for a short hike since night falls only at 10pm up there! It was nice walking around there watching the other vacationers - we also found a COOP closeby and bought some of the stuff we needed for our stay. We felt so elated when on our way back, we could help another vacationer find COOP - we were home! :)

COOP and Migros are the prime grocery stores that you can find almost anywhere in Switzerland.

Items in the COOP Store - wanted to bring them all!

Fried Maggi for my buddy!

For fond memories sake of college and the importance of Maggi in keeping us alive through those years ;), I had carried a Maggie packet with me! Crazy, isn't it? ;) Using some canned veggies, we doled out a delicious Fried Maggi dinner for the two of us similar to the recipe here.

With some frenzied "homework" involving iPad, pen, paper, brochures planning out the next two days! We were up till 11pm planning it out - can you believe it? We just don't know how to take it easy is what I feel at times! BUT it was fun...can't wait to share the rest of the days with ya all!

Day 1 - Geneva to Resort in Ovronnaz, Valais

Day 2 - Trummelbach Falls and Isenfluh, Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken
Day 3 - Jungfrau and Grindelwald
Day 4 - Basel and Bern
Day 5 - Lucerne, Golden Pass Tour through Zweissimen, Saanen, Gstaad, Montbovon, Montreux
Day 6 - Zermatt and Glacier Express to Andermatt
Day 7 - Back to Geneva and home

Day 1 Travel was primarily this:

View Larger Map

R's "Chipotle" Rice with Shrimp and Onion BBQ

This is another easy Rice recipe from my kitchen. R is a big fan of the Chipotle Rice and this was our attempt at trying to replicate the same flavors. It was bang-on and we have it every so often these days.


Ingredients

Cooked Rice - 2-3 cups
Butter - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves - few sprigs as per your preference
Salt - as per taste
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Method

Heat the Butter.
Add the cooked Rice and toss it well to mix the Butter with the Rice.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Keep it covered for a few mins for the flavors to be absorbed by the Rice.

Enjoy this easy-peasy Rice dish! Have a great July 4th, everyone!

July 4th celebrations are incomplete without some barbecue for accompaniment. Fireworks are as much synonymous with July 4th as is sharing barbecue (BBQ) with friends in our house. Bring on the camaraderie!

For the Onion slice shown in the pic, I just cut thick slices of large onions and slather them with some Worcestershire sauce. Grill them in high heat while keeping a close watch to not over-burn them. I like to get the stripes on the Onion slices and have them as side dish with other main BBQ items.

An hour or two before you grill the 15 Shrimp, marinade them with 1 inch Ginger paste, 5 Garlic cloves paste, 2-3 tbsp Shan Bihari Kabab Masala (increase or decrease as per your heat preference - this spice mix is deceptively quite hot! I love it!) and 1 tbsp Lime juice. When the Shrimp is well marinated, grill them by cooking them one side and then turning over to cook the other side. I love eating these with Green Coriander Chutney and the above Onion slices.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Hi All -

Have a great 4th of July with barbecue, friends and fireworks (don't miss any of it!)! Our neighborhood had the celebrations last week - presenting an video from that. We had a great time with our dear friends which was an early start to the jubiliations and hope the same for you. Their two dogs gave us immense joy and company through the evening - I am sure they would have personally preferred to avoid the fireworks. Enjoy the rest of the summer ...


Our menu for the evening included Australian lamb with Indian seasonings, home-made Garlic bread (bread was store-bought though! ;)), grilled Asparagaus and Sweet Bell Peppers. And of course, mashed Potatoes - a grill menu looks incomplete without some carbs from Potatoes! :) What was your menu? Would love to hear more.

Australian Lamb with Tandoori and Chicken Tikka BBQ Masala, Coriander Powder, Ginger-Garlic and a spoon of Yogurt to act as tenderizer. Bake at 350 degrees F till the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F. Keep it covered in foil for another 10-15 mins to complete the cooking process.

Tender Asparagaus - my latest favorite veggie for grilling

Garlic bread - bake the bread with butter and tiny pieces of chopped Garlic for 5 mins at 400 degrees F and broil for a minute. Remove immediately and serve.

Stay Healthy with these Frugal Foods

A healthy diet is an important investment in your health. Junk food may be cheap right now, but it will end up costing you much more than what you spent in future health problems. Eating healthy doesn’t mean breaking the bank, though. There are lots of resources to find grocery discounts, and plenty of inexpensive, nutrient-rich foods for you to incorporate into your diet.

Proteins

Most people get the majority of their protein from meat, but there are less expensive options you can try as substitutes to reduce costs!

• Beans are overlooked as a protein source. They’re cheap, versatile, simple to cook, and easily bought and stored in bulk. To save money and energy, cook beans in a thermos instead of on the stove for hours.
• Tofu is also an inexpensive protein-rich food. Since tofu acts like a sponge and soaks up the flavors of whatever it is cooked with (provided you press out some of the water first), it is easily incorporated into many dishes.

Fruits & Vegetables

Fresh produce can often be what is stacking up your grocery bill- and what you’re getting rid of when cleaning out your fridge.

• The cheapest fruits available are also some of the most classic: apples and bananas. These are great fruits to eat by themselves, put in cereal or oatmeal, and both taste fantastic with peanut butter.
• Watermelon is also cheap and is a great way to hydrate during the summer.
• To avoid throwing away bad food, buy frozen vegetables instead. Kale and spinach are supremely healthy leafy greens that don’t cost much per serving.

Grains and Starches

Oats and brown rice are excellent, healthy options that you can buy in bulk for a great price. However, it can be confusing what to buy to benefit your health.

• When shopping for bread and pasta, go for whole grain options; they are healthier and cost about the same.
• One of the cheapest and easiest starches is, of course, the potato. They can be baked, sautéed, mashed, and go with a variety of foods. Better yet, they are very frugal and they will keep for months if stored in a cool, dry place.

Liquids

Bottled water is costly and detrimental to the environment, and bottled water companies get their water from the same sources as your tap.

• To save lots of money, drink from your tap instead. If you don’t like the taste, try a water filter. A $7 filter will purify 40 gallons of water.
• Drink more water. It’s cheaper and healthier than sodas and sugary juices.

It’s important to invest in your health since you only get one body. However, doing so won’t break the bank if you keep these tips in mind.