Masala Machha Bhaja.

                  I learned cooking this dish from my grandmom-in -law. She is an amazing cook. I relish her foods.  I tried this delicious fish fry and it came out to be too good. You can serve it as a starter to lunch or dinner or it can be eaten with rice or famous odia "pakhala".

ingredients:-
 4-5 slices of rohu fish (rohi machha).
1 medium onion cut into cubes.
2-3 cloves of garlic.
1/2 inch ginger slice.
1 tbsp besan / gram flour.
1tsp turmeric powder.
1 tsp chilli powder.
Oil for frying.
(I took mustard oil but you can take any cooking oil. )
Preparation:-
     Make a fine paste of the onion cubes, garlic and ginger in a food processor or grinder. Don't add water into it as the recipe require it to be dry. Clean and wash the fish. In a bowl take the fish ,put the onion ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt and besan or gram flour. Mix it well so that the masala will coat the fish slices.
         Put  a frying pan on flame. Add oil for frying. When the oil is smoking hot , sprinkle some salt in it to prevent spluttering of oil later on. Now fry the masala coated fish till its cooked throughly on a medium flame. Serve it with onion slices and lemon wedges. Nice and yummy traditional Odia dish is ready to eat.
Enjoy !

Gupchup or PaniPuri.

               Gupchup is very famous street food in Odisa. During our school and college days ,lunch or dinner used to be skipped  for this mouth watering snacks. After spending some quality years in Maharastra , my taste for gupchup is  now a mix of both the states flavour.  Here goes the recipe for the delicious gupchup from my kitchen.
Gupchup:




ingredients:
2 packet puris(available in any indian stores)
for the masala fill:
2 cups dried peas or chhole(garbanzo beans).
2 big potatoes.
for the pani
1 bunch mint leaves.
1 cup coriander leaves.
4-5 green chilli.(you can add more if u like)
1 tsp jalzeera powder.
1/2 tsp garam masala powder.
2-3 ambula( you can use tamarind as a substitute to the ambula. in that case take a small lemon size ball of tamarind. Soak in water for 4-5 hrs)
1 medium size onion finally chopped.
 2-3 green chilles cut into small pieces.
1 cup sev or bhujiya.
cilantro leaves finally chopped.


Preparation:-
             Soak the peas or chhole(as per your preference) for  4-5 hrs. Wash the potatoes cut into half's and pressure cook with the peas so that both r boiled but not over cooked.add on a little salt while pressure cooking .let it cool, peel the potatoes , take a knife and cut into small chunks, you can smash them if you like it that way.  Add the cooked peas or chhole, add on salt garam masala . Mix well and keep aside.
        Now we will make the pani for the gupchup. Grind the coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chillies in a mixier, with adding a ittlle water when required.  Make it to a fine paste. Take the soaked tamarind or ambula, squeeze it and mix it properly, add on more water(3-4 cups), take out the stones of ambula or the tamarind remnants  after taking out the juice. Add the green leafy paste to the water, jalzeera powder, salt. It tastes good if u chill it for some time. Or you can add crushed ice to it while eating.
      To serve first set up all the ingredients  puris, masala filling, bhujiya, sliced onion, green chillies , chopped cilantro leaves, and the pani  on a table within easy reach of everyone. Give small bowls to everyone you are serving . Take a puri , fill with a little aloo peas stuffing, onion, cilantro, bhujiya and lastly fill it with the pani and let it go in one gulp. Its really fun to eat this with friends.
    
    ( I  prefer  buying the puris, but if you want to make them in home too, u can do it by just going thru the following steps.
       take 500 gm semolina flour, 2 tbsp butter or oil, salt and adequate oil for deep frying.
mix the semolina flour , salt, and butter together.  Now add a little water time to time to make a smooth dough. cover the dough for 15 mins with a damp cloth. After 15 -20 mins divide the dough into equal parts and with the help of a rolling pin roll the dough, take a circullar cookie cutter(1/4'') and cut into small circles. Heat the oil in a deep pan and deep fry a few  small circles in the pan at a time. fry like you make puris. drain and keep on paper towels. You can store these for couple of days.)

"DALMA"The most delicious and famous of all odia recipe.

          Hey folks  sitting in a home with snow covered surrounding, when the mind flies thousand miles in a second( no mind fare for this…thanx to the govt.!) to my home, I just find myself sitting in my mothers kitchen and having some all time great foods. Isnt it true, we miss home when we miss the foods cooked there, isnt any good memory is associated with good food ? I know its true and every single mom is a great cook for their kids. and when this kids grown up to be big boys or gals,  moms kitchen means something more to them .
                       This recipe is from my mothers kitchen. She is an amazing cook. I learned to cook this odisha famous dish from her. When the aroma of this beautiful dish fills the home, my dil goes uuummm…..

DALMA:

ingredients:


   Tuvar dal/ arhar dal/harada dali -  3 palm full
   Chana dal - 2 palm full.
   Moong dal - 1 palm full.
   Ginger - 2 inch long.
  1 cup grated coconut.
  1 cup each of diced raw plantain(kancha kadali), raw papaya, radish, pumpkin, arbi(taro or      saru),spinach, tomato.(it will be great if u can get khamba aloo or mati alu (true yam).
 cilantro leaves finally chopped.
 1tbsp ghee.
 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds.
 5-6 dry red chilli.
 2 tbsp whole cumin seeds.
 1/2tsp turmeric powder.
 Salt.
(Take a fry pan, roast the whole cumin seeds and4-5 dry red chillies. Remove from heat and let it cool. After it cools properly , grind it in a mixture grinder to get the delicious roasted cumin and red chilli powder.  It can be added to any odia curry to enhance the flavour.)

 Preparation:
                      Take adequate amount of water in a pressure cooker, so that you can cook the dalma with it. Crush the ginger in a pastel. Put the pressure cooker on flame. Add the crushed ginger to it. Let it boil for few minutes. Mix all the dals in a bowl,wash it well and add that to the boiling ginger water in the pressure cooker. Let it boil for 4-5 mins. Add on the vegetables to that. Put salt and turmeric powder and cover the lid. Let it be cooked till 2 whistles in a medium flame.(everything should be cooked properly). Wait till the pressure goes off. Open the lid and stir it to see the consistency. Just don't make it very watery, it should be a bit thick.
               Take a deep pan on flame. Add on fenugreek seeds and 1-2 dry red chillies. Wait till you can smell the beautiful aroma of the methi seeds, add the ghee now. Stir it for 1 min, and finally add the boiled dalma to it. Be careful while giving this tadka as it can spill. Mix the grated coconut with it. garnish with cilantro leaves and serve it with hot rice with lemon and ghee. It goes well with tomato khatta and any bhaja. You can try it with paratha too. yumm , nutritious protein rich food is ready to be eaten.
  happy cooking friends !  

ILISHI MACHHA.

    There is a saying in Odia "Chakiri kariba polici, machha khaiba ilishi". Ilishi machha is known to be the king of fish in Odisa. The ilishi lives in sea and travels 50-100 kms to the river for spawning, where its generally caught. The taste is very different from the  taste of other fishes. As it is considered to be a very oily fish, a little oil is required while cooking. In my home my father used to cook this with a lot of green chillies. The final outcome from the kitchen looked so beautiful and tempting that you will be hungry with having a look on it. And the funny thing about this fish is the aroma tells for itself. I like to prepare ilishi this way by steaming it with  mustard paste and coconut.

ILISHI SORISHA BATA:


ingredients:
4-5 pieces of ilishi
1 tbsp mustard seeds.
vinegar to soak the mustard seeds.
3-4 green chillies.
1 tbsp garted coconut.
2 tsp mustard oil,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
chopped cilantro leaves.

Preparation:
      Soak the mustard seeds with vinegar to reduce the pungent taste. Soak it for 1-2 hours. In a food processor make a paste of the mustard seeds, green chilles, half the grated coconut and a little salt. make a fine paste with adding a little water as required. Take a bowl, smear some oil to grease it. In a bowl mix the mustard paste, mustard oil, the remaining grated coconut, turmeric powder, salt properly. Put the fishes into the previously greased bowl and smear on the mustard mix.  Cover the pan with an aluminium foil and let it be cooked in a microwave for 10 - 12 mins. After its cooked and cooled garnish with cilantro leaves and serve hot with steamed rice. Add on green chillies to enhance the taste. Just be careful while eating as it is full with tiny thin bones. Enjoy.