Whats Cooking!!!!

In a typical Oriya wedding feast there are always veg and non-veg menus, even though people focus a lot on what they are going to serve in the non-veg part of the menu, vegetarian is not neglected. Paneer is a popular part of the it, but depending on the season there is always a choice between Potala/Parwal Rasa and Gobi/Cauliflower rasedar.  I guess the last elaborate wedding feast I ate was my own. Of course there was my brother-in-laws wedding but as it was in Bangalore so the feast was more inclined towards south Indian menu. It's been 3 years to that and  I have been craving a feast for a long time, so prepared the one item I could pick from the feast, rasedar aloo gobi. Ingredients: Gobi: 1 large cut into florets Aloo: 1 large cut into 8 pieces Onion:1 medium finely chopped Ginger Garlic Paste: 2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder: 1/2tbsp Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 tsp Tomato: 1 large Finely chopped Whipping Cream: 1/4 cup W

I was desperately looking for an easy and different vegetarian appetizer for the Christmas party when I saw the add for Pillsbury croissant rolls and different things you can prepare using the frozen rolls. So I decided to prepare the confetti pinwheels.  Ingredients: Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls: 1can (8 oz)    refrigerated seamless dough sheet Nacho cheese dip:  1/4 cup Finely chopped red bell pepper :  1/3 cup   Finely chopped green bell pepper :  1/3 cup   Chopped green onions:  1/3 cup   Procedure: Heat oven to 350°F. Unroll dough; separate into 4 rectangles and place it on a cold baking sheet. Firmly press perforations to seal.  As the heat from your fingers would start meting the butter in the dough, refrigerate it for easy handling. After 10 mins remove it from the refrigerator. Spread cheese dip over each rectangle to within 1/4 inch of edges. Sprinkle with bell peppers and onions. Starting with one short side, roll up each rectangle; pres

What is a holiday celebration without a beautiful cocktail. This is what I prepared for my annual Christmas party this year. It was a great hit with all my friends. Ingredients: Pomegranate Juice: 1 bottle POM Mint Leaves: handfull Sugar: 2 tbsp Club soda: As required Liquor : Tequila / Vodka as per your preference  Procedure: In a punch bowl mudle the mint leaves with 1 tbsp of sugar. Add the pomegranate juice to the bowl and cover and let it sit for couple of ours. You can adjust the amount of juice by the number of servings. Its 1/2 the number servings you are preparing. I used about 3 - 4 martini glasses of POM. When ready to serve add ice cubes to the punch bowl and stir well. Use rest of the sugar to coat the rim of the serving glass before serving. Add same amount of vodka or tequila to the punch bowl and mix well. Adjust the amount of alcohol as per your preference. Fill 3/4th  of the sugar rimed glass with the cocktail and fill it up w

Holidays are here and what tastes better than a warm chocolate chip cookie with a warm cup of hot coco. So here is my take on chocolate chip cookie. Ingredients: all-purpose flour:1/4 cups  baking soda:1 teaspoon  salt:1 teaspoon  butter, softened:1 cup (2 sticks)  granulated sugar:3/4 cup  packed brown sugar:3/4 cup  1 teaspoon vanilla extract eggs:2 large   NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels: 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Procedure: Preheat the oven to 375° F. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely and enjoy. This can turn out to b

Sitting at home waiting for Tanmaya to get home I looked outside the window and it was so windy and cold. I thought why not prepare something warm and cozy for Tanamya when he comes back and what can be tastier than a warm bowl of atte ka halwa. Its sweet and warm and fits perfectly into the holiday season. Ingredients: Atta: 1 cup Milk: 2 cups Sugar: 1/2 cup Ghee: 3/4 cup Chopped Dry fruits: 1 tbsp Cardamon: Crushed 1 tsp Saffron: 1 pinch Procedure: In a pan melt ghee and add wheat flour and roast till nice aroma starts to release and ghee starts to release from flour. Add dry fruits and cook for another min or two. In the meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl heat 2 cups of milk till its warm and add the saffron to the milk and mix well. This will turn the milk into a beautiful saffron color. Add the saffron milk little at a time and mixing continuously in order to avoid any lumps and all the milk cook till it gets absorbed with flour. Add sugar mix well and

Poee is a popular green relished in Orissa, also known as red spinach or malabar spinach. There are different ways to prepare  it. The most popular is cooking it with fish. I had a hard time finding it in the bay area, mostly because I didn't know its english name  and also like any other vegetable the variety found here is very different in appearance than compared to what we get back home. After a lot of research online and going through a loads of Asian cooking sites I came to know that It has always been there in all the South Asian grocery stores, I just didn't know :) So finally here I am with one of my favorite fish dishes. Ingredients: Maccha munda : 1  Fish : 2 pieces ( mostly tail is used, but other pieces are fine) Pumpkin : cut into cubes about 1/2 cup Eggplant: 1 medium cut into cubes  poee: 3-4 stems  Potato: 1 medium cut into cubes Tomato: 1 medium Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tbsp Onion: 1 medium finely chopped cinnamon stick: 1 inch cardamo

Tanmaya is the only one at out home who loves to eat a banana every day and when he left for his business trip last week, I had a bunch of ripe bananas sitting on my counter looking at me. I like eating bananas but not everyday and they overripe so fast. So I wanted to bake something. But I didn't want to eat the same plain banana bread.  So here I decided to make a chocolate version of the banana bread. Ingredients: Chocolate Cake mix: 1 package  Banana: 2 medium sized over ripe Milk: 1/2cup Refined Oil: 1/2 cup Vanilla extract: 1 1/2 tsp Coke: 1/4 cup Procedure: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.  Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a bread pan.  Set aside.  In another large bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, coke and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the cake  mix and stir, or whisk, until combined. You will notice that the batter is quite thin. Pour the batter

Couple of weeks back, me and Tanmaya visited a restaurant "Bengali Sweets". This was my first visit and I assumed that it would be a place with loads of sweet    from West Bengal, but to my surprise it was more than just a sweet shop, it has a very small menu of very delicious food. What we had was a veggie wrap and sabz handi and it was amazing.  Since that day I have been planning to make this recipe and finally I prepared it for my friends on Diwali. Kadhai sabji a traditional Punjabi dish with a nice blend of spices giving that unique flavor, even though I could not match the taste of the restaurant but it was quiet good. So here is my version. Ingredients: Cauliflower florets - 1 cup Peas - 1/2 cup Carrots/Beans - chopped - 1 cup total Capsicum - chopped into squares - 1/2 cup Onion - 1 medium - chopped into squared petals Onion - 1 medium - chopped finely Tomato Puree - 1/2 cup (I make them fresh - boil 2 medium tomatoes for 5 mins, cool and peel the skin

Jalapeño  Poppers are stuffed jalapeño fitters. The origin is unclear, but they are most likely an Americanized version of the classic Mexican dish, chile relleno. There are extensive variations using ground meat, mushrooms, bacon, or crab, and cooking methods such as baking or grilling. Because I prepared it for the Diwali party I wanted to keep it all vegetarian. So here is my version of vegan jalapeño poppers. Ingredients: Jalapeño: 16 whole Potato: 1 large Boiled Feta cheese: 1/4 cup Butter: 2 tbsp Spring Onion: Finely chopped ( Only the green part) Salt: as per taste (just remember the feta is a salty cheese) Pepper: as per taste Bread Crumbs: 1/2 cup All Purpose flour: 1/4 cup Water: 1/4 cup Procedure: Wearing plastic gloves, slit the jalapeño peppers in the middle with paring knife. Carefully remove seeds and white membrane. Leave the stem attached. Peel and grate the boiled potato into a bowl. To the shredded potato add the feta cheese, butter, salt and p

It is a popular sweet prepared in the kitchen of the Jagannath Temple of Puri daily for being served as prasad. I  this as a part of prasad for Diwali puja this year. Ingredients: Maida : 2 cups Pure ghee : 1/2 cups Sugar : 1 1/2 cup Water: 1 1/2 cup oil: for frying  Salt to taste  Procedure: Make a paste of ghee and flour by mixing half a cup of ghee with equal quantity of flour. Keep this paste aside.  Add a pinch of salt and three teaspoon of ghee to the remaining flour.  Mix thoroughly till its done. To know that the flour is ready take  a handful of the flour and close your fist tightly. When you open your fist the flour should hold the shape. T hen add water slowly to make a stiff dough and not a watery one. Knead it further till the dough gets smoothened.  Roll the dough into a rectangular shape with the thicknes of a chpati (roti).  Then spread the ghee+flour paste evenly over the rectangular surface.  Now roll the rectangular dough from one s

When I think about what diwali meant to me as a kid, the things that I can think of are loads of lights, crackers, beautiful rangoli, at that time it was just something that would come in our way when we would be running around the house, and yah the variety of food laid out on the table starting from variety of sweets, snacks , chaats, the list goes on. The funny part was my mom would spend the whole day  preparing stuff that she would end up sending to our neighbors and in return they would get us there version of the same food. I was never a huge fan of this tradition as all the delicious things my mom would  have prepared would be gone and we would end of other peoples food and as a kid I was very particular about whose kitchen the food came food. You won't belive this but till this day I really don't like kheer prepared by anybody other than my mom or me not even my mom-in-law !!!!! Now that I have my own family and friends I realize its important to start your o

Diwali, the festival of lights, is arround the corner and I bet everybody is wondering what to do different this year. I thought why not try and post some of the dishes that are popular during this festive season. You can pick your favourite one and prepare for diwali and serve it at your own party or take it as a favor to people you visit. So her is my first post "the Jalebi". Ingredients: Maida/All purpose flour: 1 cup Corn Flour: 2 tblsp Thick Curd: 3/4 cup(approximately) Cooking soda : 1 pinch Ghee: 2 tblsp Yellow food color : a  pinch Oil for deep frying Sugar Syrup Sugar: 1 cup Water: 1 cup Lemon juice: 1 tsp Procedure: Mix maida,corn flour, cooking soda,ghee and yellow food colour in a bowl. Add curd and make a thick batter by adding more water.  Consistency should be like vada batter.  Keep it in a warm place for 12 hours/overnight or until it ferments well. Next day mix well with a ladle. It should be a sticky thick batter of droppi

Sambar is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and Thuvar Dal/ Split Pegion Pea, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India, especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Each state in South India prepares it with a typical variation, adapted to its taste and environment. Even every family makes it differently. Here is my mom's recipe which we all love and relish. Ingredients: Thuvar Dal/ Split Pegion Pea: 1/2 cup Channa Dal: 1/4 cup Potato: 1 medium cut into cubes Okra: 4 medium cut into half Indian Eggplant: 2 slit into 4 with the steam attached Drumstick: 5-6 frozen thawed Sambar onion: 8 whole peeled green chillli: 2 whole Curry Leaves: 1 strand Mustard Seed: 1 tsp Red dry chilli: 2 whole Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Sambar powder: 1tbsp Tamarind: size of a lemon Water:  4 cup Salt: as per taste Oil: 1 tsp Procedure: Soak the tamarind in some warm water. In a pressure cooker boil T

Jhal Muri is a very popular snack in Orissa and Bengal. Muri is popularly known as puffed rice, murmura or mudi. Its the Oriya version of bhel. Ingredients: Muri(Puffed Rice): 2 cups Garlic: 2 pods grated Oil: 1 tbsp Peanuts: handful Potato: 1 medium boiled and cut into cubes. Onion: 1 small finely chopped green chilli: 2 finely chopped Tomato: 1 medium finely chopped ( remove the core and seeds) Coriander Leaves:2 tbsp finely chopped  Sev: 1/4 cup Red chilli Powder: 1 tsp Mixer: 1/4 cup Turmeric Powder: 1 pinch Salt: a pinch Procedure: In a kadhai heat the oil. Add the peanuts to the oil and fry for 2-4 mins. Remove the peanuts from the oil and strain on a paper towel. Add the grated garlic to the oil and cook till the garlic turns golden brown. Strain the garlic from the oil. By this we flavored the oil with garlic. Add a pinch of turmeric powder to the oil and wait for min or till the raw smell of the turmeric is gone. Add the muri to the oil and mix well

Aloo chop is a very popular tea time snack in Orissa. It is also known aloo bonda or vatata bada in other states of India. Every household and shop has different  recipe for this. I am going to share the one that my mom makes and we love it. Ingredients: Potato: 2 medium boiled Onion: 1 medium finely chopped ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp Green Chilli: 2 finely chopped Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Peanuts: handful Coriander leaves: 1tbsp finely chopped Salt as per taste Batter: Besan: 1/2 cup Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp Red chilli Powder: 1/2tsp salt as per taste water: about a cup Oil for deep frying Procedure: Dry roast the peanuts. If using peanuts with skin remove it after roasting. Peal and mash the boiled potatoes. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook till it turns translucent then add ginger, garlic and chopped green chilies and fry until the raw smell goes off (3-4 minutes) Add the salt and turmeric powder. Add

This is a very common part of Oriya meal. It is enjoyed with pakhala along with other side dishes like saag and aloo bharta. Ingredients: Pumpkin: 1 cup thinly sliced ( I prefer mine with the skin but you can peel it) Pacha Phutana: 1 tsp Sugar: 1 pinch Salt: as per taste Garlic pod: 2 crushed Whole red chili:1 Oil: 1 tsp Procedure: In a pan heat oil. Add the pacha phutana and red chilli. As the phutan stops spluttering add the pupkin slices, salt, sugar and crushed garlic. Sauté it and cover and cook till the pumpkin is cooked through. Remove the lid and saute till the pumkin pieces turn a little crispy. It would be about 4-5 mins. Remove from heat and serve with rice, dal or pakhala or even roti or paratha and enjoy. Enjoy this dish and do let me know. Till then happy blogging. Rakhee 

As promised here is a pumpkin recipe from Orissa.  Ingredients: Shrimp- 1/2 pound Pumpkin(Kakharu) - 1 pound Phutana- 1 teaspoon  Garlic - 6 cloves Turmeric - 2 teaspoon  Salt: As per taste green chillis- 2  Dry red chillis - 2 Tamarind paste - 1 teaspoon  Oil Procedure: Peel shrimp and wash well. Marinate with salt and 1 teaspoon turmeric. Cut kakharu into thin long (1 inch) pieces. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. When hot, add kakharu and 1 teaspoon turmeric and salt. Cook covered for 5 mins under medium flame. Then add the shrimp to the kakharu and cook them together till kakharu is soft. Take off the stove. Crush 2 cloves of garlic and set aside. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil, add phutana, dry red chillis and crushed garlic. When they start to brown, add kakharu and shrimp to it. Cook on high flame. Add tamarind paste and stir well. Crush rest of the garlic with chopped green chilli and add to the kakharu. Stir well for 2 more minutes and take it off the s

Its October and here comes the season of dressed up children screaming in the haunted houses, pumpkin patches, jack-o-lanterns  and witches flying on doors and windows. The shopping malls flooded with halloween costumes and new fall collections. Holidays knocking on the doors. One thing that you get in abundance during this time is Pumpkins, so why not use it to the fullest. There are many Oriya recipe that use pumpkin like santula, dalma, kahakaru bhaja and more.  But I decided to start with a  sweet recipe the pumpkin bread. Ingredients: all-purpose flour:1 2/3 cups   baking powder:1/2 tsp  baking soda:1 tsp  salt:1/2 tsp  ground cinnamon: 1/2 tsp ground ginger: 1/2 tsp ground cloves: 1/4 tsp unsalted butter:1/2 cup, room temperature granulated white sugar: 1 cup  pure vanilla extract: 1 tsp eggs: 2 large  canned pumpkin puree: 1 cup  orange juice: 1/4 cup  Procedure: In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt,

Season of mangos is almost over and I so gonna miss this delicious fruit. We mostly buy it from costco as they are always good and fresh. This time I Tanmaya got a different variety of mango, Keitt Mango. The Keitt is round and very fat and is the largest of the Florida mangoes, running from two to three pounds. Its green skin may or may not have a touch of red. Because it has less color and less aroma than the Hayden, Kent, or Tommy Atkins, people often pass it by because they think it's not ripe when it actually is. Although it's not quite as fragrant or sweet as other varieties, the Keitt has a full flavor, tart and lemony, and a smooth, fiber-free flesh. Even though this mango was really delicious but there were too many and I wanted to finish them before they start rotting, so I decided to make amba khatta out of it. Its kind of a chutney but it is cooked. Ingredients: Keitt Mango: 1  Curry Leaves: 1 strand Green Chilli: 2 slit in the middle Sugar:

The unripe green papaya can be eaten cooked, usually in curries, salads, and stews. Green papaya is used in Southeast Asian cooking, both raw and cooked.  Papaya fruit is a rich source of nutrients such as provitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, B vitamins, lycopene, dietary minerals and dietary fibre.  Back at my mom's place we had a big garden where she used to grow all types of vegetables, Papaya, Banana, Tomato, green chillies and the list go on and on. If you have ever grown a papaya you know its like never ending fruits and there is always so much you can eat. Mostly my Mom would pick them before they are ripe and use them in santula or dalma. Here I am sharing the santula recipe that uses green papaya. Ingredients: Papaya: 1 medium cut in small cubes Potato: 1 small cut into cubes. Cumin seeds: 1tsp Green Chilli: 1-2 cut length wise. Tomato: 1 small cut into cubes. Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Roasted cumin and red cilli Powder: 1 tsp (Look for the recipe in t

Raita is a important part of Indian meal, there are so many ways to incorporate raita as a part of your meal. Dahi wali Bidhi is another variation to the same. Ingredients: Bhindi(Okra): 6-8 medium sizes . Dahi: 1cup Water: 1/2cup Curry Leaves: 4-5 Mustard Seeds: 1tsp Oil: 1tsp Oil for deep frying Salt as per taste Sugar: 1 pinch Procedure: Wash and pat dry the bhindi. Cut each into 4-5 pieces. Sprinkle salt on the bhindi and let it sit for 5 mins. In the mean while heat oil for deep frying. Deep fry the bhindi till cooked through. Remove from oil and let the extra oil drain out. In a bowl bite the curd into till its smooth and water, salt as per taste(keep in mind eggplant has salt in it which will infuse into curd after some time) and sugar and mix it. In a pan heat 2 tbsp of oil and add mustard seeds. As they stop cracking add green chili, curry leaves and crushed garlic. Fry till garlic is golden. Add this to the bowl of curd and mix. Add the fried bhindi

This is a variation of stuffed dum aloo and its speciality is that it is cooked without any onion or garlic. I prepared this dish as a part of my Ganesh Puja special dinner. Ingredients: Baby Potatoes: 1/2 a pound or 2 large potatoes cut into half Paneer: 1/4 cup grated Cashew nuts: 1 tbsp finely chopped Sugar: 1 tsp Curd: 1tbsp Green Chilli: 1 finely chopped Green Chillies: 2 whole Poppy Seeds(posto/khuskhus): 1tbsp Oil : 1tbsp Oil for deep frying Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbsp (adjust as per taste) Coriander leaves: finely chopped 1 tbsp Coriander leaves: for garnish Slat as per taste. Procedure: Soak the poppy seeds and cashew nuts foe 15 mins and make a fine paste of it. Wash, Peel and scoop the potatoes. Deep fry both the scooped and trimmed part of the potatoes in oil. Once cooked through remove from oil and place then on kitchen roll to remove all the excess oil. Mash up the trimmed potato parts alone with the paneer. Add