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Dalma is a medley of lentil and vegetables from Orissa. Privously I have posted the recipe for mooga dalma, which uses moong dal. Today is a typical dalma, I would be using arhar/toor dal, but you can also use channa dal for the recipe. Ingredients: Arhar Dal: 1cup Potao: 1 medium cut into chunks Pumpkin: 1/2 cup cut into chunks Eggplant: 1/2 a medium sized cut into chunks Peas: 1/2 cup Carrot: 1 large cut into chunks Radish: 1 large cut into chunks Ginger: 1/2 inch grated Asafetida: a pinch Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Tomato: 1 medium sliced salt to taste For Tempering: Whole red chilli: 2 Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Oil: 1 tbsp Ghee: 1tbsp For flavor: Cumin Seeds: 4 tbsp Whole Dry Red Chilli: 10 Procedure: Wash and soak the dal for 15-20 mins In the mean while dry roast the 4 tbsp cumin seeds and 10 whole red chilli. Let it cool down and then make a fine powder out of it. We would actually need just 1 -2 tbsp of this powder but you can store it in a air...

Bindi or as most of you know as Okra is known in many English speaking countries as Lady's finger or gumbo. It is a popular health food due to high level of fiber, vitamin C and folate. Like any other vegetable there are many different ways to prepare bindi. Bindi do pyaza is a very popular dish prepared in restaurants. Ingredients: Bindi/Okra: 1/2 pound Onion: 1 large Sliced Tomato: 1 large sliced Ginger: 1/2 inch crushed Garlic: 4 cloves minced Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp Salt as per taste Coriander Powder: 1/2 tbsp Cumin Powder: 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder: 1tsp Oil: 1 tbsp Oil for deep frying Procedure: Wash and cut the bindi into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Heat oil for deep frying. Fry the bindi in small batches for 2-4 minutes or till cooked through. FInish frying all the bindi pieces. Add 1tsp of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp salt to the fried bindi and mix well and keep it aside. In a pan heat 1tbsp of oil. Add minced garl...

Baingani (Eggplant Fitters) is a very popular tea time snack in Orissa and West Bengal. It is not only really yummy but can also be prepared in a jiffy. It requires very few ingredients and you don't need to plan in advance. Ingredients: Eggplant: 1 large cut into 1/2 inch thick circles Besan: 1/4 cup Water: as required for batter Salt as per taste. red chilli powder: 1 tsp Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Asafetida: a pinch  Oil for deep frying Procedure: Take the eggplant slices in a bowl and add turmeric powder and about 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well and let it sit for about 4-5mins. In another bowl mix began, salt, red chilli powder and asafetida powder. Make a pancake like batter by adding water. Heat oil in a  pan till it slightly hotter than medium heat but not smoking hot. Dip the marinated egg plant slices in the bater one at a time let it be coated nicely from all sides. Fry the batter coated eggplant slices in the oil till it turn nice golden brown...

Kichdi is such a simple, quick, delicious and healthy meal to enjoy. I call it a meal rather than a dish just  because it has all in one, the rice, dal, veggies, the taste everything. You really don't  need a side with it but if you have time you can always make a side or just serve it with little pickle. Ingredients: Basmati Rice: 1/2 cup Moong Dal: 1/2 cup Onion: 1 small thinly sliced ( you can skip onion if making this for a pooja) Green chilli: 1-2 slit in the middle Potato: 1 medium cut into cubes Carrot: 1 medium cut into cubes Green Peas: 1/2 cup  Cauliflower: 4-5 large florets cut into smaller florets Tomato: 1 medium cut into chunls Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp Salt: as per taste Sugar: 1 tsp Asafetida: 1tsp Oil: 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves: for garnish Ghee: 1/2 tbsp( adjust as per your taste) Procedure: Soak rice and dal together for 10-15 mins In a pressure cooker heat oil. Add the asafetida powder to the oil. Add onion and cook till ...

Cuttack is popular for many things like its silver filigree works with intricate interwoven wires, its screwed up drainage system, narrow and busy lanes, overly crowded Badambadi bus stop and a huge list of delicious culinary delights. Among the culinary delights unique to the Millenium City, none compare the famed Dahi Bara  and Aludum, a spicy concoction of three basic dishes i.e., dahibara, ghuguni and aludum. As promised I would describe how to assemble this amazing mouth watering dish. Ingredients: (this would make on serving) Dahi Vada : 2 per plate along with 2-4 tbsp of the dahi ( adjust as per your preference) Aloo Dum : 4 tbsp Ghuguni : 2 tbsp Black Salt: a pinch Onion: finelly chopped 1 tbsp Green Chilli: 1 finely chopped   thin Sev: a handful Coriander Leaves: 1/2 tsp finely chopped Procedure: In a bowl place the dahi vada, add rest ingredients in the order mentioned in the ingredients list and enjoy. The recipe for dahi vada, aloo ...

It was Tanmaya's birthday last week and like every year I made him a home made cake.  He is not a huge fan of chocolate cakes but I am so I had to find a middle ground. So I decided to try my hands on a black forest cake which is chocolaty but not too much and luck was a great hit with Tanmaya and all my friends. I fond this amazing website " Joy Of Baking " by Stephanie Jaworski that has amazing recipes for who love baking.  I picked up the recipe for black forest cake from her webpage and was successful. Even though my cake was not as perfect as hers but it was really yummy of a first timer :) For the recipe please click on  Black Forest Cake  . Doesn't my cake look beautiful!!! Do remember on tiny thing..... shave the chocolate little thicker so that they don't blow away when the birthday boys blows the candles, and spread all over your table and carpet!!! I hope you follow the recipe from Joy of Baking and many other beautiful recipes and let me...

Ghuguni is a famous dish from eastern states of India. It is made of dried yellow or white peas and is enjoyed both as a snack and main course. It serves as a great side for dishes like upma, poori, vada, bhaji and is also used as the base for chaat in Orissa.  Its very easy to prepare and is a versatile dish, that can be enjoyed in different ways. Ingredients: Dry white/yellow peas: 1 cup ( Soaked for 4 hrs) Potato: 1 medium. Onion: 1 medium finely chopped Ginger garlic paste: 2 tbsp Red chilli Powder: 1 tbsp Turmeric: 2 tsp Coriander powder: 1/2 tbsp Cumin Powder: 1/4 tbsp Whole Cumin: 1/2 tbsp Pancha Photan: 1 tbsp Dry Red chilli: 2 broken into small pieces Green Chilli: 2 chopped Tomato: 1 large finely chopped Sugar: 1/2 tbsp Oil: 2tbsp Coriander leaves: finely chopped 2 tbsp Procedure: In a pressure cooker cook the soaked peas and potato till the peas are cooked through but not mushy, that would take 1 whistle and let the pressure release on it...

Janhi is what is popularly known as ridge gourd. Janhi rai is a popular vegetarian preparation is Orissa. This is prepared in a poppy seed gravy and really delicious Ingredients:  Ridge gourd:1 large, cut into large chunks potato: 1 medium cut into chunks onion: 1 small, finely chopped red chillis: 2 garlic : 2 Cloves poppy seeds:1 tsp coriander seeds:1/4 tsp fennel seeds: 1/4 tsp Turmeric : 1 pinch cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp salt: as per taste oil : 3 tsp Procedure: Make a coarse paste of poppy seeds and garlic with little water. Heat a pan. Add 1 tsp oil followed by the ridge gourd & potato pieces.  Sprinkle some turmeric and stir for 4-5 mins. Remove from pan and keep aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan.  Add the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds along with the broken red chillis. As all the whole spices stop spluttering, add the chopped onion and cook till it turns translucent. Add the poppy seeds paste. Cook for 2-3 mins. Add the fried r...

Chicken tikka masala is a dish of roasted chicken tikka in a spicy sauce. The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured. Chicken tikka masala has been found to be the most popular dish in British restaurants and it has been called "a true British national dish". Ingredients: Marinade: Chicken: 4 breast piece cut into bit size chunks Curd: 1 cup Lemon Juice: 1tbsp Cumin Powder: 2 tsp Cinnamon Powder: 1 tsp Chilli Powder: 2 tbsp Slat: 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 tbsp Sauce: Green Chilli: 2 finely chopped Garlic: 8-10 minced Cumin Powder: 1 tbsp Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Tomato: 1 large finely chopped Cream: 1 cup Slat : as per taste Oil: 1 tsp Butter: 1/4 stick Procedure: Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and let it soak in for 20 mins. In the meanwhile heat the grill to high. Thread in the chicken chunks of chicken into skewers. Grill the chicken chunks for 5 mins till it gets little chared ...

Samosa is a popular Indian snacks. It is a fried or baked pastry filled with savory filling such as potato, onion, peas or chicken.  Ingredients: Dough: all purpose flour: 1/2 cup  sooji: 1/2 tbsp salt: 1/4 tsp oil: 1 1/2 tbsp lukewarm water: 1/4 cup Filling: potatoes: 2 large boiled peeled and chopped into very small cubes Onion: 1 small finely chopped cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp Asafetida : 1 pinch Green chilies: 2 finely chopped coriander powder: 1tsp garam masala: 1/4tsp Red Chilli Powder: 1tsp Chat Masala: 1/4tsp salt: 1 tsp oil: 2 tbsp green peas: 1/2 cup  Oil for deep frying the samosa Procedure: Dough: Mix the flour, sooji, salt, oil and salt together. Knead the flour without water till the oil is nicely absorbed into it. 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. Now knead the flour with adding little water at a ti...

Channa pindi is a Punjabi style preparation of chickpeas. It tastes really wonderful with poori, paratha, naan or even with chapati Ingredients: Chickpeas: 1 cup soaked in water for 6 hours Water: 1cup Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp Cardamon: 2 Cinnamon: 1/2 inch stick Cloves: 4 Coriander powder: 2 tbsp pepper powder: 2 tbsp garam masala powder: 2 tsp Amchur Powder: 1 1/2 tsp Green chilli: 2-4 slit in between ginger: 1 inch cut into thin slices Salt : 1 tbsp Oil: 2 tbsp Ghee: 1/2 tbsp Onion: 1 medium thinly sliced Lemon: 2 wedges for garnish. Procedure: In a pan dry roast the cumin seeds and make a fine powder out of it. In a pressure cooker add  water, 1/4 tbsp salt, cardamons, cinnamon and cloves.  Close the cooker and bring it to full pressure on high heat, then reduce the heat and cook for 5 mins Remve the cooker from and let it cool naturally Once all the pressure is released, open the cooker and drain off the water and save it for use lat...

When Sahajahan saw Kashmir for the first time he said "Agar swarg hai to yehi hai ye hai yehi hai" which means he called Kashmir the Paradise on earth. I felt the same way when I for the first time taste Nutella, if there is heaven and it has food there then Nutella must be one of them. Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread and it is heavenly. If you have never tried this then you are missing out on a lot. Its quiet hot and any fried snacks is really not our list of snacks for the day. Mostly its something chilled like lassi, lemonades or shakes. So I decided to try nutella in on of my shakes and turned out amazing. So here goes the secret to Heavens chilled beverage ;) Ingredients: Milk: 2 cups  Nutellla: 2 heaped tbsp ( increase the quanitiy if you want your shake to be sweeter) Cinnamon Powder: 1 pinch Ice: 6-8 cubes Whipping cream (optional) Procedure: In a saucepan heat 1cup of milk , nutella and cinnamon powder string continuously till the nu...

Orissa is famous for its sweets made of chenna and one of the very popular and yummy dishes is chenna kheeri. Its basically Kheer but instead of rice we use chenna.  Chenna is home made panner and is very soft and moist as compared to store bought paneer. You can easily make chenna at home, for that please read my post for Rasagulla Chenna kheeri is becoming a very popular dessert in Oriya weddings and other parties and hope fully next time I visit India somebody gets married and invites me to the party for sure make some chenna kheeri :) Ingredients: Chenna: 1/2 Cup Milk: 5 cups Ghee: 1 tsp Sugar: 1 cup (Increase or reduce as per your taste) Cardamon: 2 Crushed Sliced Almonds: for garnish. Procedure: In a pan  dry roast the drained chenna till all the extra water dries up and a grainy texture is achieved.  Remove from heat. In a deep pot heat milk and bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let the milk seamer with sugar and crushed cardamon till it i...

As promised here I am with the recipe for egg curry or as we say anda aloo jhola. Ingredients: Eggs: 4 boiled Potato: 1 large cut into 4-6 pieces Tomato: 1 medium finely chopped Onion: 1 medium finely chopped Ginger Garlic paste: 2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder: 1 tbsp Cumin Powder: 1/2 tbsp Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp Cinnamon Stick: 1/2 inch Whole cardamon : 4 Salt: as per taste Sugar: a pinch Bay Leaf:1 Oil: 3 tsp Procedure: In a pan heat 1 tsp of oil. Fry the potato chunks till slightly golden all sides. Peel the boiled eggs and sprinkle a pinch of turmeric powder on them, mix well and fry in the same pan as potatoes till slightly golden all over. Remove form heat at keep aside. In a deep kadhai or pan heat rest of the oil and add a pinch of sugar. As the sugar starts to caramelize add the bay leaf and chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook till onion turn golden brown. Add red chilli powder and cook till the raw smell is gone. Add ...

I planned on making a lot of dished for this 4th July week but unfortunately was stuck up with loads of studies and work so could not execute the plan. So this is the last and 5th recipe for m 4th July cooking spree. A pot pie is a term for a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape. An American pot pie typically has a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green beans and peas).  The distinction between a pot pie and other types of savoury pie is specific to the United States of America.  There are so many recipes available on the internet for this popular American dish, but I decided to go with this one that I found on the Bisquick website as they are mini and can the serving would be very easy when entertaining a big group of people. Ingredients: Chicken Mixture  vegetable oil: 1 tablespoon  boneles...

Mashed potatoes goes great with grilled chicken, fish or veggies. I and love to replace or rice with mashed potatoes if there is an option in the restaurants menu.  So every time I bake fish I always serve in on a bed of mashed potatoes and with a side of veggies, trying to get a balanced meal here :) So here is another recipe for mashed potato. This is my 4th entry for the 4th of july. Ingredients Potatoes: 2-3 pounds peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks garlic: 4 cloves peeled water Salt: 1 teaspoon  unsalted butter: 3 tablespoons (42 g)  plain yogur: 1 cup (240 ml)  Parmesan cheese: 1/4 cup (25 g) grated  fresh thyme:1 sprig leaves removed fresh parsley:2 sprigs chopped sage:3 leaves fresh chopped paprika: 1/4 teaspoon  Procedure: Preheat the oven to 350° F/175° C. In the 3-quart pot, cover the potatoes and garlic with water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are fork tender. Drain. Stir the...