Sanjib’s Bhendi Badi Sorisa Rai

Ingredients:

250gms Bheendi (Okra/Ladiesfinger), 100gms Biri Badi (dried lentil dumplings), 2 tsp Mustard seeds, 2 tsp Cumin, 1 Onion, 1 Garlic, 3 Green chillies, 3 pieces Ambula (dried mango pieces), Salt

How to make:

Prepare a paste of mustard seeds, cumin, onion, garlic & green chillies. Soak Ambula pieces beforehand in water for an hour. Fry the bheendi and badi separately till badi turns slightly brownish. Then add the paste with bheendi, badi and add 1 glass of water to it along with ambula. Add salt to taste. Cook for about 15 mins. Bhendi badi ambula sorisha rai is ready.

Sanjib

Rumi’s Pakhala Extravaganza

Pakhala (Water Rice)

Ingredients:

Well cooked rice, Mustard oil, Raw mango (green), Ginger (sliced), Mustard seeds, Chopped chilli pieces, Curry leaves, Coriander leaves, Curd

How to make:

Bring cooked rice to room temperature, wash properly with cold water…keep aside…on a pan put mustard oil, amba kassi (raw green mango pieces), chopped ginger, mustard, chopped chilli, curry leaves, dhania leaves…temper it and then add to the water+rice…finally add curd

Side Dish (Simba Rai Chuna Machha)

Ingredients:

Chuna Maccha (Small fish/Smelt fish in U.S.), Brinjal, Potato, Jackfruit, Simba (Flat beans or Lima beans), Pancha Puthana (roughly — fennel seed, black mustard seed, nigella seed, cumin, fenugreek), Oil, Onion, Garlic, Turmeric powder, Cumin seeds, Coriander powder, mustard paste/mustard sauce, Mustard oil, Cinnamon powder, Fried Badi (dried lentil dumplings)

How to make:

Take vegetables like brinjal, potato, jackfruit, simba….cut into small pieces…take a pan…put oil, panch phutana, chopped onion and garlic….fry it, add turmeric powder, cumin and coriander powder, saute it, add veggies…cover it…after 6 to 7 minutes open the lid add mustard paste and 2 spoon of mustard sauce (kasundi)…little water, add fried chunna fish. Mix well, add cinnamon powder and mustard oil on top of it with some fried badi…

Side Dish (Amba Thenta)

Ingredients:

Small raw mango pieces, sugar, salt, green chilli, mustard oil

How to make:

Take raw mango pieces, sugar, salt, green chilli…and few drops of mustard oil…and crush it in hemma dasta (mortar pestle)…do not  make a paste

Rumi

Sanjib’s Bhakura Maccha with Mati Alu

Ingredients:

Catla Fish: 500gm

Salt, Turmeric, Mustard oil, Mustard seeds, Onion, Cumin, Garlic, Green chilli, Drum stick, 1/2 Tomatoes, 3-4 Dried mango pieces (ambula)  & Yam

How to make:

Cut sized pieces from 2.5-3kg catla fish and clean them

Marinate the fish pieces with salt, turmeric & mustard oil. Keep for 1/2 hour

Fry fish pieces in pan with mustard oil

Separately prepare paste of dry cumin seeds, mustard seeds, onion, garlic and green chillies (Masala Paste)

Separately fry drum stick pieces and cut yam pieces

Fry the masala paste with cut tomatoes. Keep stirring till the oil gets totally absorbed by the masala paste

Add water to the paste and put the friend fish pieces into it

Add 3-4 dried mango pieces and simmer for about 20 mins

Ready to serve…

Sanjib

 

Archana’s Vegan Muffins

Ingredients

Ripe Bananas: 2, if small, then 3/4

Any Oil:  Half cup (I used Rice bran oil)

Vanilla essence: 2 TSP

Lemon juice: 2 TSP

Self raising flour : 2& 1/2 cups

(Or if Maida is used then 1/2 TSP baking soda and powder each)

Sugar: 3/4 cup (I used brown sugar)

Coconut milk: 1 cup

Salt: 1 TSP

Some cashew nuts and Pistachio (optional).  If not available no worries

How to make

First mash the bananas

Then put oil, sugar

Add vanilla essence and lemon juice

Mix them well

Keep aside

In another bowl mix  Maida, baking soda, baking powder and salt

Add coconut milk. Keep mixing.

You can use a hand blender or just put everything in a blender. Justice is made to them anyway 

 Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius

 Now in the muffin tray put the  muffin cups and put the batter. Keep some space. Don’t fill it otherwise it will overflow once cooked

On top put cashew and Pistachio nuts

Put it in the oven. Check after 15 minutes. Take out and  change the side of the tray and again check with a fork after 15 minutes. If it’s ready then the fork will come clean.

Your Vegan Banana Muffins is ready..

Archana

Jyoti’s Andhra Drumstick Curry & Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

Preparation time: 15 min, Cooking time: 10 mins

Drumstick curry:

500 gms drumsticks (peeled n cut into 2/3 inches)
Sesame seeds (til).about 3 big table spoons
Fresh Coconut(grated) abt 3 big table spoons
Whole red chillies 1 or 2 (according to taste)

For seasoning (tadka)
2  teaspoons oil
Rai or mustard
Urad dal (split black gram), a pinch of asofoetida (hing)
Some fresh curry leaves, salt to taste

Tomato chutney:

Fresh  juicy tomatoes 250  gms, oil, Asofoetida, Methi seeds (fenugreek)
Red chilli  powder

How to make

Drumstick curry

Boil the drumsticks in about 4 big cups of water with salt n haldi and keep it aside. do not throw away the water as this will form the base of the gravy.
Meanwhile soak the sesame and chillies (broken into two) for about 15 mins.add the grated coconut and grind to a fine paste.
Heat a kadai (frying pan) .Add oil, on heating add the rai, urad dal and hing. When the rai splutters and urad is golden brown, add the curry leaves .
Now add  the drumsticks into the kadai along with the water (all the while cooking on a medium flame).
Add the sesame  paste and let it cook on high flame for about 1 min. Lower the flame n cook until the required consistency is achieved.
Make sure you do not overcook as sesame turns sour on doing so.

Tomato Chutney

Boil the tomatoes with salt,  make a puree and keep aside.
Dry roast methi seeds (on slow fire they ‘ll assume a beautiful pecan brown colour)
Heat oil -about a big table spoon
Add hing. Let it change colour.
Turn off gas and add red chilli powder to the hing n oil (to the hot oil to get off the raw taste)
Mix it with the blended tomato puree
Add the methi powder in the end.
Rest the chutney for a while before serving for the flavours to blend well

Serve with hot steam rice n sesame oil

Sai Jyoti

Rumi’s Dab Chingri (Prawn in tender coconut)

Ingredients:

Prawns, mustard oil, mustard paste, coconut paste, coconut milk, cream, turmeric, tomatoes, green chillies (slit into two), raisins, cashews, salt to taste, onion, pancha phutan (cumin, fenugreek, mustard, onion seed, fennel), dough

How to make:

Clean  and de-thread the prawn …mix mustard oil,mustard paste,coconut paste,coconut milk and cream,turmeric,tomato,green chilli (slits),raisin,cashew

Temper with five spices and onion….mix well…pour the mixture of prawn all Masala and add salt into the coconut and cover it and pack it with dough and put it in the Microwave until golden brown

Rumi

Sanjib’s Kancha Sorisa Bhakura

Ingredients:

Bhakura Fish (Catla) : 500 gms

Turmeric (Haldi), Salt

Mustard Paste: 50 gms mustard + garlic 15 cloves + onions 2 + Jeera (cumin) 4 teaspoons

Mustard Oil

Green chillies – 7/8

Chilli Powder – 1 spoon

How to make:

Take 500 gms bhakura macha (medium cut pieces). Wash it and marinate with haldi (turmeric) and namak (salt) as per taste. Make mustard paste of 50 gms with 15 cloves of garlic,  2 onions and 4 spoons of Jeera (cumin). Now take a kadai (frying pan)  and put it on gas. Put 5 to 6 spoons of mustard oil and add the paste. Add 2 to 3  glasses of water and start boiling it. After 2 to 3 mins add the fish into the kadai. Add salt as per taste. Add 7 to 8 green chillies cut into 2 halves and 1 spoon of chilli powder. Boil it till 30 mins till the paste is half dry. Now the dish (Raw mustard Bhakura fish curry) is ready

Sanjib

 

Chenapoda from Middle-Earth

A dessert unique to Odisha, made in the magical kitchens of “Middle-Earth”- New Zealand

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It is one of my most favorite sweet dish. I just love to eat chenapoda as much as I can. Once it was in 2010 I think I ate half kilo at a time in few minutes
I always miss. Though this is second time I made but it was delicious.

We can make either with home-made chena/cheese or with ricotta cheese. I tried mixing both to make it softer .  Or I can say I was experimenting. So here you go….

Ingredients

Milk _ 3 litres
Ricotta cheese _ 250 gms
Sugar _ 1/2 cup raw sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar.
Here I’ll say it depends how much sweetness you want. People here in New Zealand don’t like too sweet so I am putting less sugar. You can put half a cup more.
Semolina _ 1/2 cup
Chena (cheese) water_ one cup
Vinegar _ 3 – 4 tb spoon
Baking powder _ 1 tsp
Cardamom powder _ 1 tsp
Cashew nuts & raisins _ few pieces (optional)
Ghee (clarified butter)_ 2 tsp

How to make

Bring the milk to boiling temperature. When it starts boiling add vinegar, little by little. Reduce the gas flame/temperature to minimum. When the milk starts curdling then switch off the gas.
Separate the chena from the milk. Keep the chena under running water for few seconds. Keep some chena water to use for the batter.
Mash the chena nicely. Add the ricotta cheese, semolina, sugar and mix them nicely, till it becomes soft. Slowly add the chena water if the batter is thick.
Finally add baking powder and a little ghee and give a final touch. Mix it well
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.

Grease the container with oil. Cut a baking paper according to the size of the container and grease that too. Put in the container. Now put the batter in the container. Put some cashew nuts and raisins on top and keep in the preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes.

Chenapoda is ready

Keep for a while. Let it cool down. Then
Cut it in pieces and serve to your friends… I am sure they will love it….
I too love it.

Archana

Vijay Bhaijaan’s “Lord of the Wings” Biryani

Ingredients

There are four major constituting blocks of any classy Biriyani.

1) Rice: 1 kg Dawat Biriyani Basmati rice

2) Chicken curry: 2 Kg large pieces, Everest Shahi Biriyani Masala, Turmeric powder, Red chilli powder, jira powder, salt, 4 to 5 table spoon curd, 3 big onions sliced, 75 gms ginger garlic paste, 4 table spoon refined oil

3) Fried Onion: 4 big onions finely sliced, pudina leaves, 50 gms mix of  cashew, resins and Cherrys, 2 table spoon desi ghee, salt and sugar

4) Milk: Milk of one grated coconut, few strands of saffron

How to make

Soak the grated coconut in one bowl of water for half an hour. Collect or filter milk from the bowl and mix the saffron strands in the milk as prepared above and keep this mix aside.

Mount a clean pan on to the gas stove for preparing the onion fry. Light the gas stove and maintain it at lower flame. Heat ghee in the pan. Put onion and saute it for some time then put pudina leaves and the dry fruits mix, 1 tea spoon sugar and salt to taste. Saute the mix to golden brown. Keep the onion fry aside.

Heat oil in pressure cooker and put all the ingredients of chicken curry except chicken and saute it till the oil starts leaving the sides of the pressure cooker. Put chicken and saute it again so that the ingredients get mixed properly with chicken and the raw smell of chicken goes off. Add water maybe about 4 cups so that it forms a very thick gravy. Pressure cook till the chicken gets cooked. Ensure that the chicken does not get over cooked else the pieces will get broken. Keep the curry aside.

Soak the rice for half an hour in water. Cook the rice till it is 3/4th cooked. Drain out the extra water from the rice container. Keep it aside.

Prepare biryani:

Take a thick and flat bottomed vessel. Spread 1/3rd of the chicken curry in the vessel to form the base layer, spread 1/3rd of rice on top of the chicken as the next layer. Repeat these layers two more times in the same fashion. Spread the previously prepared coconut milk and saffron on the top most layer, Spread the fried onion prepared previously to form the top most layer.  Spread on the sides, 4 to 5 tea spoons of desi ghee. Seal the lid with wheat flour dough. Mount a tavaa on the gas stove and put this vessel on top of the tavaa. Simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Garma garam Vijay bhaijjan’s ‘Lord of the Wings’ biryani is ready to be served

Ananta

Boura Kadali Bara

It’s my mom’s recipe which she can cook to perfection under any circumstances

Ingredients

Primary and Necessary – Lots of love and an image of the happy faces of your family members savouring the baras

Secondary ingredients

2 Raw Bananas (green) peeled and boiled. Ideally choose small variants if available as they make softer baras
1 medium sized potato  – peeled and boiled
1 medium sized onion – finely chopped
2-3 green chillies  – finely chopped
Some fresh coriander – finely chopped
Half tea spoonful of Sugar
Ginger –  half inch finely grated
Salt to taste
Oil for frying..use sunflower /canola/soya/rice bran/olive
A pinch of garam masala and finely chopped cashews  – optional..they just add that mughlai twist.

You can make roughly 10 baras with the above quantity

How to make

The simple process to dish out the yummylicious golden patties of love…

Mash together the boiled banana and potatoes to a squishy paste. Use your beautiful hands..Ask your kids to join the squishing process if they are around. Mix together all other ingredients in the paste. Form small balls and then pat them flat to make small patties.

Heat oil in a Kadai or any flat based utensil in your kitchen.  Go for your  favourite…it just adds to the love.
Shallow fry the patties, flipping them over once they become golden brown on both sides.
Serve hot as you like it with love…
You could just eat them out of the Kadai as a jaldi snack..or as an accompaniment with steaming rice and dal, or with paranthas and curd.

And yes if you find any left..use them..as layered patties in your burger..with some green chutney or any sauce . They taste yummy anyways.

Savour the melt in mouth..”BOURA Kadali BARA”

Elina