PIYAZI (A TRADITIONAL ODISHA SNACK )

Evening comes, and a mother gets tensed over snacks that needs to be  made for the children returning from games or a swim. Children have ever been fussy; but with an over active media displaying varieties of snacks children expect similar or comparable snacks .  Sandwich , maggie, pasta , pakoda have been easy options for a mother.

In Odisha ,we have a variety of snack items to choose from like upama, pakoda, chaat, dahi vada ,mudhi ,chuda upma, piyazi and the list goes on. I had made piyazi for my children and they liked it. Therefore I thought of sharing this easy ,simple and tasty recipe with my viewers. Hope you all will enjoy it, but remember to exercise and stay fit !

Here is how I made it.

Ingredients -

Channa dal-1 cup
Ginger/garlic paste-2 tea spoon
Green chillies- 3( Chopped )
Onion- 2 small ( Sliced )
Soda - A pinch
Salt - To taste
Oil-For deep frying

Method-

Soak channa dal for 5 to 6 hours.Grind the channa dal into a coarse paste . Keep aside, add salt to taste, ginger /garlic paste, onion and green chillies. Add a pinch of soda and mix. Keep aside for 10 minutes . Heat oil in a fry pan or kadhai . Take a portion of the channa dal mixture and drop it in oil. Cook the piyazis in low flame. Turn it over and let it cook from both sides. Serve it hot with a sauce of your choice...

P.S -In case the batter is a little watery, add one table spoon of besan (gram flour) . 

HANDI SABJEE ( VEGETABLES COOKED IN HEAVY-BOTTOM PAN )

Firstly let me thank all my viewers who have appreciated my blog and made my efforts worthwhile in reading my page. Today I have joined the bloggers' league having more than 10k viewership. Thanks for being with me through this journey of mine.....Thank you once again. Happy cooking and stay fit !


Coming to my next recipe now ......

Weekends and it's usually something special. Particularly when you have two children, demand for variety of food increases . :) )

I have been thinking about writing on selection of menus on a daily basis. It sometimes becomes quite a bit of work, when you don't understand what to make for a meal . Anyways, as usual, it was a lazy Sunday . I had made rice and dal. I was listening to music. All of a sudden the phone rang ....My sister and her husband were coming to our place .

I rushed to the fridge to check availability of vegetables. They are strict vegetarians, so only option was to make a vegetable dish . :)

I had a cauliflower, peas, capsicum, paneer (cottage cheese ) and spring onions. With these vegetables I had to make a mix vegetable item. 

This preparation consumes around 30 to 40 minutes . This dish requires a little more oil than usual and more masala .  The taste is awesome and it is worth spending the forty minutes !

You make this and tell me how it turned out to be. Happy cooking and enjoy ...

Ingredients-
Cauliflower florets -2 cups
Capsicum -1 cup (cut into cubes)
Spring onion-2 cups (Chopped)
Peas -1/2 cup
Paneer- 200 gms
Onion-1 small (Chopped )
Salt -To taste
Haladi (Turmeric ) powder- 1 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Oil- 3 tablespoon
Cloves-3
Cinnamon stick (Dal chini)- 1
Whole cumin seeds-2 teaspoon

For the paste masala -( Grind into a fine paste in a grinder)
Onion- 1 large (Chopped )
Garlic-4-5 pods( Chopped)
Ginger -1 inch (Chopped)
Tomatoes-2 large (Chopped)
Green chilli-2 (Chopped )

Method -

Heat oil in a handi (heavy bottom pan), add cloves , jeera and  cinnamon stick . Add chopped onion and saute for a few minutes till they change their color to brown .Add the ground paste and saute till oil separates from the masala. Add the cauliflower florets , peas ,spring onion . Add salt to taste ,haladi powder and mix well. Cover the lid and let it cook on low flame with its own juice for 5 minutes . (In between mix the gravy so that it does not burn from the bottom ). After the vegetables are half cooked add paneer . Saute for a minute so that the masala gels well with the paneer . Add 2 cups of water and again mix well . Cover the lid and let it cook till the gravy is thick enough . When you get the right consistency, add capsicum . Mix well. Cover the lid for a few seconds till the capsicum becomes a little soft . Switch off the stove and add garam masala .Mix well and serve hot.

You need to have it with rice or roti ,

P.S- While making this dish you need to ensure that all the vegetables are not cooked very soft .They should be a little crunchy. 

VEGETABLE STEW

Winter season and soup go hand in hand. It was a Saturday evening, very chilled and wet. We were watching the TV and no one wanted to do anything else. At 6 degrees  Celsius, you can't expect to run around the house. :) I have got a habit of usually cutting the vegetables for the day while the sun shines,  in the morning itself .

All off a sudden ,my younger one wanted to have something to eat . As it was already 5.30 pm ,I thought the dish should not be too heavy . I went to my work place and  took out the cut vegetables from the refrigerator and worked for a stew.

Ingredients -
Carrots 1 inch cubes- 2 medium
Potatoes 1 inch -    2 medium
Cauliflower -  1/4 small (cut into medium florets)
Onion-1 medium (sliced)
Green peas-1/2 cups
Beans 1 inch long - 7-8 pcs
bay leaf -1
Oil- 2 tablespoons
Refined flour (maida)- 1.5 tablespoons
Salt -To taste
Dalchini ( Cinnamon )- 1 piece
Black Pepper powder - To taste
Milk -    1/2 cup
Vegetable stalk -  2 cups

I switched on the stove ..(.and here is how I made it) -

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan .Add  the bay leave , dalchini and the sliced onion. Saute till the onions become translucent. Add carrot, potatoes, beans ,peas and cauliflower. Mix well. Saute for 2 minutes . Add refined flour , mix well. Add vegetable stalk and let it boil for 10 minutes or till the vegetables are done .Add milk, bring to boil and serve hot .

When It was done, I served it to my family .They were all so very happy ! This dish is a soup with vegetables , perfect for a winter evening . What do you all have to say about this  friends ???? ;)

 Happy cooking

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CHAWAL KHEER

Makar Sankranti is a Hindu festival celebrated in almost all parts of India. It is celebrated in Nepal as well. It is a harvest festival. As India is an agrarian economy, festivals related to agriculture play a very important role in our culture. It marks the transition of the sun into the zodiac sign of Capricorn on its celestial path. The day is also believed to mark the arrival of spring in India. It is celebrated all around India in different forms; but the essence still remains the same. India united in diversity, you may say .:)

• Andhra Pradesh and Telengana-  The festival of Sankranti is celebrated for a duration of 4 days. On this occasion, in every town and city, people play with kites and the sky can be seen filled with beautiful kites. Chakinalu is one of the most popular savory made during the occasion. 
• Assam-   It is celebrated as Bihu. Pitha ( rice cake ) is usually prepared to mark the occasion. 
• Gujarat-  Uttarayan is the term given to Makar Sankranti in the western state of India. Undiyon is prepared there. 
• Punjab-  The occasion is celebrated as Maghi. Khichidi and jaggery is consumed in this rich state of India.
• Odisha-  In my state, people prepare makar chaula. It is newly harvested uncooked rice soaked overnight. Jaggery, sesame, rasagolla, banana, apple, paneer are added to the uncooked rice. It is mixed well and offered to God.

To mark this festival at home, I prepared chawal ki kheer ( picture above). It is a very common sweet dish. As I had mentioned in my previous post,  this is a not a heavy Kheer ......., I have used only milk (low fat), rice and sugar. No ghee or oil has been used. Enjoy this tasty recipe and enjoy the harvest festival, friends! Happy Makar Sankranti to all !!!

Ingredients-

Cooked rice- 1 cup

Low fat milk- 3 cups
Sugar- 3 tbsp or to taste
Raisins- 1 tbsp ;for garnishing

Method-

In a heavy bottom pan, bring milk to boiling point. Simmer the flame; add cooked rice and lower the flame. Mix well. Let it simmer on low flame for 10 minutes or untill you get the right consistency. Keep stirring the kheer so that it does not get burnt at the bottom . Add sugar to taste and mix well. Cook till you get your desired thickness. Turn off the flame;  garnish with raisins. Serve chilled or as per your requirement. Happy cooking !

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EGGPLANT, TOMATO AND BOILED POTATO MASH ---- BAIGAN, TOMATO AND ALOO BHARTA :)

I wish a very happy new year to all my viewers ! Hope you all enjoyed the winter vacation to the hilt. I am sure you all must have indulged in cakes , chocolates and high calorie food :) .That's ok ....but now you should all resolve to have a healthy lifestyle and eat the right kind of food . Healthy food is  not always bland or tasteless . You need to know the way to cook it or make it in the right way. :) Even a simple carrot salad can  taste divine .

My new year resolution for 2015 is to eat healthy and share healthy recipes with my viewers. I made eggplant ,tomato and boiled potato mash a few days back.It tasted good and the best part was that not much of cooking is required to be done to prepare it.

Traditionally we make only the eggplant mash at home .I have added tomato and potato for that extra filling for the people planning to reduce weight in a healthy manner.In addition to a restricted diet ,exercise should also be done on a regular basis.

Now coming to my simple and tasty recipe.. of 2015. It took a while to decide which recipe I should post ,so that my viewers will make a healthy kick-start of the year....

This is a traditional dish from my state, Odisha.....:)

Ingredients ----
Eggplant -1 large( barbecued )
Tomatoes- 2 large (Barbecued)
Potatoes-1 large (Boiled)
Salt - To taste
Green chillies- 2 (Chopped finely)
Onion-1 medium (Chopped finely )
Mustard oil-2 table spoon
Coriander leaves- A few

Method-
Mash eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes nicely .Add salt to taste ,mustard oil,chopped onion ,chopped green chillies and coriander leaves. Mix well and serve with steamed rice and dal tadka !!!!\\

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