Masala Baigan

Ingredients

1. Small Brinjal: 8-10
2. Onions: 3-4
3. Ginger: 20 grams.
4. Tomatoes: 2
5. Garam Masala: 1 tablespoon
6. Dhania (coriander) powder: 1/2 tablespoon
7. Dhania seeds: 10-12
8. Mustard seeds (rai): 1/2 teaspoon
9. Cumin seeds (Jeera): 1/2 teaspoon
10. Chana Dal: 1 teaspoon
11. Urad Dal: 1 teaspoon
12. Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon
13. Red chilly powder: 1/2 tablespoon
14. Oil: 3-4 tablespoon
15. Salt: to taste

Method

Step 1: Wash and cut the Brinjal from the centre into two parts without taking out and cutting the tail. Keep them aside.
Step 2: Chop onions, ginger and tomato separately.
Step 3: Take a pan and heat up the oil in it then add mustard seeds, Jeera and Dhania seeds to it.
Step 4: When mustard and Jeera starts popping add Chana Dal and Urad Dal, after around one minute add onions and ginger.
Step 5: Cook it till the onions starts to turn transparent.
Step 6: Now add red chilly powder, turmeric and mix and then put chopped tomatoes.
Step 7: Cook it for 4-5 minutes.
Step 8: Put off the heat and let the Masala cool for few minutes(1-2) and then grind it into paste with electric hand mixer or normal electric mixer.
Step 9: add Garam Masala, Dhania powder, salt to the paste and After making paste again put this inside the cutted brinjals and heat it on the medium flame after covering the pressure.
Step 11: Keep on moving it with spatula in-between the cooking so that Brinjal Masala doesn't get burnt.

Santula

This is a very healthy and popular dish in Orissa, rich in nutrients as it contains a variety of vegetables. This is a perfect diet for people who want to shed some kilos from their weight. So c'mon guys, are you listening ..?Its with less oil..no masala and damn easy to prepare.

Ingredients
1 medium sized Brinjal - this is the main vegetable of the dish
2 medium sized Ridge Gourd (Janhi)
1 medium sized Bottle Gourd ( Desi potala or Parwal )
200 grms Green Papaya
100 grms Red Pompkin (Kakhaaru)
1 medium sized Potato
2 medium sized Onions
1 small tomato

20gms bodi
1 tbsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp Cumin seeds
2 tbsp oil
6/7 lobes of Garlic
a small piece of crushed ginger
3 dry red chillies
Either Curry leaves or Coariander leaves

Procedure
Cut all the vegetables in uniform size and boil in a pressure cooker with 1/2 cup of water. As the vegetables used in this dish are mostly with higher water contents, so the excess water comes out of it when boiled.
Heat 1/2 spoon of oil in kadai and fry the bodi.

Heat oil in kadai and put mustard seed and cumin seeds together and cover it for 5 seconds.
Put the garlic, red chillies and curry leaves together.
Now put the finely cut onions and fry it on medium flame.
When onions turn brown, add the crushed ginger and let it fry till you get its smell.
Add the tomatos and just fry it. Tomato fried in oil has more nutritional value rather than the raw one. Don't smash the tomato, it should be visible as pieces as you see in this picture.
Now put the boiled vegetables in the kadai, stir lightly just to mix and let it bubble on high flame.
Switch off the stove and add the fried bodi over it just before server so that they automatically soak water and dont get mixed.
If you do not have curry leaves, you can decorate with green coriander leaves.

Maansa Nadiaa Kasaa (Mutton coconut gravy)

This is a coconut special from my Maa's kitchen. Coconut is regarded auspicious. We cannot think of any festival without use of Coconut and so we have variety of recipes of coconut.

Ingredients
1/2 kg Mutton
1/4 of a coconut
10 small sized onions
8 green chillies
50ml curd
2 bay leaves (Tejapatra)
1 tea spoon of sugar
1 tea spoon of dalchini
3 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
6 tbsp of onion paste
1 tbsp of green chilli paste
1 tbsp of meat masala powder
Turmeric powder
Oil
Salt


Procedure
Marinate the mutton with ginger garlic paste, onion paste, chilli paste, curd, turmeric powder, salt and 8 tbsp of oil for one hour.
Heat oil in kadai and put sugar.
When sugar turns brown, add the tejpatra.
Add the marinated mutton into kadai and keep stirring continuously for a considerable time so that it turns brown and leave off the oil.
Take it out from Kadai and add some more oil.
Cut the coconut into small pieces and fry it in oil to brown and take it out of kadai.
Cut the onions into half, fry it in the kadai, add chopped green chillies and salt to it.
Now put the fried onions, fried coconut and mutton in a pressure cooker. Add meat masala and dalchini powder and mix well.
Keep it on medium flame and boil one cup of water in a saucepan.
Add the boiled water, press the cooker lid to get upto 2 whistles.

Poda Pitha

Ingredients
500 gm: Black gram dal (Urad Dal)
500 gm: Rice
1 no: Coconut (whole)
500 gm: sugar
1 teaspoonful: Salt
10/15 cashew nuts
1 tsp: Black pepper powder
2 tsp: Ghee
Method
1. Soak black gram dal and rice for about six hours. Wash the dal and rice cleanly and grind it. The paste should be fine and thick. Add salt and mix well. Keep paste aside for 1/2 hours. 2. Grate the coconut.
3. Break the cashew nuts into small pieces. And grind the black pepper.
4. Then mix coconut, sugar, cashew nuts and black pepper powder with the rice and urad dal paste and mix well
5. Pre-heat oven/pressure cooker for 10 minutes and grease it with ghee.
6. Pour the paste into the tray and keep it in the oven/pressure cooker. Keep it in hot for 30 minutes. It should be checked with a needle/spoon and when its colour is golden brown the Poda Pitha is ready to eat.
7. Then remove the whole Poda Pitha (baked cake) from the oven/pressure cooker and allow it to cool down.
8. Cut it into small pieces and serve it.

Chingudi Alu Jhola (Prawn Curry)

This recipe is from my Mom's(Mother-in-law) kitchen without using tomatoes which is the traditional ingredient of every curry. Instead of that here we use coconut milk to add a different flavor to the curry.


Ingredients
250 grams prawn
1 medium sized potatoes
4 medium sized onions
8 green chillies
2 spoon of ginger garlic paste
3 table spoons of coconut milk
Garam masala
Red chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Salt


Procedure
Marinate the washed prawns for 10 minutes with turmeric powder and salt.
Boil the potatoes, peel it off and cut into pieces.
Chop the onions and green chillies.

Pour 6-7 spoons of oil in a kadai and fry the prawns on medium flame till it golden brown.
Take it out from kadai, add 1-2 spoon of oil into it.
Put the onions and green chillies and fry on medium flame.
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till its brown.
Now add the Potatoes, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala as per taste and fry it well.
Add the coconut milk, stir it to mix uniformly and leave on low flame for 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water and heat on high flame so that it bubbles.
Decorate with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Coconut Potato Chutney

Its the simplest and easiest yet tasty dish that I have learned from my Maa and my Maa from my Aai. At first instant anyone will think whats new in a coconut chutney. But you will know the difference when you have it. And I am sure you will appreciate it.

Ingredients
Half of a coconut
2 medium sized potato
Half of an onion
50ml curd
2 dry red chillies
1tbsp oil
1tbsp white gram (peeled off biri dal)
Curry leaves
1tbsp cumin seeds
Salt

Procedure
Grate the coconut.
Chop the onions finely - the way we cut for an omelette.
Boil the potatoes, peel it off and smash it in a bowl.
Now heat 1 spoon of oil in a kadai on medium flame.
Put cumin seeds and white gram to the oil so that it starts popping up.
Then add red chillies, curry leaves to it, stir and put the gas off so that they don't turn black.
Now add this to the bowl of smashed potato.
Add the grated coconut, curd and finely cut onions to the bowl.
Add salt as per taste and mix it well.
Now the dish is ready to be served and I am sure you will love the taste.

Chena Poda

Ingredients:

1 kg chena

150 gm suji

500 gm chini

100 gm kaju

50 gm kismis

50 gm dalchini

 

Procedure:

Mix the chena, suji and chini and knead it properly to get a homogeneous batter. Add a little water if required while kneading. Add kaju, kismis and dalchini to the batter. Put the same in the dish container of oven leaving about one inch at the top of the container empty. Pre heat the oven. Now bake the batter for about one-and-a-half hours (until the top appears brown). Take the container out of the oven. Allow it to cool. Delicious chhena poda is ready.  Cut it into desired shapes like cakes before serving.

Kadali Phula Tarakari [Banana Flower Curry]

Ingredients

• 1 Banana flower
• 50 Gram ginger garlic paste
• 2 Medium sized tomato
• 1 Big sized onion
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tsp sugar
• 2 Bay leaves
• Chili powder and turmeric powder to taste
• 2 Tbsp oil 
• Garam masala 1 tsp
• 1 Potato

Procedure

1. Clean the banana flower well. First remove the outer leaves, then from each flowerette remove the hard stamen and hard covering at the base. 
2. Crush the flowerette in a mortar(don't make paste.Let the size of crushed flowerette be 2-3 cms).
3. Squeeze out the water from the crushed content.
4. Wash the squeezed content in turmeric water. After washing squeeze out the turmeric water and keep the squeezed contents in a bowl.
5. Boil the potato with little salt and keep it aside.
6. Put the pan on the burner.
7. Put 2 tbsp oil.
8. Add 1 tsp sugar,1 tsp turmeric powder and 2 bay leaf to oil.
9. Once the sugar melts add ginger garlic paste. Stir it till the paste turns to brown
10. Add finely chopped onion and tomato to the paste. stir for 5min.
11. Add the crushed flower content and stir it till mixes with the paste.
12. Cut boiled potato into 4 pcs and add it.
13. Add turmeric powder,red chili powder,garam masala and salt to taste, stir for 5 min.
14. Add 250ml of water and cover it for 10min till it gets cooked.
15. Serve hot

Boitalu fula bhaja [Red pumpkin flower fry]

Ingredients:
20 Red pumpkin flower
3-4 tbl spoon of rice flour
1/2 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbl spoon Garam masala powder
1/4 tbl spoon red chili powder
[Optional] 1 Egg [for more crispy]

Preparation:

Cut the spiky bits at the base of the flower.
Remove the dusty yellow pistil (can see inside the flower). Wash the flowers well. Soak water from the flower petals.

Making batter:
Mix flour and water and make batter.
Add salt, spice powder, chilli powder to batter and mix well.
Add Egg to the batter and mix it and make the battery smooth and runny.

Procedure:
Heat oil in a saucepan till hot, then dip the flowers in the batter, one-by-one.
Drain off the excess batter, and toss them into the very hot oil.
Fry them in batches rather than one by one.
Turn them over once to brown on both sides.
Then use a slotted spoon to drain them out of the pan.
Transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

Now the fry is ready to serve.

Note: They are best served hot.