Suva greens - Moong dal ( Dill cooked with yellow lentils )

I was introduced to this sweet smelling greens by one of my neighbors. Since I had never came across this variety during my stay in Odisha, I was a little doubtful about cooking it for the first time. I did not want to make a bhaji out of it. As I was having rotis for lunch, I wanted something wet. It was then that I thought of preparing it with roasted moong dal. We use this recipe for cooking almost every kind of greens, from spinach (palak) to amaranthus leaves and fenugreek leaves (methi) to even drumstick leaves (moringa). I would put it as the fail-safe formula for cooking greens (apart from stir frying them).

Read on -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 bunch suva greens (dill)
• 1/3 cup roasted split moong dal
• 3-4 garlic flakes
• 1-2 green/red chili
• 1/4 tsp pancha phutana
• 2 pinch turmeric
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp oil

Preparation - Wash and clean the greens. Chop into small pieces.

Cooking - Cook the dal along with salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles on medium heat. Keep aside for 10 mins so that the steam can esacpe. Open the lid carefully and add the chopped greens to the hot dal and immediately close the lid. Keep aside for 5 mins.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add pancha phutana and allow to splutter. Add the broken chilis followed by the crushed garlic cloves.

Once the garlic lets off a fragrance, add the contents of the cooker to the wok. Turn up the flame and boil for 5 mins.

Serve hot with rotis.

Mangalorean Chicken Ghee Roast

Recently caught an episode of 'Coastal Curries' hosted by the dashing chef Vikas Khanna. He happened to be in Mangalore and was sampling the famous 'Chicken ghee roast'. As usual I was so engrossed in looking at him that I missed whatever he was saying. Soft-spoken with an almost school-boy charm, the guy seems like a total misfit to me. That is till he starts to wield the ladle. I really wonder how much he works out or whether he eats any of the tantalizing dishes that he rustles up. Coming back to the dish itself, I finally had to look up the recipe on the net. I finally settled on this one posted by Ria ( Check her blog ) but made a few subtle changes based on the snatches of conversation that I had caught.

This is one of the few Mangalore dishes that I will be remembering for a long time. Sampled it for the first time at a small eatery in Hampankatta (mangalore) during my stay in the city. This along with the deep fried surmai are my favorites among all the varieties available in Mangalorean cuisine. I would rate it higher than the 'Kori Gassi- Roti' combo preferred by many folks. Ofcourse, the creamy Kori Gassi is in a class of its own but my funda happens to be 'To each his own' . The Chicken ghee roast is traditionally served with the snow white and soft 'Neer dosas' but I enjoy it with white rice, yogurt and rasam too. One word of caution. Do not be thrifty with the ghee. You can always slog it out in the gym over the next week or maybe month.

Read on for the lip-smacking recipe -

Preparation Time - 45 mins

Ingredients -

For the marinade -

• 600 gm skinless chicken (cut into medium pieces)
• 1/2 cup hung curd
• juice from half a lemon
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• salt to taste

For the masala-

• 1 tsbp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 Kashmiri red chilis
• 4-5 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 10-12 peppercorns
• 10 fat garlic flakes
• a thumbnail sized tamarind ball

Others -

• 4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Preparation - Wash the chicken pieces and drain out all the water. Add the other ingredients mentioned under marinade. Rub well all over the chicken pieces. Keep in the fridge for 4-6 hours or even overnight. ( I marinated the chicken for 6 hours )

Cooking - Dry roast the chilis on a pan till you get a faint smell. Remove and keep aside. Add 1/2 tsp ghee to the pan. Add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick and peppercorns. Remove from flame once they start to release their fragrance.

Grind the roasted chillis and spices along with the garlic cloves and tamarind. Add a little water and grind again to get a smooth paste.

Heat the remaining ghee in a wok. Add the marianted chicken and fry on a medium flame till almost done ( 75-80 % ). Remove and keep aside.

Add the masala paste to the same wok and fry till the oil starts to form a separate layer ( 4-5 mins should be enough unless you have added excess water during the grinding process ). Add the fried chicken at this point and stir/toss for 2-3 mins.

Finally add 1/2 cup warm water and cover with a lid. Allow the juices to permeate the chicken. Finally when the water dries up and the chicken pieces are well coated with the masalas, add the curry leaves and corainder. Switch off flame and remove from stove.

Serve hot with Neer dosa.

Note - I am not too sure about the kind of chilis used in the original dish. I assume that one of them is Byadgi ( a Karnataka staple ) which makes for the striking color. Not sure about the other ( could be the Guntur ones ) but it is sure to be hot as the dish will almost surely set your tongue on fire. I have used the Kashmiri chillis which have a medium heat and give a nice color too. My dish was hot but tolerably so. No point in putting too much chillis and then drinking gallons of water instead of enjoying the dish. I also made a sweetened Ghee rice to go with it!!

Sorry for the bad camera work. My hands feel kinda shaky these days.

Ever Heard Of Pizza Economics? ( Guest Post )

My first guest post!! Feeling privileged to have Mr. Umakant Sharma write a piece for me.  An experienced writer, he has more than 6 years experience in online writing. He writes on mostly Food, health, Business and Education. Read on -

Last week I woke up with an incredibly awesome dream of a mouthwatering pizza with every bite bombarding my mouth with various flavors of yummy toppings. This was realization enough, that I had been suppressing my pizza craving from too long and nothing could stop me from having it as soon as possible.

I reached college determined to convince my gang of friends for a pizza party. Right when I was about to accomplish my mission, our economics professor entered and there was a disappointing murmur. Sensing the mood, the professor proposed a brilliant idea of ordering the pizzas in the class and enjoy the working bites. The concept was new for us and we loved it. This was when I knew God’s also loved pizzas.

The lecture started and surprisingly the professor was innovative enough to teach the pizza way. I could not believe what was happening. The teacher was explaining the distribution of average expenses of previous year. The best part was the he made a nice vegetarian pizza, the pizza base and cheese was called the entire population and wedges of different vegetables were  the other aspects like housing sector, food sector etc. 

After this we were discussing the policy implementation and the professor explained once we gave the idea having a pizza, the policy was proposed, and to implement the policy, we need to order online and this is what called policy implementation initiation.

However, before we could do it, we must understand the discrepancy in population, and also need to respect the non-vegetarians and need to choose a chicken pizza as well. So we decided on Chicken Dominator which has almost all the yummy toppings.

Finally we ordered 10 pizzas online from www.dominos.co.in  which turned out to be a very convenient way of ordering with various features like customize your order, Pizza tracker etc. Our pizzas actually reached within 30 mins and I ran to grab them as the Italian herby aroma announced their presence in our department. Now was the time to implement the policy and eat and enjoy the much awaited Italian pie. It was a huge party, full of enthusiasm and most importantly the humor that took off had the flavor of economics in a cheesy way.

This was really innovative and flavorful which made me an absolute fan of my teacher. This not only made the pizza gang bigger as other students who were not a part of our gang also joined in contributing and enjoying the pizza affair, but we also learned some of the boring topics in the most interesting way possible. This was one of the lessons I will remember all my life.

Until this day, I detested studies, specifically economics thinking it was just based on assumptions, but ever since the famous pizza session, I started scoring good and my learning trajectory kept on rising which made me a favorite student of my favorite teacher.

The pizzas actually bridged the gap between me and studies and finally today I owe a lot to that pizza session which not only gave me everlasting memories but also changed me to focus more and score well in studies. 

Jalebi with Rabdi

Sometime back I tried my hands at making Jalebi. Now I always had an idea that it would be very tough to prepare it . But it was quite easy and I was surprised at the results. Though I struggled a bit to get the shapes right, the taste was awesome.

I paired it with rabdi or 'thickened milk' which is a classic combination in North India. The creamy chilled rabdi goes very well with the crunchy hot jalebis. Though it takes a bit of time to get both ready, one can make the rabdi a day or two in advance to save oneself from too much trouble within the span of a single day.

Actually was planning to make some 'jalebis' today for my son. That's when I remembered that the post is long pending. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour 20 mins (approx)

Ingredients -

For the Jalebi -

• 2/3 cup all purpose flour (maida)
• 1/3 cup gram flour (besan)
• 4 tsp cornflour 
• 3/4 cup yogurt 
• 1/5 tsp baking powder 
• a pinch of saffron
• 1 1/2 tbsp warm milk
• 1 1/2 tsp rice bran oil
• oil for deep frying

For the Sugar syrup -

• 1 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• a pinch of saffron
• 2-3 drops orange food color

For the Rabdi -

2 1/2 cup full cream milk
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
sugar as per taste
2 tsp finely chopped nuts
a pinch of saffron
a pinch of cardamom powder


Preparation - Soak the saffron strands in warm milk for 20 mins. Rub with you fingers. Add to a mixing bowl along with the rest of the ingredients ( except baking powder ) listed under 'For the jalebi'. Add a little water at a time and mix using a hand blender. The consistency should be thick .

Allow to ferment overnight or still more in a cold climate . The baking powder goes in 20 mins before the jalebis are made.

Cooking - Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan for making the sugar syrup. Boil for 8-10 mins or till 1 string consistency is reached. Add the food color and saffron. Keep aside and ensure that it stays warm to touch.

Heat oil in a shallow vessel. Take the jalebi batter in a piping bag or a cloth with a small hole in the center.
Holding the tip just above the oil, pipe out into circular shapes starting from center, make 2-3 circles (or more if you can manage) and close the end at the last circle. Apply uniform pressure while piping the batter.

Fry on medium heat on both sides till golden and crisp. Transfer from the hot oil straight to the warm sugar syrup. Allow to soak for 1-2 mins before removing it to a plate.

Heat the milk in a thick bottomed saucepan for making the rabdi. Bring to boil on low to medium heat and allow to reduce to 1/3. Stir in the condensed milk and sugar and remove from flame after 2-3 mins. Add the saffron, cardamom powder and toasted nuts. Keep aside till it comes to room temperature. Then pop it in the fridge (not freezer) for 1 hour. ( This rabdi is not very thick

Pour out the chilled rabdi into pint sized glasses and place the warm jalebis over it. Garnish with a few saffron strands and nuts if desired. Serve immediately.

Avocado Pasta ( Vegan recipe )

This is another super simplistic pasta recipes that I stumbled upon while surfing the net. Love cooking pasta on my lazy days as it takes very less effort to put together something so tasty. It is one of those high ROI recipes. If you have a ripe avocado on hand, you will easily find the rest of the stuff that goes with it from your kitchen cabinets.

Read on -

Preparation Time - 10-12 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup durum wheat pasta
• 1/2 of a ripe avocado
• 3-4 Italian basil leaves (optional)
• 2-3 garlic flakes
• 1 1/2 EVOO
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation - Scoop out the avocado flesh. Roughly chop up and transfer to a blender. Add the garlic flakes, basil leaves, EVOO and a pinch of salt. Ground into a smooth paste.

Cooking - Boil water in a large saucepan. Add salt once you can see the bubbles coming up.

Throw in the pasta as it gets to a rolling boil. Cook till al-dente.

Drain off the water from the pasta ( but retain about  1/2 a cup for thinning the avocado puree if required ).

Transfer the pasta to a dish. Add the avocado puree and 2-3 tsp pasta water. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper. Toss up and serve immediately.

Tastes best when warm. (Do not re-heat)

Note - One can also add a bit of tang by mixing 1/3 tsp lemon juice/sour cream/hung yogurt with the puree.

Goalondo Chicken Curry

I love recipes that have a story woven around them. Whether truth or fiction, a bit of folklore always seems to add that right amount of oomph or X-factor to a dish. Goalondo Chicken curry/Steamer chicken curry was created by the Muslim boatmen of 'Goalondo-Narayanganj' steamers in pre-partition India. It was an important point in those days while travelling from Kolkatta to Dhaka.

As this is a Bengali recipe that dates back to the British days, I feel honored to put a piece of history on my blog. Having read about it on so many blogs, I could not resist its charm. There is nothing earth shattering about the recipe, just a very basic rustic type with minimal spices. Due to the limited kitchen available on a boat, it was made with un-ground spices.Believe me, many of us would have already tried it out without knowing about its iconic status. Even my mother-in-law makes something like this but has long forgotten where she picked up the recipe. My husband attributes the great taste to the miraculous waters of the Ganga and Bhramaputra that irrigate the region.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour ( plus 10-12 mins extra )

Ingredients -

• 600 gm medium sized chicken pieces ( skinless )
• 3 big onions (roughly chopped)
• 2 inch ginger ( roughly chopped )
• 8-10 garlic cloves ( roughly chopped )
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2-3 green chilis ( slit lengthwise )
• 2-3 red chilis ( broken into two )
• 4 tbsp mustard oil ( no other oil plz )
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp tomato sauce ( my addition )
• coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation - Thoroughly wash chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic, red chilis, green chilis, turmeric, mustard oil and salt. Mix well. Keep aside to marinate for 1 hour.

Cooking - Heat a wok. Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Toss on medium flame for 3 mins.

Reduce the flame to low. Cover with a lid and allow to cook without adding any extra water. It is important for the chicken to get cooked in its own juices. It will take about 45 mins to 1 hour for the chicken to become tender. ( Most of the water should have reduced by now. If not, turn up the flame for 2 mins )

Serve hot with white rice or rotis.

Sirini ( Satyanarayana Puja Prasad )

During my childhood days, most people would organize a 'Satyanarayan Puja' on the birthday of their kids. Usually they would pick the date for the Puja according to the 'thithi' or Hindu religious calendar leaving their kids free to celebrate the actual B'day ( as per the Christian calendar ) with a cake cutting ceremony. All the neighbours would be invited for the Puja and a big vessel of 'Sirini' would be prepared by the 'Nana' or the pujari. Sometimes if the pujari was lenient, he would allow some family member to prepare the prasad. In those days  Brahmins would not touch food prepared by any other caste than their own. Along with the 'Sirini', there would be a large plate holding dozens of 'Sitabhog' laddoos or 'Sareikela laddoo' as we call it in Rourkela. All the kids would be eyeing the laddoos and hoping fervently for the Puja to get over. The prasad would consist of a 'danaa' or bowl made with 'sal leaves' filled with delicious 'Sirini' and a Sitabhog laddoo.

Sirini was originally made with rice flour but sometime back people switched to using 'atta' or whole wheat four instaed of the former. The other ingredients are milk, mashed ripe bananas, sugar and crushed black pepper. Some people also add fruits like apples and pears. I have chosen to make this with a mix of rice flour and wheat flour in equal proportion.
Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2  - 2 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp crushed black pepper

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Use a hand blender to get a smooth and consistent mixture.

Serve immediately or chill for 20 mins before serving.