Pudina Pulao and ABC tag

We were having some guests over at short notice - well they called to say they would stop by and say hi but Mom wouldn't have any of it. They said they would in 1/2 hour and she had a simple menu of pulao, paneer and raita nearly ready before they got in. I thought she would make Jeera rice but instead she surprised us with this flavorful yummy rice. She probably put the whole menu together in 1/2 hr... I was amazed at the speed she can whip a whole meal together while I picked toys around the house. The rice was amazingly flavorful and simple which I am posting here. She doesn't measure anything of course and I was not really paying attention while she made this, so the measurements are approximates...

Ingredients

1 bunch of mint - cleaned
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup of small cut carrots
1/2 cup of cut beans (you can use frozen ones , if needed)
2 cups of cooked Basmati rice
2 green chillies
1 onion - sliced thinly
1 tea spoon of ginger garlic paste

2 cloves
2 cardamom
2 small cinnamon pieces
1-2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon - ghee
salt to taste

How To


Take mint leaves and salt and grind in a mixer. Add a pinch of salt and blend to fine consistency without adding any water. Mix well with the curd and keep aside.

Heat ghee on medium heat in large pan. When it is hot, add the spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves) and saute them.

Then add the green chillies and onions, saute until onions turn translucent.

Now add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Now add the vegetables and cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the cooked rice and pureed mint paste. Fry for 1-2 minutes and turn off the stove.

The combination of the mint with the curd and the whole garam masalas is amazing.



My son loved it and calls it the green rice... He just ate the plain rice by himself and made a big mess, but I am not complaining... We had a very nice evening chatting and enjoying the simple delicious meal....




Also Lone Acorn has tagged me. Thanks dearie for thinking of me...

1. A – Available/Single? Nope

2. B – Best friend? Gang of 7

3. C – Cake or Pie? Cake

4. D – Drink of choice? Hot chocolate

5. E – Essential item you use every day? Laptop

6. F – Favorite color? Pink

7. G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Gummy Bear

8. H – Hometown? Cuttack

9. I – Indulgence? Blogging and chocolates

10. J – January or February? None - both are too cold

11. K – Kids & their names? 2 , A and A (Princess and Prince)

12. L – Life is incomplete without? My Family

13. M – Marriage date? A Memorable Date

14. N – Number of siblings? None

15. O – Oranges or Apples? Oranges

16. P – Phobias/Fears? Cockroaches

17. Q – Quote for today? Have to think of one...

18. R – Reason to smile? Seeing my kids in the evening when I get back from work

19. S – Season? Summer - miss it a lot here

20. T – Tag 3 People? Shubha , Rekha , Chitra

21. U – Unknown fact about me? Hmmm, wont be so unknown then

22. V – Vegetable you don't like? Spinach

23. W – Worst habit? Procastination

24. X – X-rays you've had? Dental X-rays 5 year back

25. Y – Your favorite food? Goat Biryani

26. Z – Zodiac sign? Taurus

The Rules

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share the ABCs of you.
4. Tag 3 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let the 3 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag.

Baked Samosas

One of the favorite snacks for my kids is Samosas. We had my husband's cousin N coming over in the evening and of course the vote was for making samosas as an evening snack. But I knew N's hubby didn't like fried food, so I tried to make my healthy version of samosas. If you want to see the fried version, follow this link. But this is a short cut version and the kids and the guests loved it.

Ingredients

For the filling
3 large potatoes cut into small pieces
Salt to taste
1 small Onion cut into small pieces
1 tea spoon coriander powder
1/4 tea spoon garam masala (skip if you don't want)
minced mint leaves
handful of peas
Oil (1 table spoon)

For the Outer layer
Mini pastry shells (I used 3 boxes)

How to

In a large pan, heat 1 table spoon of oil over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes, until the onion turns golden brown.
Add the salt and then the potatoes and fry for a few more minutes.
Then add the green peas and coriander powder and garam masala powder.
Add the minced mint leaves and remove from heat.
Stir to combine, then adjust the seasoning, to taste.
Let it cool until it is easy enough to handle. (You can prepare this ahead of time and put away in the refrigerator, when needed warm and use).


Take the mini shells and get them to room temperature, if frozen (as per instructions).
Spray a little olive oil on the shell.
Scoop 1 tea spoon of filling into the shell and bake the shell at 350 for 12-15 min, until the shell turns golden brown.

Enjoy it warm off the oven... We had ours with mint chutney... It was a big hit with the guests and N called me that weekend to get the recipe... So this post is dedicated to her!

Typical Oriya meal

Shanthi a blogger friend is hosting an event to honor foods from different states. Since I have a site dedicated to Oriya food, I feel its apt to have a posting dedicated to it. Shanthi great idea and keep up the good work. I am posting links to my old posts here for her event.

A typical Oriya meal consists of rice, dalma, 1 vegetable or non-vegetarian curry (with gravy), 2 or 3 dried curries or bhajas and a khatta. No Oriya meal is complete without sweets though. Usually the sweet is kheer or mitha dahi or some paneer based sweets. All food is cooked fresh and women in the household spend 3-4 hours in the kitchen for each meal...

So here is a medley of dishes dedicated to Oriya meal and to the State Special event.

Rice : could be plain rice or jeera rice or fried rice (depending on the occasion)




Dalma : there are several version of dalma. I think each family has its own speciality. The dalma tastes different depending on the combination of vegetables, dal and spices. Here is a simple one with dal and eggplant and potatoes.


Some curries that I love are :
Ghanta :




Patua :


Chatu Rayee or mushroom in mustard sauce:

Khatta is nothing but a sweat and sour dish. Its very common in a meal. Even I usually have something in the refrigerator that I use as a side dish. The famous khattas are Dahi Baingan and Tomatoes Khatta and Amba Khatta



Also would like to thank Shanthi for passing on the the Scrumptious Blog Award.




This is a blog award given to sites that:
Inspire you
Encourage you
May give Fabulous information
A great read
Has Scrumptious recipes
Any other reasons you can think of that make them Scrumptious!

The rules are:Put the logo on your blog or post.Nominate at least 7 blogs
Let them know that they have received this Scrumptious award by commenting on their blog.

All blogger friends, please accept this award. You have both encouraged me and inspired me to put this blog together. Heartfelt thanks to Shanthi for passing it on.

So Happy Ganesh chaturthi and God bless friends...

Baingan Ambila

This post is a few weeks late. I have a big backlog of work since I am back from vacation. On the day of Rakhi, I was running late in the evening to get sweets and Rakhi gift for my daughter. I knew she was looking forward to a special treat too. There was no time to make anything too special, so tried this Eggplant Sweet and Sour side dish.... It was such a hit with her, though she didn't really touch the eggplant, but happily slurped on the curry.

Ambila is a typical Oriya side dish. It is enjoyed with Rice, dalma and mixed vegetable curry. You can make ambila with mixed vegetables like Carrots and Radish too, but my pantry had only eggplants...

Ingredients

8 small eggplants
1/2 cup jaggery (less or more depending on the sourness of Imli)
1 tablespoon of Imli paste
handful of curry leaves
2 red chilies
1 tablespoon of panch phutana
1 table spoon fried Jeera and fried Methi powder
1 table spoon of oil
1/2 tea spoon turmeric powder
salt to taste

How to

Slit the small eggplants. Put them in a pan with a little water, salt and turmeric powder and cook until the eggplant softens (about 10 min). Keep aside when done.
Heat oil in a pan. Add panch phutana.
When they start to crack add curry leaves and red chilies.
Add 1 cup water, jaggery and imli paste and mix well.
Once the jaggery is is dissolved, add salt and jeera and methi powder.
Add the boiled Eggplant and cook for a few minutes.

Serve hot or cold. This stays fresh in the refrigerator for a week.

Janmasthami Bhog

Happy Janmasthami everyone. It was a lovely Day celebrating Krishna's birthday. Even my daughter tried fasting for a few hours in the morning. I had started when I was 8 years old and it was nice to see her attempting it too....
Back home lots of items are made for Krishnastami. In my (Aei) grandma's place, at least 20 + items are made. My aunts cook all day (we have a big joint family) for the puja and feast at night. But my mother-in-law being a working woman who lived in Bengal had a different recipe for all fast days. She would make a simple chana dal, puris and fried vegetables. Here is an adaptation of her puja meal.

I am sending the chana Dal for the Festive food event conducted by Purva and Priti.

Chana Dal

1 cup of Chana dal washed and soaked for 3-4 hours
1 tea spoon Turmeric powder
1 tea spoon Chili powder
1 tea spoon whole Cumin Seeds
2 tea spoon garam masala powder
couple of Bay leaves
handful of Raisins
handful of fresh coconut (optional)
1-2 green chilies
1 table spoon ghee
Salt to taste

How To

Boil the Dal with turmeric powder, chili powder, bay leaves and salt. Once it is nearly cooked, take off the heat.
Heat the ghee in a pan. Add Cumin seeds and green chilies. Once it sputter, add the chana dal and boil again. Add garam masala and raisins.
Add a handful of fresh coconut before serving.

Fried Cauliflower

Deep fry the cauliflower, roll it in a bed of dhania powder and chili powder. Sprinkle salt and eat it hot. Yum! Do the same with thinly sliced potatoes or eggplant.







I am not sure if these 2 dishes count as fast food or feast food, but they are a treat. We enjoy these on fast days only - guiltless pleasures!


I had a nice lovely short break. I went to visit few friends and met few relatives too. My mom got to spend some precious time with her old childhood friend and she has a glow about her since she is back.

Kreativ award

I am so honoured to receive my Kreativ award from Ramya and Shubha.It is the Kreative blogger award, honouring favourite, creative blogs.Thanks a lot Ramya and Shubha!! You have made my day and I also feel humbled receiving this award....

The rules for this award are :

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.



Rules 4, 5, 6 and 7 are really tough... How do I nominate only 7 ? I hate these confining rules... Hey but rules are rules and here I am...

7 things about me that you may or may not know and may or may not find interesting:

1)I love coriander and curry leaves... I feel I should have named my blog either one of them since i love the 2 so much.

2) I love chocolate - in any form... My favorite these days is the hot chocolate from Starbucks... The close 2nd is the hot chocolate from Williams Sonomo that you get only during Christmas.

3) I hate spinach. When I was pregnant, I used to buy them every week, leave in my refrigerator for the whole time and throw the wilted ones out before buying a new bunch. Somehow maybe the pregnant brain decided buying was as good as eating.

4) I work well under pressure... No I should say I procastinate and leave everything to the last minute and I pull it off at the end and feel very happy about my dealing with pressure bit.

5) I am good bathroom singer. If I dare sing outside the bathroom, my daughter and son come running to shut my mouth... If they are not around, others in the room walk out... Hmmm so much for my singing skills.

6) I am not a good cook. I love eating, but I think my kids and husband love it even more. I cook more out of compulsion, but love it when I see the satisfied smile on their faces. Also I love a well presented dish and will atleast try it if it looks pleasant.

7) I love baking and always like the way I get to enjoy time with the kids while doing it... It does add to the waistline though and no not all of those treats turn out blog worthy either...

7 friends I nominate are :

Sharmila of Kichu khon
Aruna of "The temptations"
Sweta of Bonne Nutrition
Shama of Easy2Cook Recipes
Shanti of Shanti KrishnaKumar's cookbook
Mangala Bhat of Recipe 24x7
Chitra of Ratatouille - Any one can cook

Friends, you do deserve this award more than me... Please accept and yes please feel free to bend the rules as you like.... I am off on a short trip. I will be enjoying this award and I hope you all do...

Vegetable Patua

Patua is a dish usally made by steaming/baking the items inside a leaf (like a banana leaf). Macha Patua (Fish) is most popular in Orissa/Bengal. While I had all the vegetables that goes inside a patua, I had no banana leaf to cook it in.

Ok, I didn't even make this dish. My mom made it last week and it was so good that we finished it off right away... Also she made it on a cooktop, but the same can be put in an oven and tastes great too... If you have the vegetables cut, this is an easy dish to put together and can be enjoyed on weekdays too.

Don't you think our authentic dishes are so healthy and easy to put together ? And I wonder why I don't make it often enough ?

Ingredients

1 cup of Eggplant - diced into small pieces
1 cup of cleaned/peeled red potatoes - diced (don't peel it, if you want to save time and some nutrients)
1/4 cup beans cut into small pieces
1/2 cup raw banana - cut into small pieces
1/4 cup raddish cut into small pieces
2-3 cups of fresh spinach - washed, cleaned and cut into large pieces

1 tea spoon Mustard seeds
1/4 tea spoon Cummin seeds
1/4 tea spoon poppy seeds
1-2 green chillies (to taste)
2-3 cloves of garlic (skip if you want it satvic)

Salt to taste
1 table spoon of Mustard Oil for cooking
handful of Badi

How To

Grind the mustard seeds, cummin seeds and poppy seeds with the green chillies and garlic. Add 2-3 table spoon of water and leave it aside for 10-15 min.

Heat a pan. Ad the mustard oil. Once the oil is hot, add all the vegetables and then top off with spinach and pour the mustard paste. Add Salt to taste and cover and let it cook on slow fire for 30-35 min.

After 1/2 hr, check if the vegetables is cooked, if not cook on high heat for few more minutes.

Remove from the fire.

Serve with Fried crushed Badi at the time of serving....

Updated
Here is a link to Sharmila's site who makes awesome Badis and awesome Bengali food. I have never made Badis at home, but mom and mil get me a batch every summer...

As I learnt from my blogger friends, patua is called Paturi in bengal. Ofcourse the fish one is more popular in Orissa and Bengal. The parsis have a similar fish dish called patrani machhi...