The Diwali faraal making escapade-Part I ~ Mitha Gaja / Shankarpale~

The glittering diyas, the bright, vivid hues of a meticulously rendered rangoli and the warm appetizing aroma of fried snacks hanging buoyantly in the air while my spirited family and friends gather around the porch to light up firecrackers– this is all that Diwali means to me. The celebration of virtue and compassion with an inanely fair amount of lip-smackingly delicious snacks – that’s surely something everyone wants to come together for. So to commemorate everything that makes Diwali remarkable, I had resolved that no matter how difficult it might seem to fit anything at all into my schedule right now, I am going to try and make as many snacks as I can and replicate “our gharwali” Diwali and this being our very first one after the wedding made it extra worth the effort. So homemade snacks, decorating up our home with lots of diyas, rangoli and lights, a celebration with friends and lots of food to share for our potluck – that became the highlight for our Diwali festivities this year.

And so it all began with making a list of usual Diwali snacks or faral that I wanted to make – Besan sooji ladoo, Chivda, Karanji, Shankarpale, Masala Mathri and one entrée for the potluck. I had already had experience with making Besan sooji ladoo and Chivda, so while making those were a breeze, everything else was somewhat tasking yet an extremely delightful learning curve. Making of each of these individual snacks taught me a few lessons I learnt along the way and I resolved to make sure that I document it well for my reference for Diwali faral making next year. I am sure a lot of you might have had similar experiences and you know very well how much having to re-do something from scratch teaches you. So this will be a series of posts with all these recipes I learnt this Diwali and my kitchen centric adventures with them.

The center of discussion for my first post is the perfectly sweet and crunchy, melt-in-your mouth shankarpale or as I knew it – “Mitha Gaja”. Mitha gaja/ Shankarpale has always been one of my favorite snacks that my grandma made. It was her specialty and so uniquely hers. One fine day if we found mitha gaja at our place, we would know who sent it. I have even been lucky enough to have observed her make it and considered myself privileged to have been allowed to cut the rolled out dough into its characteristic diamond shapes. At that time, being a part of something so intricate had made me inanely happy and extremely proud of myself. So as I began my adventure of making mitha gaja, I of course knew who to call for help. My grandma seemed so elated to share her knowledge built over the years with great detail and of course with very encouraging words. With a help and a little bit of trial and error, I got it. These turned out exactly as I like them and I was the happiest little bird in town.

So here’s the detailed mitha gaja recipe which resulted in perfectly sweet, melt-in-your-mouth multilayered gaja that I so loved and am very happy to write it down for your and my own reference for Diwali faraal making next year. t.

~Mitha Gaja / Shankarpale~

These crispy, flaky, melt-in-the-mouth sweetened fried festive snacks are a must-eat during Diwali. Made up of simple easily found at-home ingredients, these diamond shaped goodies are usually over before you know it.

Ingredients: (Makes enough to fill a 1 lt jar)

½ C Milk

½ C Sugar

½ C Ghee

2 C + 2 Tablespoons Maida/All purpose flour

Method:

1. Warm up the milk till it just boils and add the sugar to it. Let them sit.

Note: I microwaved the milk at 100% power for 1 minute and it was warm enough. The whiteness of the milk will look diluted and transparent. Do not panic, that’s ok.

2. In a seperate mixing bowl, pour the ghee and fluff it with kneading action such that it becomes creamy (about 4-5 mins).

Note: I used the flat beater attachment on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and let the mixture turn light & fluffy (~ 2-3mins).

3. Once the ghee turns fluffy, add in the milk-sugar mixture and stir it a little bit.

4.Then, add in the flour little by little and bring it together. Knead for ~ 1 min and keep aside.

5. Divide in to 5-6 rounds balls and roll it 1/4 inch thick.

6. Cut diagonals on the roti and fry.

7. Fry these at medium- medium low heat (the knob of the gas range stays around 5-6 on a scale of 10). When you add it to the oil keep it at medium so that the exterior seals. Then lower the heat slightly for it to cook through and harden.

Note: At very low temperature the dough dissolves, so make sure that when you add the pieces to the oil its at medium (5 on a scale of 1-10) and then lower it to 4 when the exterior sets.

8. Take them out on paper towels, let them cool and store it in air-tight containers.

And this is how I learnt a new skill this Diwali and while it was not all smooth sailing, it was every bit worth the journey :) A few mishaps, a few soft shankarpales later..I nailed it and there's no better feeling than acquiring something you thought was difficult. And there again it proves that "Never ever give up" is a life lesson that helps every where.

So until the part II..(which will be coming up soon!!)

Happy learning!

J 

A page from my Ma's cookbook ~Odia style fish curry/ Maachha Aloo Jhola/Macha Tarkari~

 As the aroma of the fish curry wafted through the hallway into the bedroom, M (that’s my hubby) came sniffing into the kitchen. Often it’s quite unlikely to elicit such a response from him when I am conjuring up a fish recipe. But this as you might have guessed was a very pleasant surprise. It is my tested way of getting assured that this dish is here to stay and going to be served on demand on many mundane occasions. More so a total win especially when you are trying to think of ways you can make fish recipes without it tasting fishy. Quite tricky eh? Ahh yes and to complicate things – I am an absolute fish eating, true Odia at heart. So you see my attachment to this very sensitive subject and my extensive efforts to make this a success.

My memories of this recipe goes way back to days when I came home from school to a plate of piping hot rice served with this special hand licking fish curry. In those days, the comfort and luxury of getting delicious meals without preparing them was almost taken for granted and was more so of a regular affair. But not so much now! So one of these days when I felt the urge to refresh some memories, I turned back to this gem of a recipe my Ma cooked quite so often.

This is a few ingredient fish curry ("Maachha" meaning Fish; "Aloo" meaning potato and "Jhola" refering to a thin consistency gravy quite typical of an Odia curry) with distinctive flavor which is sure to enrapture your taste buds for a while. If you are looking for a light, simple and different fish curry, look no more since here it is. This recipe reminds me that it's all about the very little things that make so much of a difference and it’s always these things that matter the most.

~Odia Style fish curry / Maachha Aloo Jhola~

A typical Odia fish curry in which fish steaks and potatoes sautéed in mustard oil steep in a flavorful, spicy onion-tomato gravy with a distinctive bite of the pancha phutana* playing along with the musky undertone of freshly grated cinnamon as the final touch. 

*Pancha Phutana is the traditional Odia tempering mix made of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asfoetida seeds, fennel seeds and black caraway seeds.

Ingredients:

Fish (German or Silver Carp) – 1 lb

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Salt

3-4 Medium sized potatoes – Cut longitudinally into four

Mustard Oil for shallow frying 

½  tsp Panch Phutana 

1 Bay leaf

½ C Ginger garlic paste

1 C Onion paste

½ tsp Turmeric powder

½-1 tsp Chili powder (depending on the hotness you would like)

½ C Tomato puree

½ T Dhania powder
½ tsp Garam Masala powder
2 C Water

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of Cinnamon powder
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Marinate the fish pieces with salt and turmeric. Put it in the refrigerator till ready to fry.

2. Heat a pan over medium heat. Pour some oil to coat the surface of the pan. Once the pan gets hot, add in a few fish pieces at a time. Saute for about 1-2 minutes. Then, take them out and keep aside.

3. Repeat the same for the potato cubes. Keep aside.

4. In the same pan, take out the excess oil. Now, once the left over oil is hot, add in the pancha phutana and let it crackle.

5. Then, pour in the onion, ginger, garlic and tomato paste. Let it cook till the mixture starts boiling (about 3-4 mins).

6. Now add in the chili powder, turmeric powder and dhania powder, salt to taste and sugar. Cook till the mixture starts bubbling and leaves oil.

7. Add in water and let the gravy come to a boil. Then simmer the gravy till the oil floats on top.

8. Carefully slide the potato pieces and let it simmer for 3-4 mins and then add in the fish pieces. Cook for 2-3 mins more.

9. Switch off the heat and sprinkle cinnamon powder on the top and taste for salt.

10. Serve piping hot with plain rice with a serving of cilantro on top.

A few things to keep in mind when making this. 

- Not everyone can take in the piquancy of the mustard oil with as much gusto as we Odias' do. So feel free to substitute with any other oil you prefer.

- We generally use fresh water fish for this curry. I found the German/Silver Carp to be the closest in taste so I used them. Use any other fish that you might prefer.

- The pancha phutana is readily available in all stores here in the US and if not you can a equal part mix of asfoetida and nigella (black caraway seeds) alonng with 2 parts each of Cumin, mustard and fennel seeds.You can substitute this tempering with your regular monotone tempering and see the difference.

Try this out and there's no doubt that you will see the subtle undertones of the panch phutana that makes all the difference in this recipe.

Until next time!
Love
J
P.S: Submitting this recipe to:
- WTML - May hosted by Gayatri.

The simple Odia classic - "Chingudi Dahi Besara"/ Steamed yogurt and mustard shrimp curry

Before I begin, I must admit that this post is sure going to have a counter for the word “simple” and might even break the records - the only reason being that this recipe is truly-that-SIMPLE. Being an iconic Odia dish, time and again this preparation would accompany a few more curried dishes on our lunch/dinner table but still manage to hold its place impressively well. Fresh shrimp marinated with yogurt-mustard paste and steamed till the shrimp is melt-in-the-mouth tender does indeed sound like a very good proposition. While “good” shrimp and fish curries are relatively easy to find at the restaurants, rarely have I seen this preparation on any of the restaurant menus here at all and that makes me very sad every time.

Time and again my Ma would prepare this shrimp curry and I would be blown away every single time. Honestly I have been craving for this recipe for a long while now and what better opportunity than to learn from the in-home chef a.k.a my Ma when she was visiting me. So it was quite predictable that I would make fervent demands of this mouth- watering shrimp preparation time and again, while my Ma was more than happy to oblige. But as lazy as I got when she was around, I did manage to learn and demonstrate it to her that all these days apart from being a lazy couch potato, I have indeed been a very good student J.

Quite often in simple preparations like this, it’s not the recipe, but the other simple ways and nuances of its preparation that really counts. Fresh cleaned and deveined shrimp forms the perfect canvass for the distinct mustard flavor and the creaminess of the yogurt to come through. The pungency of the mustard paste mellows down during the steaming and blends in with the accompanying condiments. I have had several versions of this preparation but I am sure to be biased when I say that my Ma’s recipe always tastes the best. The mustard paste and the mustard oil add a distinctive punch to this creamy dish tempered with curry leaves and yet again some more mustard seeds. Now without much ado, here’s our home-style creamy and yes very simple “Chingudi dahi besara”.  

"Chingudi Dahi Besara" a.k.a Steamed yogurt and mustard shrimp curry

This classic Odia steamed shrimp preparation combines the creaminess & tartness of the yogurt with distinctly sharp homemade mustard marinade. This melt-in-your-mouth shrimp curry jumps up a notch with the tempering of curry leaves, slivered garlic and of course some more mustard seeds. "Besara" refers to the mustard paste along with the condiments.

Ingredients:

1 lb Cleaned and deveined shrimp

2 T Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds/ Jeera

4-5 Cloves of garlic

½ Onion

2-3 Green chillies

3 T Yogurt

2 T Mustard oil

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Pinch of sugar.

For the tempering:

½ T mustard oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

2 Cloves Garlic (Slivered)

2-3 Green chillies slit

4-5 Curry leaves

Method:

1. Wash and drain the shrimp and keep aside.

2. Grind the mustard and the cumin to a fine powder.

3. Then add in the garlic, onion and green chillies and make a smooth paste.

4. Pour the paste out in a bowl and mix in the yogurt and the mustard oil along with the washed shrimp.

5. Let it marinate for about an hour.

6. Prepare a steamer. It can be prepared two of the following ways:

i. Pour water in a deep bottomed vessel and place a rack at the top such that the water does not touch the vessel when its kept on the rack. Cover and cook for about 7-8 minutes.

ii. Add water to a pressure cooker then place the vessel containing the fish inside the cooker. Cook for about 1-2 whistles.

7.Temper the prepared dish with a tempering of mustard oil, mustard seeds , green chillies and curry leaves.

8.Boil the curry for 1-2 mins and serve hot with rice.

Try this out and you too can vouch that this dish indeed very simple!!

Until next time,

Love,

J

I am submitting this recipe to:
- "Taste of tropics" hosted by Nandoo's Kitchen and Chef Mirelle.
- "Side dish mela" hosted by Valli
- "Let's Cook with yoghurt" hosted by Nayna

The quintessential Cuttacki fare - Dahi Vada Aloo Dum aau Guguni Chaat aka "Dahi Bara Aloo Dum"

The name itself conjures up thousands of memories and for anyone who’s ever

been to Cuttack or hails from the same, needs no intro to this legendary street food – Dahi Bara Aloo Dum and Guguni, mostly known as “Dahi Bara Aloo Dum”. But for the uninitiated, this lip-smacking street food is the combination of Dahi Vada topped with aloo dum and guguni (yellow peas curry), served generously garnished with cut onions, coriander leaves and sev. The savory tartness of the dahi vada perfectly complements the spicy aloo dum and guguni and all of it wonderfully comes together with the crunchiness of the onions and the sev. It’s truly a wonder how all three distinctly different dishes with strong flavor character of their own can meld together in this unique, indescribable way.

But despite its iconic status within the state, it’s a pity that outside Odisha hardly many people know about it. In my past one year of blogging, I must admit that I have never shared anything as authentic and true to Cuttack than this. Every nook and corner of Cuttack beams with a Dahi Bara (a short name for the trio) vendor these days and despite the growing fervor for “westernized” fast food, I can very gladly say that little has changed as far as its popularity goes. Quite aptly put, it’s the “Vada Pav” of Cuttack in the nature of which it has its way into people’s hearts and their everyday lives. I have known people eating this street food for all three meals for several days together. But unlike the Pav Bhaji or the Vada Pav, it really hasn’t received the limelight it rightly deserves. But I am sure....absolutely sure that all this needs is a little bit of promotion and there’s no doubt it can stand tall or even exceed many iconic street foods in their lovability quotient.

Now, having grown up in Cuttack, my love for this street delicacy has been truly innate and absolutely justifiable. For me, it represents festivity and all such happy times when as kids we would savor every bite of the street food we were occasionally allowed to eat. It conjures up memories of joyous occasions and brings back cheerful childhood memories of springing towards the gate as soon as the vendor rang his cycle bell and drummed the container to attract attention. It was difficult to contain the excitement of holding the “thola” (the container made leaves) in our hands. Yes, sometimes managing the thola in our tiny hands did get difficult, but that never discouraged us from gulping it all down and not to forget the last desperate plea for some more dahi paani (“tike dahi debe bhaina”) or some crunchy seu.

So just like every other delicacy we have loved, my Ma has tried her hand many a times at making this dish and well, after a few failures got it right for us. Now with my Ma around I had the privilege and the luxury of her teaching me this iconic, street food. We had a total blast making this and yes a memorable time eating it too. I am sure this is going to be made on many such occasions when I feel the need to go back to Cuttack in an instant. My own quick time travel you see :) 

(Clockwise from the left) Guguni, Dahi Bara, Aloo Dum, Plate of chopped onions, cilantro and sev and the final "Dahi Bara Aloo Dum" plate. 

  Dahi Vada (Dahi Bara)

Dahi Bara (Dahi Vada)

Savory and tangy fried lentil donuts soaked in a thin yogurt base forms the heart of this street food. Light and fluffy, it forms the perfect neutral base the to complement the spicy additions.

Ingredients

(Makes ~ 12 medium sized vadas)

1 C Whole Urad Dal

¾ C Rice flour

1 tsp baking soda

Oil for frying

For the dahi

½ C Yogurt

¼ C Water

Salt to taste

Black salt to taste.

Cumin and red chili powder (Optional)

For the tempering

1 T Oil

½ tsp Mustard seeds

2 nos. Dry red chillies.

Method:

1. Soak the whole urad dal overnight in luke warm water (6-8 hrs).

2. After the dal is perfectly soaked (it will feel light and puffed up), grind to a smooth batter. Keep it aside for ~4-5 hrs for fermentation in a dark, warm place.

3. The batter rises up and the surface has many small bubbles. Now slowly mix in the rice flour and baking soda. Keep it aside overnight.

4. For the dahi: In a small vessel,thin out the dahi with some water. Add salt to taste, black salt and jeera powder.

5. Heat up the oil. Wet your palms and make a donut shaped batter. Slowly slide the donut shaped batter into the oil. Fry till golden brown.

6. In another bowl, add some salt to iced water and keep aside.

7. Soak the fried vadas in the salted water till soft and fully soaked.

8. After the vada becomes soft, gently squeeze out the water and place it in the dahi.

9. For the tadka: Add oil into a pan, splatter some mustard seeds, curry leaves and dry red chillies. Then, pour the tadka on the dahi vada.

   

Guguni and Aloo Dum

Guguni (Left) and Aloo Dum (Right)

Aloo dum

Spiced potatoes in a thick tomato gravy provides the necessary spice for this chaat. Can also be eaten by itself with poori or even with rotis.

Ingredients

½ lb Small potatoes (Regular sized potatoes will also work)

2 T Oil

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

½ C Onion and ginger garlic paste

½ C Tomato puree

¼ tsp Red Chilli powder

1 tsp Curry powder

¼ tsp Garam Masala powder

¼ tsp Sugar

1 C Water

Salt to taste

Chopped cilantro leaves to garnish.

Method:

1. Boil potatoes. Peel and keep aside.

2. In a separate pan over medium heat, lightly sauté the boiled potatoes with salt and turmeric powder. Take it out of the pan and keep aside.

3. In the same pan, add the onion, ginger and garlic paste to oil. Add in salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.

4. Then, add in tomato puree little at a time and sauté the masala till the oil floats.

5. Now add in curry powder, sugar, garam masala powder and the potatoes. Add in the water and bring it to a boil till oil separates. When oil floats at the top, it is done.

6. Sprinkle chopped coriander and keep aside.

Guguni

Spiced yellow peas curry is the necessary add on to this dish. This also can be eaten just by itself along with rotis or pooris.

Ingredients

¼ lb Yellow peas

2 T Oil

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

½ C Onion and ginger garlic paste

½ C Tomato puree

¼ tsp Red Chilli powder

1 tsp Sambhar powder

¼ tsp Garam Masala powder

¼ tsp Sugar

2 C Water

Salt to taste

1. Soak the yellow peas overnight in lukewarm water.

2. Boil the soaked peas in a pressure cooker with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder. Take it off the stove after a whistle from the pressure cooker.

3. In a separate pan over medium heat, add in the onion, ginger and garlic paste to the heated oil. Mix in salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.

4. Then, add in tomato puree little at a time and sauté the masala till the oil floats.

5. Now add in sambhar powder, sugar, garam masala powder and the boiled yellow peas. Add in the water and bring it to a boil till oil separates. When oil floats at the top, it is done.

For the garnish

Chopped Onions

Chopped Cilantro

Chopped Mint (Optional)

Sev

Assembling the Dahi Bara Aloo Dum and Guguni.

In a bowl, place 2-3 dahi vadas and a little bit of dahi. Then scoop in some aloo dum and guguni. Then add in some more dahi and sprinkle some black salt and cumin red chilli powder. Garnish the dish with cut onions, coriander leaves and sev. Now dig into it and savor every bite!

Like they say, there's nothing more effective than food and music to conjure up happy memories of time well spent. 

Here's to more such happy times!

Love,

J

I am submitting this recipe to:
- "Monsoon temptations" hosted by Manasi
- "Walk through memory lane" hosted by Manju and Gayatri. 
- "Chaat and Chutneys" hosted by Cooks Joy
- "Diwali Bash-2013" hosted by Vardhini from Cook's joy
- "Anniversary Celebrations" by Cook,Click and Devour
- "Let's Cook with yoghurt" hosted by Nayna