Odia Cuisine -The Little Known cuisine from the Land of Lord Jagannath in Eastern India-ODISHA

Lauki Recipe Version 5 Lau Aloo Arua Tarkary in Methi & Hing ( without Onion and Garlic)   3-4 serves In the body of a pressure cooker, heat refined/olive oil (1-2 tbsp). Add methi seeds ( fenugreek seeds- ½ tsp)  and hing ( asafoetida- ½ tsp). Take out of flame. Add haldi ( turmeric) , red chilli powder, salt, dhania powder ( 2 tsp). Put back on flame. Add chopped tomato ( 1 large), diced lauki ( bottlegourd -1), diced potato ( 1 large) and a bit of chopped fresh coriander leaves .  Mix and cook a bit. Add no/just a few spoonful of water. Close the lid and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Rest just a bit and cool under running tap. Open lid and put back the curry on gas burner to reduce excess water, if any, leaving the curry just moist. Finish with a lot of chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice/roti/puri etc. A very simple, healthy and tasty completely vegan dish without even garlic and onion! Do try it out. Not...

LAUKI RECIPE 4 Lau Masala in Milk 3-4 serves Peel and chop lauki ( bottlegourd – 1 no.) into small dices. Heat pure ghee ( clarified butter – 2 tbsp). Splutter jeera ( cumin seeds – ½ tsp). Add finely chopped onion ( 1 medium). Saute till translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste ( 1 tbsp , or a bit more) and saute on medium heat for a while. Add salt, haldi ( turmeric powder- ¾ th tsp), red chilli powder ( a bit, to own taste), dhania powder ( coriander powder- ½ tsp) and garam masala ( all spice powder- 1 tsp). Mix and saute a bit. Add chopped tomato ( just a bit – ½ of one regular size). Saute for 2-3 mins till all spices blend well with tomato. Add chopped  lauki and mix. Add some water (about ½ cup). Cover and cook on moderate to high flame till lauki is almost tender. Add milk (one cup), a pinch of sugar and give it a stir and cook covered controlling heat till moist and rolly-polly. Finish with a dash of cinnamon-green cardamom powder. Note : The ...

LAUKI RECIPE -3 Lau badi Fulaa/ Lau badi Santula ( Odia Village Type) A typical Odia healthy, simple and tasty side dish on a steamed rice platter! I think, no where else this simple recipe is followed. 3-4 serves Peel lightly and chop a tender lauki (bottlegourd-1) into small dices. If extremely tender and green, you may retain the skin- your choice. Discard the middle seedy portion, if not tender. Keep handy about 15-20 numbers ( about two big handfuls/a cupful) of  phula badi ( see Note) , which are readily available in market. Procedure ( ingredients highlighted and quantity given within bracket) Pressure cook lauki adding salt to taste, a bit of chopped tomato (½ of one ), a bit of chopped green chilli (to taste) and a bit of water( say ½ cup) . Bring to one whistle on high flame ( usually takes hardly 3-4 mins) and switch off; rest for 1 minute and cool under running tap. Open. Lauki would be rightly cooked and soft by then, but not mashy. Alte...

LAUKI RECIPE-2 BUTA LAU TARKARY ( ODIA STYLE) 3-4 serves Soak Buta dali (Split skinless Yellow gram, also called Bengal Gram – about 1&1/2 cups) for an hour.  Peel and chop tender lauki (one) into small dices. In a pressure cooker body, add soaked buta dali ( 1 ½ cups), diced lauki ( one regular size- about 3-4 cups of diced lauki), salt to taste, a pinch of sugar , haldi ( turmeric-1/2 tsp), chopped tomato ( 1 small), a bit of red chilli powder ( ¼ tsp – or to taste), garam masala ( 1/3 tsp), a bit of dhania powder    ( coriander powder- ½ tsp), a bit of jeera powder (cumin powder-1/3 rd tsp), a pinch of any curry powder ( optional) and ginger-garlic paste ( 1 tbsp). Add enough water to cover the whole mix – say, about 2 cups. Close the lid and put on high flame for 1 whistle ( takes maximum about4-5 min.). Switch off; rest for a few seconds and then cool under running tap. Open the lid and place the curry back on stove. Let it boil on high to mod...

LAUKI RECIPE -1 For 3-4 serves Lightly peel off the skin of a tender lau ( lauki/ green bottle gourd – 1 no.). Dice into small pieces. Peel and dice potato (one large) into similar sized pieces. Clean (take out food pipes, food pouches from head, shells – leaving the head with the body) and wash chungudi ( prawns - about 250-350gms, or more, if you want). Marinate them with salt and haldi ( turmeric). Keep ready a mustard paste ( grind together mustard seeds 2 tbsp+ a pinch of haldi +4-5 cloves of garlic + a bit of green chilli ). (Mustard paste should never be used immediately after grinding as it tastes bitter. It is always better to prepare a generous quantity of the paste and store it in fridge for use in batches. When stored in fridge, it can stay fresh for days together, at least 7-10 days. You can also store some of it in freezer section and thaw it before use. Always soak mustard seeds in warm water for at least 20-30 mins, then grind, adding a pinch of...

Yes, I really love my Indian food. More so, my Odia food-which is very diverse, simple, yet delicious and healthy! Especially when abroad, sighting an 'Indian' Restaurant  in itself makes me jump off my feet in excitement. I love the dishes and buffet spreads there on offer. But what saddens me everytime is: I find invariably what all are offered as Indian food is basically Punjabi ( main course) or South Indian( snacks). Or at the most, some Bengal sweets, some Gujurati pharsan. Nothing from the other areas, especially the Eastern part of India - Odisha, Bihar, Bengal, North-Eastern states - which have great and very ancient history and heritage of richly diverse, tasty and healthy cuisines, because of their unique flora and fauna, that inspires both veg and non-veg eating habits! Worse still, inside our own country- India, after Punjabi and South Indian cuisines, vary many popular dishes of Odisha are either not known beyond the state boundaries, or known as part of Benga...