Weekend special home cooking

Odisha is a state of beautiful art and culture . Cusine in odisha is tasty yet simple .  "Pitha"  is not just a name of one food but it is a wide variety in itself .  From steamed to fried , from sweet to savoury and from filled dumplings to soft crepes choice is huge .  Today I have chosen Chakuli Pitha which is a crepe and a pleasant replacement of chapati when you are craving for a change  Ingredient Rice - 2 cup  Split black gram ( Dhuli urad daal )  - 1/2 cup  salt  oil -  2 table spoon  Method  Soak rice and urad daal in water for 4-5 hours  Drain the water and grind in a grinder to a paste while adding little water at a time  This batter will be slightly thinner in consistency than dosa batter / pancake batter  Add salt and mix well  keep it aside for 10 minutes  In a griddle , spread one spoon oil evenly and heat it  Now with a soft wet cloth just wipe the excess oil  .  This will also cool down the griddle and help to spread the b

It may be hard to believe that this spicy lip smacking Chicken Dish from Nagaland is actually made with Zero oil and just five ingredients .  One of the most easy and most tasty chicken dishes Ingredient  Chicken ( Boneless ) -  500 Gms  Tomato -  2  Garlic -  4 cloves  Green Chillies - 5 to 6  Salt - As per Taste Method Chop chicken into small cubes (1.5 inch )  Chop Garlic  and dice tomatoes  In a pan dry roast garlic and chilli , till it gives a nice fragrance ( 2-3 minutes approx) Crush roasted chili and garlic . In a pan add tomato , chicken , salt and chilli and garlic   cover it and let it cook in slowith occasional stirring for 7-10 minutes or till chicken is tender  Remove the cover and stir on high flame for 2-3 minutes .  Serve as a side dish 

Mizoram a beautiful state of north India .  Food here is simple with minimum spices and yet very delicious .  Here is a lip smacking grilled prawn dish . Very easy to make . Ingredient  Prawns - 500 gms  , peeled and deveined  pepper corn -  20  coriander seeds - 2 tsp salt  turmeric - 1 tsp mustard oil - 1 tbsp Lemon - 1 Banana Leaf / Aluminium foil (optional)  Method Peel and devein prawns and add salt and turmeric . Keep them for 5 10 minutes    In a pan add one cup water , 8-10 peppercorn and 1/2 tsp coriander seeds . Bring to a boil then add prawns and boil for 2 minutes . Drain and add mustard oil in it . Keep aside for 3-4 minutes         Dry grind remaining peppercorn and coriander seed , add little mustard oil to make a paste . Add this paste in prawns and mix well  Now wrap these prawns in banana leaf or silver foil .  I have used banana leaves as done traditionally but you can use silver foil  .  Use only 3-4 prawns in one wr

From the abode of clouds comes one of the simplest dish I have ever seen .  Very simple yet testy . This crispy bread of rice flour and jaggery needs minimum ingredients and can be made in just 15-20 minutes . Ingredients  Rice flour  - 1 cup  Jaggery - 1/2 cup  Water -  1 cup  Oil - 2 cups  Salt - 1 pinch  Method This dish is very simple to make but slightly tricky on proportions and method  Heat  water in a bowl , add crushed Jaggery .  Keep stirring it till it starts boiling   Boil for 1-2 minutes   In this syrup , add salt . Now gradually add rice flour ,  small portion at a time .  Till it become a soft dough . Kneed with your hand to make  it smooth      take a small portion (almost size of a lemon )  and make a ball . Now press using your palm  to make a small round disc of around  2 - 3 inch diameter .  Make all discs in similar way   Heat oil  in a pan .  Deep fry these rice flour discs till golden brown  Take out on a tissue paper to

This is one dish which is loved by all non vegetarians across the globe .  Here is recipe to make it at home Ingredients  Boneless Mutton 1/2 KG  Egg - 1 oil  -  2 tablespoon  Salt - as per taste  Red chili powder  -  1 tsp  Cumin powder  - 1 tsp  Ginger paste  -  1 tsp  Garlic paste - 2 tsp  Onion - 1 medium  Green Chili -  4 to 5  Coriander leaves (Finely Chopped) - 1/2 cup  Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp  Method  Mince washed and drained boneless mutton to coarse consistency in food processor .  I prefer to make fresh mince meat  as it saves us to wash it in minced form and the fat is retained  . You can also get it from market but do not wash it too much so that fat is not drained .  Drain out all water  in case you wash minced meat  Add one egg , one tablespoon oil  , salt , red chili powder and garam masala in minced meat and mix well .  Keep it aside for one hour  Finely chop one onion  ,  coriander leaves and green chilies . Add in mince meat  Add

For those , who think that paneer dishes are only from north India ,  here is an amazing paneer (sana)  dish  from the north east corner of India .   This dish with very simple ingredients tastes unique .  A delightful dish from the beautiful sate of Gandharvas - Manipur Ingredients  Paneer  - 500 Gms  Onion  - 1  Finely chopped  Ginger -  1 inch , grated  Peas -  1/2 cup  Green Chilies -  4-5  Finely chopped  Salt to taste Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon  Milk -  500 Ml  Oil - 4 tbsp  Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tea spoon Method Cut paneer into cubes .  You can use home made paneer  (solid chunk) or can buy paneer from market .  Slightly toss with salt In a pan , heat two tbsp oil and fry for 3-4 minutes , so that they are lightly brown from sides  Take out from pan and keep it aside  Add remaining oil  in pan .  Heat and add  cumin seeds .  As soon as they sputter add chopped onion    Once  onion is light pink  add turmeric , green chillies and pe

This chicken curry from Nagpur region has a very distinct flavor of   "Jwar Atta"  and that is what makes it special .  An aromatic dish from Maharshtra. Ingredient    Chicken  - 1 KG  Onion - 2 (Finely Chopped) Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tablespoon  Salt to taste Turmeric - 1 tsp  Curry leaves - 10  Oil - 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves - For Garnish For Saoji Masala  Coriander seeds -  1 tablespoon  Cardamom - 5 to 6  Clove - 5 to 6  Cinnamon - 2 inch  Mace -  4 to 5  Whole black paper -  15 -20 Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp Bay leaf - 1  Dry red chili - 3-4  Grated coconut (Fresh or Dry )  -  2 tablespoon  Sorghum Flour (Jowar Ka Atta )  -  2 tablespoon  Method   Heat a pan and in it add cardamom , clove ,cinnamon , mace and bay leaf .  Gradually add coriander and cumin seeds , followed by red chili and paper .  Roast for 2-3 minutes .  Now add coconut and roast for another minute .  Add sorghum flour  and roast again stirring c