Fish Curry (Oriya Style) : ''Dahi Macha''

I say this is 'Mummy Style' Dahi Macha.

This dish is popular in the Eastern parts of India, especially Orissa and West Bengal. There are several ways to make Fish with curd based gravy. I love it best the way my mother makes it and couldn't help but learn it from her. A typical Oriya dish and this is my Mummy's way of making it, hence I have pet named this dish 'Dahi-Macha (Fish with Curd) Mummy Style'.

All that I use:
(Serves 4)

• Fish – ½ kg (though the best is Indian fresh/sea water fish (especially Rohu), any other kind of fish is ok too. I have tried with fillets of different kinds too – Mahi Mahi, Tilapia, Salmon)

• Curd – 2 cups

• Onion – 1 big

• Tomato – 1

• Green chilies – 4

• Curry leaves – Few

• Garlic cloves – 4

• Mustard seeds – 2 tsp

• Mustard oil – 6 tsp

• Salt – To taste

How I make it:

• Cut the onion into broad long slices.

• Chop the tomato into medium sized blocks.

• Slice the green chilies lengthwise, into two.

• Cut the fish into medium sized pieces. (Keep in mind that we won’t be stirring the preparation much so don’t cut the fish into too small pieces, as they will break).

• Stir the curd in a bowl till it is fluffy and uniform.

• Put the garlic cloves and mustard seeds in a blender, with a little water. Blend them into a fine paste.

• Take a Kadhai (skillet - cooking dish). Add all the ingredients including the paste that we just made. Lightly stir all the stuff in the skillet, so that it uniformly gets mixed. Now add the raw fish, making sure that you don’t crush/break the pieces of fish.

• Switch the gas on, cover the dish and let it cook on medium flame.

• In 20-30 minutes the fish will be cooked and you will get the aroma. It indicates that our fish is done and ready to be all eaten up!!

• This dish needs minimal stirring; else the fish pieces will break. The fish will simmer and get cooked slowly.

Don’t you worry, no ways would it smell raw or anything fishy!!!

P.S. - This dish should be prepared with Mustard oil only.

Mutton Curry (Oriya Style) : ''Magnsa Tarkari''

Ohhh, here comes another authentic Oriya dish. Chunks of melting tender mutton pieces with plentiful of dark brown gravy. What more can you ask for when you also have big chunks of potatoes here and there!!

A must in most of the Oriya weddings, a royal treat.

And who makes this mutton curry the best way – no one but my Daddy dearest..And no matter which ever cook does his magic, no one can beat the taste of mutton curry made by you Papa..I owe this one to you!!

All that I use:

(Serves 4)

• Mutton – ½ kg (chopped into small cubes)

• Potato – 2 (medium sized)

• Onion – 1

• Tomato - 1

• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp

• Jeera (Cumin Seeds) – 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

• Red chilly powder – 1 tsp

• Bay leaf - 1

• Sugar – ½ tsp

• Mustard oil – 4 tsp

• Vegetable oil – 1 tsp

• Water – 2 cups

• Salt – To taste

How I make it:

• Slice the onions into fine thin slices.

• Chop the tomatoes into small pieces.

• Soak the Jeera (cumin seeds) for 10 minutes in water and then grind it into a fine paste.It’s ok to use Jeera (cumin) powder, in case you can’t have the paste.

• Peel and cut each potato into 4 uniform cubes. Use the vegetable oil in a pan and sauté the potatoes till they are semi-cooked and golden brown in color.

• Put a medium sized pressure cooker on medium heat. Put the oil in it. Add the sugar to it and keep an eye on it.

• As the oil warms up, the sugar will turn golden brown and start to leave the bottom of the vessel. This is when you add the onions and the bay leaf follows. Keep stirring in between.

• Once the onions change their color, add in the ginger garlic paste as well as the Jeera paste.

• Let it simmer till the aromas are out. Now add the tomatoes.

• Once a uniform paste forms, add in the turmeric and red chili powder. Put in salt also.

• Add the mutton to the gravy. Let it sauté on low flame for 10 minutes.

• Add the water and close the cooker. Keep it on medium flame. Let it have 3 whistles and then switch off.

• Once the steam inside the cooker goes out automatically (in 5-10 minutes time), open it and add the sautéed potatoes. Close the cooker and add 1 more whistle before it’s finally done.

P.S. – (Before you add the potatoes) Once the steam inside the cooker is out on its own, check if the meat is almost cooked or not (don’t worry as we still have to give it 1 more whistle once we add the potatoes). If the meat is still not as much tender (we don’t want it fully cooked yet), its ok, as some kind of meat takes a little longer to get cooked. In that case, close the cooker (remember we are not adding the potatoes yet) and get 2 more whistles and then switch off. Then do the last step.

Coriander Chicken

How did I land up making this green chicken??

On a Saturday morning I realized I had a bunch of coriander leaves and never knew what to do with them..Being a weekend I had already planned on making some nice chicken..So, a part of my experimental brain, put two and two together and I ended up with this refreshingly green and healthy chicken!!

All that I use:

(Serves 6)

• Chicken – 1 kg (preferably boneless)

• Coriander leaves – 1 bunch

• Green chilies – 2

• Curry leaves – Few

• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

• Coriander powder – 1 tsp

• Ginger garlic paste – 4 tsp

• Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

• Red chilly powder – 1 tsp

• Oil - 4-5 tsp

• Salt – To taste

How I make it:

• First let's make the green paste for the curry. Grind the coriander leaves + green chilies + curry leaves, into a fine paste, making sure you don’t make it too watery. Keep is aside, we will need it later. Curry leaves are not a must, so in case you don’t have curry leaves, even then it’s ok.

• Heat the oil in a pan; add the cumin seeds (Jeera) and the coriander powder (Dhania). Add ginger garlic paste to it and let it fry. You can use cumin powder instead of the seeds.

• OPTIONAL – Take a few cashew nuts; grind them into a smooth paste by adding only water to it. Add the cashew paste to the pan, only if you want the curry to be a little rich, otherwise also its ok (calorie conscious people can definitely skip this).

• Add turmeric powder. Add the red chili powder if you like it a bit spicy (remember there are green chilies in the paste already).

• Add the green paste we made in the beginning.

• In a while when the oil starts to come, put the chicken pieces. Let it cook on low flame.

• OPTIONAL – In the end, when the chicken is almost cooked, you may add a bit of finely beaten plain yogurt (Dahi).

• When you know the chicken is fully tender and nicely cooked, that is when you get to see the lovely green color in your dish, switch off the gas, IT’S DONE.

Now eat as much as you can..Guess it will go best with plain white rice..A few lemon drops would be needed if your taste buds call for it..

P.S - Cashew nut paste / Plain Yogurt are just add-ons. In case you don't have them in the kitchen, no need to bother, go ahead n still make the coriander chicken..it will taste as much good..

Pea Soup

I could never imagine that green peas could yield nice tasty soup. All Thanks to Taruna (my buddy and room-mate from Chennai) who cleared the block in my head..

She once announced that she was making pea-soup and if anyone was interested. I (and others at home) instantly said no as I really had no idea what a green coloured soup will taste like, not that green is one of the colours I dislike. Still she made a little extra portion of the soup, just in case you know...

And trust me, with the one spoon of the soup that I tasted, it only left me wanting me for a bowl-full..

Since then I have made this soup so many times, and each time people have been surprised (thankfully I am not the only one) to hear of a ‘pea-soup’ but have super-liked the taste of it..

(Pic to be posted soon)

All that I use:

(Serves 4)

• Fresh green peas - 2 cup

• Green chilly - 1

• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

• Butter - 1 tsp

• Water - 2 cups

• Salt - to taste

• Black pepper powder - to taste

How I make it:

1. Take a saucepan and boil water in it. Add the fresh green peas with a few pinches of salt and let it get cooked.

2. In 10 minutes on medium heat, the peas will be a brighter shade of green and tender also. Switch off the gas. Drain the water and keep it aside as we shall use it in a minute.

3. Chop the green chilly.

4. Put the boiled peas and the chopped green chilly into a blender. Add 1 cup of the water that we had kept aside. Blend it into a nice smooth paste. Add more water, in case the paste is still coarse. We need the paste to be in a juice kind of consistency.

5. Drain the paste through a strainer, leaving behind the granulated mash of pea and collecting the pea stock in a bowl.

6. Now put another saucepan on gas, add the butter to it.

7. Once the butter is warm enough add the ginger garlic paste to it (just be cautious as it might start spluttering!!)

8. Once the raw smell of the paste is gone, add the boiled pea stock to the saucepan.

9. Add a bit of salt. For additional flavour, you may also add a bit black pepper powder (optional), only if you like.

10. Leave it covered, on the gas on medium flame, for 5 minutes (remember we have already boiled the peas, so the only thing we need now is the flavours of the butter, ginger garlic past to blend in with the pea stock!!).

11. Take a mug or soup bowl and serve it hot.

I love to add a small speck of butter to my soup…

P.S. – Even if the person you offer the soup is reluctant to try this (there may be many people like me), just convince him/her a little bit to try it and I bet they will love it..