Bodi Chura – Authentic & Popular Oriya Preparation

Bodi chura is very popular in Orissa. People of this state have a craze for it mostly during the summer months.

Karela Bhaja/Fry – Bitter Gourd Fry – No Jugglery…

Sometimes people ask very simple questions. 

When this simple question, “How to make Karela bhaja” was put to me, at first seemed very funny. Later on I realized, with years of experience in my kitchen I’ve learnt a lot. There have been lots of difficult times I’ve gone through in my Kitchen Life.

As a beginner, after setting up my own home with a kitchen space…wholly my own…I became the decision maker of what to do there.

Palang Saag Bodi Diye/Palak Saag With Vadi/ Combo of Spinach and Fried Sun-dried Small Savoury Lentil Balls

Talking of Palang Saag/Palak/ Spinach, this is another combination of a Plang Saag dish. Friends are always eager to know about a simple dish that can be cooked in different ways with different combinations. Here it is.

Misti Kuler Achaar/Sweet Pickle of Indian Berries/Ber ka Meetha Achaar

This year just after Saraswati Pujo I got the kul/berries that I was looking for. It is taken for granted…should I say we were told as children by elders…”Soroswoti Pujor aage kul khabe na, Ma Soroswoti raak korbe (don’t eat berries before Saraswati Puja for God will be annoyed)”. We always stuck to it and felt guilty even by chance we got a bite of it before the puja day.

Chikki – A Cheeky Crunchy Sweet Bite of Chikki / Peanut Brittle Cooked with Jaggery

This is all about Chikki and nothing Cheeky about it. I am back traversing those childhood days as I prepare this in my kitchen.

Chikki was one of our favourites, I mean for us -- brothers and sisters. Chikki was sometimes cooked at home, that too when we requested our Thakur (cook) to make some. I remember how on holidays we would run from our house to the little shop, closeby, with coins in our fists tightly gripped so that it did not fall out. The little shop was more than 500 yards away from home but in running from here, our home to there, the shop, we would be panting as we reached our destination. It was also sort of running a race in the interest of buying. None of us ever felt tired from the run but got pleasure after buying the stuff and then biting away enjoying the taste of gur (jaggery) and cheena badam (peanuts) balls.