Culinary Xpress

Crispy Rice Vadas ( Chaula Bara )

6:50 PM

It’s been raining heavily here and though many parts of the world are still enjoying their summer, we are ready to welcome the Monsoon here. The sounds of the rain drops in the window pane drove me back to my childhood memories when rainy days are welcomed with adrakwali chai and an array of foods like aloo chop, Bara, Singada(Samosa), Mudhi Mixture etc. As my father would never allow us to have those amazing street foods for which Odisha is famous for as he was very strict with hygiene, so my mother used to make all those delicious items at home. If you happen to ever land up in Bhubaneswar, you cannot escape the aroma of street food of the city. Among a plethora of foods to try out , Bara-ghuguni is a typical Odia comfort snack that you must not forget to try. Hot baras dipped in warm ghuguni in the monsoons is a snack to die for.

You must be wondering why am I going on about monsoon foods, you got me right, this is the theme for our 47th Foodie Monday Blog Hop #Monsoon Madness. Monsoon….a cup of tea…..and some hot crispy things on the plate and a good book is what I need to keep myself busy and of course happy.

Through my blog I have always taken you through various lesser known recipes belonging to Odisha , which are not only drool worthy , they are also amazing in taste. One such delicacy had caught my fancy and this seems the perfect backdrop for this crispy regional delicacy to have it’s introduction……CHAULA BARA ( Crispy Rice Vada) . This is very different from the Bara and Ghuguni we eat in the Coastal regions. The major difference is the use of rice in the Rice Vadas whereas we use Urad daal Vadas in our Bara Ghuguni.

Kosli cuisine or Sambalpuri cuisine is integral to the Kosli cultural identity and it is quite different in every sense from that of the coastal Odisha. Rice is the main component of the diet. Some of the important Kosli foods are Kardi (bamboo shoot), Hendua Chutchuta, Paatalghantaa Dhuldhulaa, Lethaa, Aambil, Thukthukaa, Chaul Bara and Bhuja. Basi Pakhal (fermented rice), Sukha jhuri (sun dried fish), Chitka, Rasbaraa (Prepared from green gram and sugar). Among others , Chaula Bara has caught the attention of many and now it has traveled to many places .These crispy rice vadas are very famous street food in Sambalpur and these are savored with fried chillis and green chilli chutney known as Mircha chutney.

Ingredients

1 cup Rice
4 tbsp urad daal
1/2 tsp carom seeds
1/2tsp cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
1 to 2 green chilli chopped
salt as per taste
½ tsp baking soda
Few curry leaves
Oil for deep frying

Let's Learn how to make this crispy Chaula Bara:

Wash and soak the rice, urad dal overnight.
Grind the soaked rice, urad dal to make a thick batter using less amount of water .
Add chopped onion, green chillies, carom seeds, cumin seeds, baking soda, and salt. Mix well to form a smooth batter.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan , once the oil is hot, then take a spoonful of rice batter in your hand and carefully drop this in the hot oil . Fry till the colour of the baras changing to golden brown. Flip and cook the other side. Repeat the same with the remaining batter.
Serve it with Tomato chutney and mircha chutney which is nothing but a tangy green chutney made with crushed green chillies, garlic, tamarind paste, coriander/ mint and salt.

Baking

Sfouf- Lebanese Tea Cake with Semolina &Turmeric

6:59 PM

Lebanese cuisine is very famous for it’s varieties of sweets. These sweets are heavily laded with sugar, cheese and lots and lots of butter. One dessert stands out for it’s sweet and melt in the mouth texture is the Sfouf . This is a famous Lebanese dessert which is characterized by it's intense yellow color due to the use of turmeric, superfood. It is one of the simplest form of cake where semolina, flour, oil, aniseed , turmeric and sugar are mixed and garnished with blanched pine nuts or almonds before baking in the oven.

This Tea Cake is called Sfouf which in Arabic mean rows. So this cake is traditionally cut into squares or diamonds shape. This Turmeric cake believe it or not, is one of the simplest, most delicious cakes I’ve ever had is a perfect tea-time cake with goodness of turmeric. Turmeric is the quintessential spice in everyone’s kitchen essential is actually a relative of ginger and is one of the healthiest food to add color to our home cooked food.

Cuisine: Lebanese

Recipe Source: Here

Preparation Time:20 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

Serves:12 pieces

Ingredients:

Dry Mixture

1 3/4 cup Fine Semolina
1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
¾ cup Ghee / Oil
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Ground Anise Seed
1/4 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp ground green cardamom
12 nos of Blanched Almonds or pinenuts
1 tsp white sesame seeds

Wet Mixture

1 ½ cup Whole Milk
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1 tsp orange essence

Let's Learn How to prepare this Cake:

Pre Heat oven to 180 degree C.
Place the almonds in a bowl with warm water. After 10 minutes, peel the almonds and keep aside.
In a pan warm the milk and remove from heat and add the sugar and whisk together until the sugar dissolves. Add the orange essence to it and keep aside.
In a large bowl, combine the semolina, all-purpose flour, ground Aniseed, cardamom powder, salt, and turmeric powder well. Now add the ghee to it and mix properly, your mixture should resemble like fine crumbs. Set it aside.
Now pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well so that no lumps remain and little air is pumped into the mixture. Do not over mix.
Pour the mixture into a well-greased cake pan. Lightly mark the pan into rows so that you have 12 pieces of cake. Place one almond in the centre of each square and sprinkle the white sesame seeds on top.
Bake the cake at 180 degree for 35 to 40 minutes or till a fork comes out clean if inserted. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes . Cut into 12 pieces and serve warm with some Tea.
You can store this in an airtight container for about 1 week. Warm before serving as it tends to become dry when cools.

Breakfast & Snacks

Granola Yogurt Parfait

12:22 PM

Granola is the most healthiest and easy breakfast food that I am hitched onto. Pair it with a silky smooth Greek Yogurt , throw some fruits of your choice like banana, strawberries, blueberries to get the best flavor out of it. Before some months When I used to see someone posting a Granola Recipe , I used to wonder what are these. After a bit of searching, I came to know that Granola consists of rolled oats, different nuts , honey or other sweeteners which are then baked until it is crisp and golden brown. Any dry fruits can be added in the granola like pecans,pine nuts, walnuts, raisins, dates etc. Granola can be used as a breakfast or as an evening snacks or it could be eaten throughout the day, because of it’s nutritious nature . Many people make it in the bar form so that it can be easily packed and carried for outdoor activities. You can also add flax seeds, sunflower seeds , melon seeds in the mix which improves our digestion.

Though Granola is easily accessible through any Departmental Stores, I prefer to make my Granola at home which is not only cheaper than the store brought ones, it is way healthier and tastier also. The most important component of the Granola is the Oats or Oatmeal or Oat bran which is a significant source of dietary fibre which contains a mixture of soluble and non soluble fibres. Beta –glucans is a soluble fibre found in oats which has proven to lower the blood cholesterol. Try to incorporate rolled oats rather than quick cooking oats which will fail to hold up the entire binding process. You can add other dry ingredients like pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, flax seeds.

To get a nice balance of flavor and texture, I follow the 6:1 ratio of 6 parts dry ingredients to 1 part wet ingredient. Out of my 6 parts of dry ingredients, I mix 3 parts of Oats, 1 Parts of nuts, 1 parts of seeds and I parts of fruits or dryfruits. Coming back to wet ingredients, I prefer my Maple syrup and Sunflower oil which is needed to coat the grains, nuts and seeds in sugar and fat and most importantly helps them to bind together. But in this recipe I have for the first time used extra virgin coconut oil and Maple Syrup.Coming back to Maple Syrup, which is one of the more popular sweeteners today as it claims to be more nutritious and healthier than sugar. The main thing that sets maple syrup apart from refined sugar, is that though both are made of 2/3^rd sucrose, the glycemic index score of maple syrup is about 54 compared to 65 for regular cane sugar.( Source: https://draxe.com/maple-syrup-nutrition). Compared to refined cane sugar which has absolutely no nutrients, maple syrup in that case contains some important antioxidants and minerals like Zinc and Manganese.

Recently I have been associated with Plattershare under their “Belly Nirvana” Associate programme where I have received the Coombs Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup from GoIndiaOrganic - India’s only platform that provides premium, exclusive & extra-ordinary naturally organic food products. Maple syrup is made from the sugary circulating fluid (sap) of maple trees and over 80% of the world’s supply of Maple syrup is produced in Canada. You can find different grades of Maple syrup available in the market, which is Grade-A and Grade-B. Grade-A is further classified into Light Amber, Medium Amber and Dark Amber and Grade B is the darkest of them all. Darker maple syrups are made from sap which is extracted later in the harvesting seasons and it has a stronger maple flavor for which it is mainly used in baking and other cooked recipes , while the lighter maple syrup can be used directly on pancakes, crepes etc.

Spices plays a major role in making Granola and I always use Cinnamon, ground ginger, Nutmeg, a bit of cloves in my Granola to perk up it’s taste. Besides the spices, I also use Dried Cherries, Raisins and sometimes apricot in my Granola but I add them after baking to avoid the drying of the fruits. The best thing about Granola is that you can customize it from making it more/less sweet, more/less spicy, more/less fruity and do not limit your imagination , go ahead and make your own Granola and for a reference you can always refer my recipe below.

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pistachios
½ cup shredded coconuts
½ cup raisin and cherries
¼ cup melon seeds
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup virgin coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4tsp ginger powder
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
a pinch of clove powder
1/2 tsp salt
400 grams vanilla flavored Greek yogurt

Let's Learn How to Make this :

Pre heat oven to 200 degree C.

Combine the oats, walnuts, pistachios, melon seeds, carrots, grated coconut, maple syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt in a large mixing bowl. Toss well till they are perfectly combined.

Transfer these mixture to a baking tray lined with parchment paper and spread evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and when it is halfway through, do not forget to stir it before the final round of baking.

Remove from the oven and let it cool and comes to room temperature. Then add raisins and dried cherries and toss to combine.

Divide the toasted granola among serving bowls, glasses or even jar like the way I did.Pour the Greek yogurt over it and place some more granola on top along with some fresh cherries. Serve immediately.

Enjoy this homemade granola immediately, or store in a sealed container and store in a cool place for up to 2 weeks.

This granola parfait is going to be a part of our 46th #Bloghop theme of #dryfruits.

Baking

Coconut Cookies using Nutiva Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

9:05 PM

Plattershare is a holistic food social media platform which connects food enthusiasts to share their passion for food. Be it Home-Chefs, Professional Chefs, Food Bloggers, Food Professionals or Foodies who love to appreciate the taste and aroma of dishes around the world. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Plattershare for coming up with an Associate Program named as “BellyNirvana” which helps us associate and connect with various Food and Kitchen brands across the country and gives us an opportunity to try brand new and innovative food products and gadgets; and all this from the comfort of our homes.

Plattershare under their “Belly Nirvana” Associate programme has associated with GoIndiaOrganic - India’s only platform that provides premium, exclusive & extra-ordinary naturally organic food products and I am fortunate enough to have received Nutiva Virgin Coconut Oil and under "Plattershare Belly Nirvana Association Program". When I received this product I was a bit skeptical as coconut oil is hardly used in our Odia households. Despite being an coastal area and abundantly availability of coconut , we hardly has explored it’s culinary use . But I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the pack and the light fragrance of coconut oil has taken back to my childhood days when my mother used to prepare this type of oil at home and that was so pure that she used to use it for skin care but never have used it for cooking. This Nutiva Virgin Coconut Oil which is not only organic, it is also unrefined, cold pressed making it ideal for baking and cooking as well as great for skincare, hair care and massage.

Coconut oil has emerged as the new olive oil. This is an excellent source of lauric acid and medium chain triglycerides for your healthy diet and body care routine. Coconut oil is now being promoted for it’s protection against heart diseases. Though I am not qualified to speak on it’s health benefits, I do believe it to be healthy and that’s why I have decided to use this product in my kitchen. It’s a great way to replace fat intake and definitely enhance the flavours and textures of the food. If you would like to see how I have incorporated this coconut oil into my cooking, do follow the recipe below.

Recipe Type: Baking

Prep Time: 10 minutes

cooking Time: 12 to 15 minutes

Yields: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups all Purpose flour
2tsp baking Powder
A pinch of salt
½ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ cup Nutiva Virgin Coconut Oil
¾ cup milk
1/4 cup grated coconut
½ cup castor sugar
few Cherries for garnishing

Let’s Learn how to make these Coconut Cookies

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and line a parchment paper on the baking tray.
Mix the All purpose Flour, castor sugar, salt, baking powder, grated coconut, cinnamon Powder in a bowl and mix well.
Now slowly pour the coconut oil and combine everything so that it resembles fine crumbs.
Now pour the milk and mix the dough until it is completely combined to form a ball. But do not over knead.
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll out until it is ½ inch thick. With the help of a cookie cutter , cut out the cookies. Place a slice of cherries on each cookies. Transfer these to a baking sheet, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy these coconut cookies with a cup of tea with your family.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank GoIndiaOrganic for sending across this extra virgin coconut oil which I LOVE and would like to use it in my kitchen more often in preparing traditional and non traditional food. I mostly love the flavour and the tenderness it lends to baked goods.