D for Dhuska from Jharkhand

D for Dhuska from Jharkhand

As discussed with A, B & C, D too has lots of regional dishes attached to it. 

The first that comes to the mind is the Gujarat special Dhokla. Dhokla is a light sweet salt snack made of steamed gram floor (Besan). Very popular and enjoyed in most art of the country. 

Another famous complete meal is the Dal Bati Churma of Rajasthan. Its a must to try when you are in Rajasthan . Roasted Wheat flour balls (Bati) dipped in Pure Ghee along with Special rajasthani Dal and aate ka churma as the sweeet dish is just unforgettable.

Dham from HP is another meal you must try. Its a special luncheon served in a special way on community fooding or festivals in the hill state. It comprises of Rice served with different types of Dals and sabjis served one by one and ends with a sweet dish. The variety of sweet dish and even the sequence of lentils and shaks changes with the different districts and regions there.Even the preparation and serving is done piously by special people who prepare Dham.

And how can we miss the Dosas from the south. It can be, plain, masala, paneer, paper etc.etc. The south Indian Dish practically rues the entire country today.

But different from all these is the original Snacks with its own flavour from the tribal state of Jharkhand - Dhuska.  we do have similar dishes in different parts of country as well  and may be we are having it daily in different names on our dining table. But just a little different combination that it has makes it original and directly originating from the tribal lands.

Its a a deep fried snack of paste made from soaked parboiled rice, gram pulse (Chana Dal) and Urad Dal served with coriander chutney or Rasdar aloo sabji. Mustard Oil is used as the medium to fry.

Ingredients : 
Pre Boiled Rice  - 1 cup,  Uard Dal ( Pulse) - 1 cup, Gram Pulse  - 1 cup
Green Coriander - 50 gram , corsely chopped, Onion - 3 peices - coarsely chopped.
Green Chilli : 3 - 4 peices., Salt - as per taste, Mustard Oil : For frying.

Preparation of paste:
Soak the three separately for two  to three hours in water. Remove it from water when soft. Grind in a mixer and make a paste each one separately with minimum of water.
Mix the three and beat it with spoon or whisk to make it light. Add salt, coarsely chopped onion, green coriander and green chilies. 


Cooking:
To cook, pour in small amount through serving spoon in pre-heated mustard oil . Deep fry on medium flame till it is golden pink. 


Serve hot with coriander chutney  and mustard sauce or rasdar aloo ki sabji (Gravy Potato)

For more on this pls go to my earlier post Dhuska. Cook and Relish.

Other Cuisines on the list of A to Z so far are

A - Appam, B- Bhutte Ka Kees, C - Chhena Poda

Aditya Sinha

04.04.2020

C for Chhena Poda from Orissa

C for Chhena Poda from Orissa

As with the other two letter, there are many cuisines from different parts of India starting with C as well. The first to come to mind is the Chhole Bhature from North India.Its one of the most common breakfast in the northern states and Delhi. 

Another common Dish is the Chilla. Though it traces its origin from central India, it is made across the country. Its basically a pancake made from different flour mixed with finely chopped vegetables as per taste. The variety ranges from as simple as rice floor chilla , Besan chilla, rava mixed chilla to stuffed chillas. 

Chana Madra & Chookh are also special dishes and belong to the hill state HP. Tripura has its own special Chakhwi. Churma Ladoo from Rajasthan is also mouth watering and commonly made. And there are the enormous sweet dishes made from Chhena (fresh cottage cheese) like the Chhena Paise, Chhena Murki, Variety of Chhena Sweets, Ras malai and what nots. 

Continuing with this, here I would like to talk about Chhena Poda a special delicacy made in Orissa and is believed to be one of the most favoured delicacy of Lord Jagannath at Puri. Chhena Poda is caramalised cake made of mixture of Chhena with sugar , cashew nuts , raisins & rava.

Ingredients : 

Fresh Chhena (Cottage Cheese) 0 250gm, Powder Sugar - 4 tbsp, Rava - 2 tbsp, Ghee -2 tbsp, Cardmom powder - 1/2 tsp, Milk -4 tbsp, Few Broken Cashews, Few Raisins 

Recipe :

1. Take fresh Chhena / Cottage Cheese /Fresh Paneer and mash it well with your hands. Add powdered sugar and cardamom powder and mix. Add sooji/rava, ghee and milk and mix till everything incorporates well.

2. Add roasted broken pieces of cashews and few raisins to it and mix well. Keep it aside.

3. Now grease a baking pan with1 tbsp ghee and add 4 tbsp sugar spread evenly on the base. Heat the pan on the gas till the sugar caramelizes. 

4. Pour the mixture over the caramelized sugar and spread evenly.

5. Preheat the oven, put the baking tray with mix and bake at 180 deg C for 40-50 min or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean when you check.

6. Cool, take out from tray , cut and serve as dessert or snacks.

Aditya Sinha
03.04.2020

B for Bhutte Ka Kees - From MP

So the second with B. There are lots of  finger licking Regional Dishes with B. 

Bati Chokha as termed in UP ,  is originally called Litti Bharta and has its origin from Bihar. This is perhaps most famous and I would discuss more under L. 

Bise Bele Bhaat  is  a spicy, rice-based, lentil mixed meal from Karnataka is another worth a mention.

Biryani is another world famous delicacy and has different flavours from different parts of India. Moradabadi Biryani would be different from Hyderabadi and so on. 

Bajre ki Khichri is yet another light luncheon which is healthy and is from Haryana. 

But here I will talk about Bhutte ka Kees - A  tea time snack from MP. 

It is easy to cook and a famous street food in Indore. 

The dish is basically a coarse paste of corn (Bhutta) , cooked with ginger, green chillies and common spices as per taste. Many videos & recipe are available on the net that would make the cooking easy. Just for recap , here goes the recipe:

Ingedients:

Corn : 1 cup / Full corn -3

Milk - 1 cup

Garnish / Herbs : Coriander leaves, Green Chilli , Grated fresh Coconut & Lemon Juice

Spices : Turmeric Powder, Asafoetida, cumin and mustard seeds 

Oil for frying, Salt & Sugar

Recipe :

Grate the corn from the full corn and add some milk and make paste. ( Alternatively sweet corn can be used by pressure cooking and making a coarse paste in mixer with some milk).  

Heat ghee in a wok, add asafoetida, cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let them crackle.  Add grated or finely chopped ginger & green chillies. Add turmeric powder, and salt and stir for a minute on medium flame, Add the paste of corn. and Cook for  a few minutes stirring continuously . Add red chilli powder towards the end saute. Add a cup of milk and a tsp of sugar. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes .

Remove from flame and add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves and grated fresh coconut. Serve hot.

Enjoy with Tea.

Aditya Sinha
02.04.2020