L for Litti Bharta

 L for Litti Bharta







Next in the series would be from L. So the most common complete dish  with L is Litti Bharta. But before we talk about this exquisite cuisine from Bihar just take a look on other items as well.

Laapsi - It is an Indian sweet dish with its origin from Gujarat and is made of broken wheat pieces (dalia) fried in ghee along with nuts, raisins and dried fruits.Its commonly used on festivals etc. and tastes lovely.

Luchi as it is called in West Bengal and Assam is deep fired flat bread or Puri as we commonly call and use across India. Puri and Aloo ki sabzi is common breakfast in most of the Northern states.

Ladoo - or round ball shaped sweet dish - offered to God and devoured through the entire country. Its variety can be innumerable- from Besan, to Boondi, From Atta to Dry fruits, Gond, Sonth etc etc...

Now - Litti Bharta or Litti Chokha - a complete meal with its origin from the state of Bihar. It is also popular in Jharkhand and parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh by the name of Bati Chokha. It is a  very healthy and filling food. These are Floor Balls stuffed with sattu (Roasted Gram Floor) baked in Cow-dung cakes that gives it a different roasted taste.

Baati:

Ingredients:

Wheat Floor: 250 gms.

Roasted Gram Floor (Sattu): 100 gms.

Salt: As per taste

Garlic: 10 – 15 cloves (finely chopped / optional)

Green Chilly: 2 finely chopped

Dried Mango Powder: As per taste

Green Coriander: Finely chopped for garnishing

Preparation of Stuffing:

Add the finely chopped garlic, green chillies, green coriander to the roasted gram floor. Add salt and dried mango powder as per taste. Sprinkle a few drops of water and mix it as a loosely bound stuffing.

Preparation of Baati:

Knead the wheat floor into a semi hard loaf, adding small amount of water. Divide this in 12 balls. Make each ball into a cup shape pressing at the center of the ball with your thumb. Fill 2 to 3 spoons of the sattu stuffing in this and close the ball tightly. Prepare all the twelve balls like this.

Roasting of Batti in Cow-dung cake:

Cow- dung cakes are very common fuel in this part of country. 5 to 6 cakes are sorted and arranged to form like a pyramid, with one or two pieces forming the base. It is then ignited. Once the whole pyramid is in flame leave it for a  3-4 minutes. The flames would recede and the cakes would now appear red. Turn the cakes that form the peak of the pyramid with a tong and place the Baati balls on the red hot base of the pyramid. Put the cakes that were removed on these balls again. Let it roast for a few mins.( 4-5). Once it starts appearing pink again remove the cakes from the top, and turn the ball with tongs to have all the parts roasted equally. It would appear light brown. Remove it from the fire and rub all of them with a clean cloth to remove the burnt portion of the balls and the ashes. Your Baati is ready to be served. Serve it after dipping it thoroughly in Pure Ghee with Chokha / Baigan Ka Bharta. The special Bharta here is prepared by roasting Brinjal & Tomato and adding Boiled Potato to it and mashing together adding a tsp of mustard oil towards the end.

For its complete Recipe visit Bharta .

(Alternatively Litti it can be roasted in a OTG)

In Bihar Litti &Bharta is also served with Ghughni (a curry made with Black Gram).

Other Recipe as part of A to Z challenge 

A - Appam, B- Bhutte Ka Kees, C - Chhena Poda , D - Dhuska, E - Eromba F- Fish Curry (Goan) , G - Gulaoti Kebab, H - Halwa Paratha, I- Idiyappam, J - Jadoh, K- Kafuli, 

Other Genres in the Challenge : 

English Poetry

Hindi Poetry

Short Story

Regional Food

Aditya Sinha

14.04.2020

K for Kafuli from Garhwal region of Uttarakhand

K for Kafuli from Garhwal region of  Uttarakhand

Coming to K, let me tell you about some dishes in short before turning to Kafuli from Garhal.

First in the list is Kosha Mangsho from West Bengal. "kosha" in Bengali means "bhuna" or deeply sauted, and "Mangsho" is Mutton. So this dish involves slowly cooking a gravy over low flame for a very long time in an iron pan so as to get a rich, dark-brown gravy and tender mutton pieces with special spices of Bengal. It is served with Rice / Polao or Luchi.(Bread).

Another Famous dish is the snacks from Gujarat - "Khandvi" made as rolls from Gram Floor. 

Kangsoi from Manipur - is vegetable soup from the east with its unique taste. Another common recipe across India is Korma. It is again a non veg dish, where in meat (or vegetables for veg korma) is braised with yogurt or cream and slowly cooked with water and spices to produce a thick sauce or glaze in the curry.

Now Kafuli. Kafuli is primarily prepared of Spinach and fenugreek leaves. It is an exotic dish, prepared again in an iron kadhai, and  served with hot steaming rice. It is the most nourishing and health-conscious dish you will come across the hill state.

Ingredients

·         Spinach Leaves (Palak) -2 Cups

·         Methi Leaves (Fenugreek Leaves) – 1 cup

·         Green Chilli , chopped - 2

·         Ginger , chopped – 1 inch

·         Cumin powder (Jeera) – 1tsp

·         Turmeric powder (Haldi) - 1/2 tsp

·         Coriander Powder (Dhania) – 1tsp

·         Asafoetida (hing) – a pinch

·         Rice flour 1 tbsp

·         Curd (Dahi / Yogurt) – ½ cup

·         Salt  as per taste, Oil for frying

Preparation

Clean & wash the spinach leaves and fenugreek leaves and chop them. Add the leaves along with green chilli, salt and little bit of water in a pressure cooker and cook for 2 to 3 whistle.

Let the cooker open. Scoop the cooked leaves and grind it in the grinder to form a smooth paste.

Heat an iron pan with oil, add hing and let it crackle. Add ginger, allow it soften. Add spinach paste & keep stirring. Add spices powder and salt and keep stirring. 

In a separate bowl mix rice flour with 1/2 cup of water and pour in the gravy mixture.Add the beaten curd to the mixture and keep stirring until the gravy thickens. Check for salt and garnish it with ginger. 

Serve the Garwhali Kafuli with steamed Rice or Missi Roti.

Aditya Sinha
13.04.2020

Other Recipe as part of A to Z challenge 

A - Appam, B- Bhutte Ka Kees, C - Chhena Poda , D - Dhuska, E - Eromba F- Fish Curry (Goan) , G - Gulaoti Kebab, H - Halwa Paratha, I- Idiyappam, J - Jadoh

Other Genres in the Challenge : 

English Poetry

Hindi Poetry

Short Story

Regional Food

J for Jadoh from Meghalaya

J for Jadoh from Meghalaya

So next is J . And here we would talk of a very special Biryani - Jadoh prepared by Khasi tribes. 

But before we talk about Jadoh, Jhal - muri is another local evening street food enjoyed in West Bengal , Bihar and jharkhand. Its nothing but the puffed rice with spices, vegetables, and chanachur or bhujia something like bhelpuri of mumbai.

Now Jadoh - Traditional Jadoh is a characteristic food of the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya.  Here ‘Ja’ means rice and ‘Doh’ means meat. In Khasi food some or the other form of meat is a must. Vegetables here are generally  consumed only as salads or for add on. The locals enjoy its original preparation called  ‘Jadoh snam’ which is cooked in blood. Jadoh for a Khasi is like biryani for a North Indian, i.e.  rice cooked with meat with their own special spices without use of much oil. In Jadoh snam the type of blood is chosen carefully as it can both enhance or destroy the taste. 

Here we would talk about simple Pork Jadoh (Pork can be replaced with chicken or mutton)

Ingredients

Rice – 2 cups (Short grain preferably)

Port – 300 gm with fat cut in small cubes. ( Alternatively chicken can be used, For Veg it can be replaced totally with vegetables)

Onion – 1 Chopped

Ginger Paste – 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp

Black Pepper powder – 1 tsp

Bay leaves – 2

Vegetable Oil – 2 tbsp

Salt as per taste

Cilantro  for garnishing

Preparation :

Wash Rice and keep it aside for 15-20 mins

Heat oil in a flat bottomed pan. Add onion and sauté till it becomes pink. Add ginger paste, turmeric powder, black pepper and sauté .

Burn the tip of the bay leaf and drop in the pan. Add Pork pieces and fry till turns light brown. (Cook on low medium flame).

Add rice (water strained out) and fry for 5 mins. Add salt and 4 cups of water and let it simmer and cook till all become tender.

Garnish with herbs (Cilantro / mint / Coriander ) and serve with fermented soya paste and pork cooked in sesame (Tungrymbai & Dohneiiong respectively).

Other Recipe as part of A to Z challenge 

A - Appam, B- Bhutte Ka Kees, C - Chhena Poda , D - Dhuska, E - Eromba F- Fish Curry (Goan) , G - Gulaoti Kebab, H - Halwa Paratha, I- Idiyappam

Other Genres in the Challenge : 

English Poetry

Hindi Poetry

Short Story

Regional Food

Aditya Sinha
11.04.2020