Bara Ghugni / Vada ghugni .... Odisha's much loved street food snack

Growing up, I have never had the chance to eat this beautiful streetfood of Odisha ... the much loved combination of the  Biri bara and Ghughni.  At least not from the streets .... sold on carts with people flocking around it . Passing by, one cannot ignore that aroma of these badas sizzling in the hot oil, the steaming hot ghuguni / ghugni with its typical smell and of course the other aromas of tamarind, lemon and rock salt.

At times it would be made at home but not too often. And anyway it never smelt like the street side ones, so we wouldn't ask for it.

But I did get to taste the real thing whenever we went to my maternal dadu's place in Cuttack. With so many elder cousins , mashis, mamis etc .... every one of them all geared up to nosh through their favourite street foods, it wasn't difficult to mix into the crowd and get a bite of this and a slurp of that, once in a while. 

Now I make such things regularly .... the man has taken to Odia food  like a fish to water. Says that he married into one culture and got another as a bonus 😄

Seeing so many bora ghugni on my feed for the last few days, I decided to indulge in some. And the fact that it has started to rain since morning only made today the perfect day for enjoying this.

I tried to make it like the professionals .... with that hole in the centre ... but gave up after a while and made the plain round ones.

They may look imperfect but tasted yum 😋 

And then, like my Thamma used to say "Pete gele shob somaan " / every food is the same once it is inside the tummy 😄😄

Many started asking for the recipe and when the number of dms became a little too many to type out the whole thing, I decided to make a post here pronto. 
And direct everyone here for the details ..... since it is difficult to write the finer details due to instagram's word limits. 

For the Vadas / Baras / Medu Vadas : 

Soak Urad dal / Biri dali / Biulir dal overnight 
Grind into a paste the next day and keep aside for at least an hour. 

Add salt and beat well with your hands till light and slightly fluffy . 
Add chopped onions, ginger, coconut pieces, green chillies, cumin seeds / jeera and curry leaves to the dal paste. 

Heat enough oil in a deep pan or kadahi. 
Wet hands in a little water, scoop out small balls of the dal paste and let in carefully into the oil. 
Fry them till they are golden brown on all sides. 

Keep on a kitchen towel to drain out excess oil. 

For the Ghugni : 

Soak white matar  overnight. 
Cook it with turmeric powder and salt in a pressure cooker. 

Heat oil in a kadahi ( I use ghee as I am on an oil free diet right now ) . 
Add jeera and broken dry red chillies. 
Add chopped onions and fry a little. 
Now add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and green chilli paste. 
Cook well till masala changes colour and leaves oil on the sides. 
Add the boiled matar and mix well. 
Add enough water and bring to a boil. 
Adjust seasonings and simmer on low heat for at least 15 to 20 minutes. 
Finally, sprinkle roasted jeera powder and remove from heat. 
Let it stand covered for some time before serving. 

You can refer to this post of mine for a simpler, no onion garlic version of the ghugni too. 

To arrange everything : 

Place the vadas on the ghugni in an open bowl. 
Sprinkle roasted jeera powder, roasted chilli powder, chaat masala powder, lemon juice, chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and chopped coconut pieces on them. 

 

 The Boras / Vadas can be eaten just as they are ..... fresh out of the kadahi and crisp and hot with puffed rice or plain with a cup of spicy ginger tea. 

The ghugni too can be enjoyed by itself with Luchi, Muri / Mudhi / puffed rice. 
Or can be paired with parathas too. 

Enjoy whichever way you want to. 

Here are a few other recipes of Ghugni / Ghuguni / Ghoogni from my blog. 


Stay safe all!! 

Pan fried Sabudana vada

" Koto deri hoye geyche! I need to make that sabu for b'fast! And it is already 9:30!", I exclaimed.

We were sitting ... no piling up on one another on the bed in the first guest room .... chatting and remicising, the cups of our morning tea and the biscuit jars still sitting on the tray.
I sat snuggled to Jethima. My cousin, her younger daughter, had already taken up my Ma's lap.
Another cousin stands near the bed, threatening and jostling with us for space.
Kakima sat in her usual pose with her legs straight in front of her, leaning on the head rest.
She was already onto her second paan.
Shejo kaku and Ranga kaku half sat, half laid at the other  end of the bed. Jethumoni was the only one who sat properly in a chair by the window.

Our talks were all about memories, of the long gone days at Dadu's house and our childhood stories. Small bits and pieces of memories came up spread a warm blanket all over us.
A lot of what we were talking of does not exist anymore. Neither Dadu, nor Thamma, the house and our recent loss of Bapi and then Didi.
All gone.
Leaving us with memories; just happy memories.

And then I realized how late it was and jumped up to go to the kitchen to make breakfast of the Sabudana Khichdi.
And hearing me exclaim, Ranga kaku jumped up too.

"Sabu?!!"
"Yes!"
"Kar jor holo abar? Boudi tomar? "

I laughed.
Sabu or tapioca pearls means two things to a Bengali ... illness or a fast.
If you have fever, you have sabu cooked in milk. If you have an upset tummy you have sabu cooked in water with a little salt and lemon juice.
Every Bengali's 'ugh' memories of childhood will definitely have this ghost of boiled sabu.
And if there was a puja in the house and the ladies are fasting, they would make a mash of soaked sabudana with fruits and milk or curd.

I assured kaku that nobody is ill and I was just going to cook sabudana for breakfast.
"Eyi na na, ami oi sabu tabu khabo na!" , Kaku was truly worried by now.

I had planned to make the Sabudana khichadi and prayed that he liked it.

While writing about this, I was wondering what recipe to publish as I have already posted the Sabudana khichadi.
And then  I came across a few photographs of the Sabudana vadas that I had made once.

These vadas are not deep fried, as the traditional ones are.
Instead I have brushed them with a little ghee and toasted them on a pan.
They are very crisp on the outside and very soft inside.
Perfect melt in the mouth texture.
And guilt free too.

Need :

Sabudana or Tapioca pearls - 1 cup, soaked overnight in enough water
Boiled potatoes - 1, medium
Roasted and crushed groundnuts - 5 to 6 tbsp
Fresh green chillies - chopped
Red chilli powder
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Ghee - to brush the vadas with

How to :

Mash everything, except the ghee, together.

Shape into small flat tikkis.
The traditional ones are shaped round because they are deep fried.
We need to shape these flat so that they cook well on a flat surface.

Heat a flat pan or a tawa .... ( they should be well seasoned ).
Brush it with a little ghee and place the vadas on it.
You can cover them for a while too.

When one side turns brown, turn them over and brush them with some more ghee.
Let them cook till the outside is crisp and brown.

Serve hot with tea.

These vadas are very high in calories and hence very filling too.
A couple of them will take you through a good part of the day or evening easily.

They go great with this beautiful Amti on the side. A complete meal when you are doing a vrat or fasting.

Enjoy!!

And oh, the family loved the Sabudana khichadi.
Which is why I am going to make these vadas for tea time next.

Take care all.
See you again soon.

Chilke ke pakode / Fritters made from vegetable peels

 "Munh ki baat sune har koi, dil ke dard ko jaane kaun,
Awaazon ke bazaaron mein, khamoshi pehchane kaun .... "

My favourite ghazal singer mourns soulfully as I sit at the window, watching the light rain outside.
The room fills with his deep, heavy voice and spreads a blanket of sighs all over.
The grey from outside seeps in through the large glass windows; doing little to add any brightness.
I wish I had changed the dark, heavy curtains of summer earlier ... I think.
Now I do not feel like. So they too do their bit to add to the sense of grey.

I sit there, snuggled into a warm comforter, a picture of laziness personified, and watch the rain dance on the branches and the leaves of trees.
And the birds too.
Soaked to their skin, a crow and two koyels sit in different branches of the coconut tree, fluffing up and shaking vigorously in an futile attempt to dry themselves.
A bulbul sits atop a heavy branch, right at the top. But not for long.
The rain is too heavy for it to bear.

I sit and soak in the quiet all around.
Of late, I do not feel like talking or writing much. Too much of noise all around.
Too many people talking; too many opinions.
Too much aggression and force to put points forth.
Too loud thoughts. Too few listeners.
Everybody talking at once.
Too tiring; too overbearing.
Too overwhelming.

So I go through the days saying nothing. Or hearing nothing.
I like this quiet in me and am going to savour it for as long as I like it.

I like the dark, rainy days.
There is a sense of soothing severity in them.
They push us to quieten down. And take in the beautiful transition that goes on in nature.
While the soul soothing and all nourishing rain dances outside, the mind is pushed into sitting back and rest.

"Kiran kiran alsaata sooraj, palak palak khulti needein,
Dheeme dheeme bikhar raha hai, zarra zarra jaane kaun ... "

Unnh huh.
No bikharna.
I am trying to get a grip on myself.
Pick up my cup of tea that is fast getting cold and take a sip.
And turn to my blog.

I often make these pakodas, especially when I am making the Chorchori or any other mixed vegetable curry. Using different kinds of vegetables allows me to have all kinds of peels and this is a good way to use them.
Just make sure the vegetables are fresh.

Need :

 Vegetable peels -
I used potato, ridge gourd (turai), pumpkin and pointed gourd (parwal / potol ), around 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium
Green chillies - 2 or more
Besan - 4 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Haldi powder - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - a little pinch
Fresh coriander leaves - chopped
A little water
Salt - to taste
Oil for deep frying

How to :

Wash the vegetables well.
Peel them with a knife ... keeping the skin slightly thicker than usual.
Soak them in salt water for a while.

Slice them into thin, long pieces.

Slice the onions.

Mix everything, except the oil, together with a little water to make a thick paste.

Heat enough oil in a deep, heavy kadahi.

Scoop out small balls and let into the oil carefully.

Fry on low heat till golden brown.

Drain and remove. Keep on paper napkins to drain extra oil.

 Serve hot with ketchup, any chutney or kasundi.
And of course, a cup of very hot drink.

Perfect for these rainy days when the heart longs for something hot, spicy and deep fried goodies.

"Aankhon se aansooon ka marasim purane hai,
Mehmaan yeh ghar mein aaye toh chubhta nahi dhuaan .... " Yes.
Tears will be treated as guests in our lives.
Will be welcomed with warm hearts.


Stay well friends.

Bengali Vegetable Chop

 

 While my last post was a little heavy, this post will be dedicated to all of you who have been such wonderful friends, readers and bloggers. And also to all those who wrote in here and on FB to show solidarity against plagiarism. All of you, who do not raise your voice only when a 'friend' gets struck by plagiarism. All of you for being such wonderful human beings. I am proud to have you all in my life, blogging and real, both.

While I did not have much exposure to deep fried street food when growing up, the vegetable chop and shingara/samosa did make their appearence on the dining table once in a while, especially when we had guests in the evening. The drawing room would suddenly be off limits for us children. But we loved it. Because when we had guests, all the lights in the drawing room would be lit, including the jhaar lantern in the center of the ceiling ... making the huge room turn almost magical.
Dadu and Jethu and Kakus would  sit with the guests and their loud voices and laughter would reach all the way ... crossing the uthon / courtyard  and the long verandah along it , to the kitchen and dining room. There Jethima and other Kakimas, supervised by Thamma,  would be busy preparing tea and arranging plates with the savouries brought in hot and  fresh by one of the helping hands.

We kids would hover around, eyeing the oil soaked packets made of old newspapers, trying to stand steady with their contents bulging out of them.We knew we would get a piece each of our favourite ... either a singara or a chop ... but only after the guests are served. And maybe ... if all the elders left the kitchen together ... bully the cook to allow us a sip of that extra tea in the bottom of the pan. 

I got a request  on my page on FB, by a reader, for the Bengali Vegetable chop. And that was really long back. Numerous reasons kept me from making them, and posting them. While some were as simple as the lack of beet root in the market on the day of my grocery shopping to some good ones like me down with throat infection for more than a month ... and so on.
In between, there were guests. There were weekends, when we are invariably out for the whole day.
And work, which naturally takes up all the weekdays. Even the absence of bread to make bread crumbs came up on my list of excuses.
So, while I did go about cooking regular food everyday, I never got around to even start prepping for this deep fried delicacy.

 But all the while it kept nagging me from the back of my head. I had even tried keeping the beetroot and potatoes boiled and stored in the fridge. But most of the time, I'd be free by late evening. While I could have easily made them then, I wanted good photographs to make a post too ... so a no go there.
The beets shriveled up in disgust. The aloos were more forgiving and  made their way  to the aloo paratha.

But enough of excuses. Let us move on ... now that I have the chops ready and served.
Do not be fooled by these simple looking things ... they do require some planning and prep work. Only then will you be able to sit back and enjoy them hot off the kadahi.
This time, I went about diligently planning the whole thing from the beginning of the week.
One day, I boiled the potatoes and beets and kept them in the fridge.
On another day, I made the bread crumbs. Made sure there was cornflour in the pantry.
One day was dedicated to the peanuts ... dry roasted them, peeled them, halved them. If you keep this part for later, you will be in trouble ... unless you get to buy roasted, peeled and halved peanuts.
Finally, made the pur or the mix yesterday. And fried them today.

I have followed Bong Mom's recipe but some ingredients are different.

Need :

For the bhaja moshla / roasted masala ( I used Bong Mom's recipe, it is awesome )

Cumin seeds -  ½ tsp
Coriander seeds - ½ tsp
Fennel / mouri seeds -  ½  tsp
Cloves - 6 pieces
Green cardamom / choti elaichi - 3
Cinnamon/ dalchini - I used 3 medium sized, thin pieces
Black pepper / kali mirch - around 4 to 5 ( I kept them less as B doesn't like them )
Whole red chillies - 2
Bay leaf/Tej patta - 1 small

Roast everything together on a heavy bottomed flat pan.
Grind coarsely.

For the chops :

Boiled potatoes - 2 medium
Boiled beet root - 1 big sized
Grated ginger - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - 3 tbsp
Bread crumbs - enough for all the chops
(I make them at home by toasting bread in the ove nand then running them in a mixer,
you can use store bought ones too)
Corn flour - around 4 tbsp, and 1 tbsp for the cooked mix
Red chilli powder - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Maida/ APF - 2 tsp
Mustard oil - 2 tbsp ... to cook the the mix
Mustard + white oil - enough to deep fry the chops

How to :

Boil the potatoes and the beetroot ( I boiled them separately ).
Cool, peel and mash them.

Heat oil ( I used mustard oil for that old, familiar taste).

Fry the peanuts. Keep aside.
(I fried the whole peanuts and then had a difficult as well as messy time trying to peel and halve them.
Hence suggest that you dry roast them first, peel and halve them.)

In the same oil add grated ginger.
I added a little red chilli powder too, at this stage.
Fry just for a little while and add the mashed potatoes and beet.
Fry well.
Add salt and sugar ... this chop should stay sweetish ... so add salt accordingly.
Fry well till all moisture is gone.
Add the fried peanuts.
Add the bhaja masala.
Sprinkle the corn flour all over and stir well.
When completely dry and turns into a lump, remove and cool.

You can store this mix in the fridge and use later too.


To fry the chops :

Make a batter of the cornflour + maida + water. It should be be slightly thick ... enough to coat your finger but not too thick ... and not too runny also.

Take some mixture in your hand and press well to fill all the gaps and then give an oblong shape.

Take a chop, dip it in the batter, roll it well on the bread crumbs and keep aside. Repeat with all the chops. 

Heat oil in a deep, heavy bottomed kadahi.
When it is ready, take a chop, dip it in the batter again, roll it on the bread crumbs ... again ... pressing it lightly but firmly to pick up as much crumbs on it as possible.
Now slowly let it into the hot oil.

Fry all the chops this way ... but in small batches ... not more than 3 at a time.

This coating of batter and crumbs twice give a good crisp outside to the chops.

Remove with a slotted spoon and place them on paper napkins.
I love some chopped coconut in the vegetable chop ... but did not have any at home.
You can try if you like it.

A closer look.

Serve hot, with tomato ketchup or kasundi.
I had both, so ... :-)

Great as a snack.

I had woken with a splitting headache today and was not at all in the mood for the same old cereals for b'fast. And since I was looking for a chance to fry these and get some clicks, it was the good old vegetable chop and tea for me this Friday morning.
The sun stayed away ... as usual. But the clouds were friendly and let in some light for my snaps. :-)

So make some ginger tea, quick, and dig in to the Bengali's all time favourite Vegetable chop.
A perfect deep fried indulgence to go with the rains.

Enjoy!!