Tomato Khejurer chaatni

 Hi all!!
I was planning to make an elaborate post that would include what I had made my earlier post on .... let's see if you can guess correctly ... (people who have seen my page on fb are not allowed to take part in this :-) )
.... but unfortunately my plans have gone haywire.
All thanks to a glass of water that I spilled on the kitchen floor.
And before I could mop it up ... or say 'bazooka!' ... to quote Sheldon, I was on the floor , on my back, spreadeagled, with a twisted ankle and wrist.

Later, as the day progressed, I could feel the pain spread to points and muscles and all over the right leg and ankle and the left hand, especially the wrist ... that took the brunt of the thud.
And my already weak back and right shoulder.
And with that went my plans of writing a lengthy post.

So I will leave you today with these photographs of the Tomato Khejur er chatni that I had made a few months ago.
If you need the recipe, it is here. Just substitute the sugar with gur / jaggery.

 Take care all ....
while I go lie down, watch the drizzle outside and ponder on the line ... "Paa pichle aloor dom .... "

Sigh!

Aloo Dom .... cooked the typical Odiya way, with loads of flavour and spice and perfect for a snack

Aloo dum, Dum alu, Alur dum .... different names for different kinds.
The only common factor is the aloo / potato. Otherwise, there is absolutely no similarity in any of them. 

I had been craving Odisha's Aloo dom for a long while. These days, it is almost next to impossible to get hold of it .... not even on my visits home.
And no matter how much ever I tried, I just could not get it right .... whenever I have tried to make it by myself.
It always lacked that special flavour; that something that goes 'zing!' inside your head and your heart sings either 'yes!!' or 'home!'.
I have never eaten it at home ... our cook never made it.
I had tasted it only at my Odiya friends' houses or eaten it as a chaat / street food.
So,whenever I thought of it, I would get that twist in my heart ... almost leading me to sadness.
And yes, I had often wallowed in the self induced morbidity that I might die before I got to taste my favourite Odiya Aloo dom, ever again.

 But somebody up there yonder pulled some strings, I believe. And I got to make this authentic way of the Odiya Aloo dom; finally.
This wonderful lady from a group answered my question for the authentic Odiya Aloo dom, mentioning that it has been Aloo tarkari / curry all the while and has no idea when it started to be called the Aloo dom.
I got some baby potatoes the very next day and made this Aloo dom, which is often served as a street food in Odisha ... served with a dash of this and that spice, chopped onions and other condiments. Quickly tossed and plated out in a small bowl made of a leaf of a local tree ... the shaal tree. 
This is eaten with luchis, parathas or puris too, and usually for breakfast or dinner.

I had in mind to pair it with something else too ... post coming up soon.

 I leave you with this today.
Will be quiet for a while now.
Too depressed with the rampant plagiarism all over ... especially idea plagiarism.
Makes me want to stop blogging or sharing recipes or tips altogether.

Updated :

Ok ... here is the recipe ...

Heat mustard oil ... add chopped onions and fry till translucent.

Add bay leaf + jeera and + dhania powder  + turmeric + salt + red chili powder + ginger garlic paste.

Add blanched tomatoes or freshly cut tomatoes ..fry the masala till oil oozes out.

  Add boiled and cut potatoes + water , cover and cook.

Add garam masala and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Enjoy, folks!!!

Chickpeas Fried Rice / Chole Pulao - a spicy plateful to warm your heart when it is pouring outside

No, I did not speak all too soon.
The weather has indeed taken a turn and for the good too.
While the temperatures have continued to dip, the breeze has been steady and is only growing stronger.
I had a bout of sneezing and sniffling yesterday, a result of my carelessness ... I had the window open, the fan on and the ac on too ... yeah, kill me for that ... one of these days, and was punished accordingly.
And promptly too.
The whole of yesterday was spent at trying to sneeze with the lowest possible noise ... yet the more the day wore on, the more the volume increased.
Not to mention my groans.
Cold and flu make me cranky. And if there is someone, anyone, in the vicinity, I become very restless.
Tried to lie down and watch the telly but to no good. The choicest of idiotic movies were on. Listening to music was another pain ... my sneezes would not allow me to listen in peace.
Spent a whole miserable morning before I gulped an antihistamine.
That took care of me and I was in dreamland for the rest of the afternoon and the better part of the evening.
B made a hot dinner of Aloo baingan ki sabzi   , with a little gravy to help my sore throat, along with  plain parathas.
And then I slept again.

Woke up early to a dark, cloudy sky and rain.
That quiet, silent but non stop drizzle that Pune is so loved for.
Looked out and saw the droplets dripping down the leaves and the railings of my balcony.
Snuggled back into the razai again.
But sleep eluded and thoughts turned to breakfast.
And what would a good Bong have for breakfast on a beautiful, rainy morning?
Luchi!, of course.
So while B took his morning call, I quickly  set the shaada aloor chorchori on one burner and kneaded the maida.
Soon we were sitting at the table, looking out of the windows and watching the trees sway, enjoying our breakfast of luchi torkari.
I did post a photo of my plate on the blog's page on facebook.
There is a video too, on my personal page.
Someday I will do a post on how to make that perfect phulko luchi, for sure.

But today, while I am still drowsy ... thanks to Avil, I thought I will give my weekly grocery shopping a miss and just watch the clouds.
And make this post.

I had made this Chana pulao just last week. It was a hurried day and I had some leftover rice as well as boiled chickpeas in the fridge.
Decided to throw in them together and come up with a one pot meal.
A plain raita and some salad on the side and a quick lunch was ready within 15 minutes.

Here is the recipe.

Need :

Chickpeas - big cup, 1 pressure cooked with a little salt
Rice - 1 big cup, cooked
Onions - 2, medium, chopped
Garlic - 6, chopped
Green chillies - chopped
Turmeric / Haldi powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Dry mango / Amchur powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp (you can skip it if you are vegan)
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

How to :

Heat oil in a kadahi / wok.

Add the chopped garlic and fry till they turn light brown.

Add the onions and fry till they turn pink.

Now add the green chillies + the boiled and drained chickpeas (make sure you do not add any water ), haldi powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder, amchur powder, salt and sugar.

Mix everything well and fry for a while.

Now add the rice and adjust salt.

Add a little more garam masala ( or a pinch of biryani masala will also work fine. I used the Punjabi garam masala that I got from Amritsar ) and mix well.

Add ghee and lemon juice, give a good mix and cover.

Let it stand for around 2 minutes before you switch off heat.

Serve hot with raita and salad on the side.

The raita is just fresh home made curd beaten well with a pinch of black salt and sprinkled with roasted jeera/cumin powder + red chilli powder.

This turns out to be a wonderful one pot meal, especially if you have dryish leftover rice.
Mine was slightly mushy as my rice was a little well cooked.
No change in the flavours though.
And personally I feel well cooked rice soaks up flavours better than just done rice, especially for pulaos like this .... won't work with a biryani though.


Enjoy!!!