The Odiya thali

So today is a story about my early memories of Bou cooking in the kitchen.Days in Telco Colony started as early as 5am with Kunti, our house help, finely slicing potatoes for aloo bhaja, her eyes almost closed with sleep but slicing the potatoes to perfection on the paniki. Puri / parota/ pitha and aloo bhaja was the staple tiffin packed for us at school. It doubled up as breakfast too. As for lunch, we had a proper one hour lunch break, for which we came home to steaming hot rice, fresh dal, some bhaja and tomato chutney. Not to forget, there was fish fry for kids and fish curry for the elders in the family. This was the normal fare. On special days, Khudi made fried rice and chilli chicken for lunch. The fragrance of Chinese food, doubled my speed up the four storeys, to reach their apartment for lunch. Evenings meant Bou multi tasking between taking tuitions and making suji halwa. Dinner was hot rutis with bhaja or a curry ( not to forget the maccha checha or omlette for the non-vegetarian Rout DNA). Outside dinners were limited to either get togethers or club food. As every other kid, I never thought about how much effort went into putting together a meal.

Once I grew up, I realised how intense Odiya cooking was. There are no meal preps, no meals that you put in the oven/ steamer and do other things, no slow cookers and it demands the full attention of the person cooking…. from selecting the right proportion of veggies to chopping them correctly to the right amount of heat while cooking. ( No wonder none of my house helps in Mumbai could manage a bhaja).

Having moved a fair bit across India for work, I observed the correlation between working women and kind of food at home. (Not to say that working women meant less healthy food) It just meant hassle free cooking that empowered the woman to do something beyond the kitchen. Now, South Indian working moms usually make an idli chutney or a quick upma for breakfast. While the idlis steam, they chop veggies for lunch. The prep for veggies also consists of a steaming process followed by a tadka, in most cases. By 9.30am breakfast and lunch are sorted. Similarly, people in Mumbai are on the run and typically both the partners are working. Hence cooking is adjusted accordingly. From a quick poha for breakfast to a pav with some bhaji for dinner. Lunch is usually at work.

In contrast, an East Indian meal be it a Bengali or an Assamese or Odiya meal reflects our family life and culture. It typically comprises bhaata, dali, saaga, bhaja, bharta and some fish/ chicken. Not to mention the salad/ papad/ chutney that goes alongside. We rarely have anything like a one pot meal in odiya cooking. Even if we are cooking khichri , it is accompanied by a dalma and khatta at least. Lunch is a clean two hour affair starting at 10.30am from chopping veggies to serving food on the table by 12.30pm.

Having moved abroad after a year of having absolutely delicious food cooked by our Odiya bhaina… I decided to finally learn some of the tips and tricks. So starting today, I shall share a series of short cuts and workarounds I learnt from my mother in law to manage an Odiya thali with least hassle and minimum oil.

So here is the list :

1. Chanchina / chachindra/ snake gourd pithou bhaja( for the pithou bhaja lovers)

2. Aamba khatta in the cooker (for the ones with the sweet tooth)

3. Kalara chips in the air fryer (for those who can’t have kalara in any other form other than chips)

4. Potola kalara aloo bharta for the healthy souls

So today it is the recipe for Chanchina pithou bhaja or for that matter any pithou bhaja. Bhaja is a very Odiya/ Bengali/ Bihari thing. It is also a comfort meal for anyone who has ever had it. Simple flavours decked up with a crispy texture…. with bhaata and dali it is pure heaven.

The pithou magic mix :

3 tablespoons besan

1.5 tablespoons corn flour or rice powder

5-6 big cloves of garlic ( this does the magic, so do not miss this)

1/2 inch ginger

1 tablespoon gotajeera

Salt , turmeric and chilli (optional) to taste

The vegetable cut into slices and steamed with salt and turmeric – 400gm chanchina ( other options : jackfruit / kalara/ jahni or my all time favourite pumpkin flower)

Procedure :

Run the knife on the chanchina skin so as to scrape the outer layer but don’t peel it. Slice the chanchina into circles and steam it with salt and turmeric till half cooked. Crush the garlic, ginger and jeera in the mixer or hemadasta. Make a thick batter by adding the besan and corn flour with spices and adding very little water so as to coat the veggies. Leave for 10 mins.

If you are all for fried stuff, then go ahead and deep fry. I prefer the tawa version…. takes more time but lesser oil. Serve steaming hot directly into the thali.

Vegetarians please try this at least once. If you have ever had it, you will know that this is the type of dish where “yeh dil manage more”.

The khatta, bharta and chips recipe will follow soon.