Kankada Tarkari .... Crab Curry Odiya Style

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear 'San Francisco' ? If your instant answer is the Golden Gate Bridge, please congratulate yourself. You belong to the category of normal or sane people walking on the surface of this blue planet. Why ? The Golden Gate Bridge is the most photographed bridge of the world ? Oh sure you knew ....

Or did somebody whisper 'Crabs at Fisherman's Wraf' ? Welcome aboard. I don't want to be the only insane, crazy Crustacean eater. The Golden Gate and other things are secondary !

The first time I was at Fisherman's Wraf I just went crazy at the very sight of these one pound ones. They were huge as compared to their cousins residing in the Bay of Bengal. All I needed was salt, pepper, lime juice and a little space in those tight shops selling sea food. Forgetting all codes of conduct I started with my hands ... I didn't require any of those sophisticated tools for cracking the claws. J stared at me startled ...... "Crabby Girl" was his clear expression. I ignored all that and the crowd around me and continued cracking my crab trying to reach the sweet meat in every corner and then smacking it clean.

When I turned around to ask the shop guy for another one ...... the self looked empty. This Chinese guy selling crabs signaled that the crabs are gone. The only thing I understood from his broken english was that I needed to wait for two more hours if I wished for another one. The next trailer with this priced Pacific catch would arrive at 9.30 pm he said.

Was the wait worth, especially in the month of December when the chilled Pacific wind freezes you. Yes without a doubt !

The crabby affair continues till date. I go nuts at the very sight of these . Ask me if I am willing to take a six hours flight from New York to San Francisco ...... The answer is 'Yes' (Courtesy if it is a Business Trip).

For the time being I have to satisfy myself with the ones available in the neighborhood sea food stores. The guy selling those tells me that these crabs travel all the way from the Pacific coast to make it to my kitchen. I have no option but to believe him for the love of these beautiful creations of God !!

So get your hands dirty and enjoy !!

Preparation Time - 40 minutes

Ingredients

Crabs Cleaned Cooked and de shelled - 2

Potato - 1 medium

Chopped Onion - 1 medium

Ginger - 1 inch

Garlic Cloves - 2 big

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Coriander Seeds - 1tsp

Dry Red Chilies - 2

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1 big pinch

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp (per taste)

Bay Leaf - 1

Salt per taste

Mustard Oil for cooking ( You can also use Canola/Vegetable Oil)

Method of Preparation

1. Cut potatoes into wedges. For the masala make a smooth paste of onion, ginger and garlic Coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilies and cinnamon in a blender.

2. Heat Mustard Oil in a kadhai and fry the potato wedges on both sides till golden brown. Remove and keep aside.

3 Reduce the heat and add the bay leaf. Add the masala, turmeric, red chili powder and salt. Fry till the masala is cooked and there is no raw smell.

4 Add water to make a gravy of diluted consistency. Add the Potato wedges and crabs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle garam masala powder and cook for one more minute.

Serving Tips

Serve warm with plain rice.

Oops ...... Sorry I forgot about the normal people who are not crabby and who would visit SFO for reasons more than crabs .... Here is the list of things you can do when in this beautiful city .... But my last word - Do check out the Pacific Crabs ;-)

1 Golden Gate Bridge

2 China Town

3 Alcatraz

4 Embarcadero

5 Pier 39

6 Fisherman's Wraf

7 The Exploratorium

8 Cable Cars

9 Coit Tower

Cornish Hens n Letter to Santa

So here I am back after a short hibernation .... Do you want to know what I did during this period ? I am sure you are all ears for it !! So here is my little secret. Promise me you will not tell anyone and also you won't laugh at it. Well I had been making a list for Santa ..... I am going to FedEx it tomorrow. So you can add your list to mine before I send it off to the North Pole.

My Dear Santa,

I have been an awful good girl this year. So here comes my small wish list for you. I know I no more qualify for sending such things ..... but here is a deal .... I promise a lovely dinner for you and Mrs Claus on new year eve. You can bring your elves and reindeers too.

I am sorry to post it a little late ..... but I am sure it will make it to the North Pole just on time. Please make your elves work a little extra time if needed to grant my wishes. I know you will be busy delivering gifts to all the kids on the cold wintry nights.

I will be keeping your favorite cookies and a glass of warm milk by the Christmas tree. Please help yourself with some when you sneak down my chimney.

1. I wish a real house made of ginger bread.

2. I wish chocolates grew on trees ..... and if I could have a Godiva tree in my backyard it would be wonderful. I promise to share some with the neighborhood kids and my friends.

3. I wish it snows ice creams during winters.

4. And last I wish for a bottomless jar of candies ....... :p

Isn't my wish list a small and sweet one !! I have not been greedy at all. Don't you think this wish list is going to bring joy to all.

I hope Mrs Claus is also helping you with sorting out our mails and with the gift wrapping. I insist you get her with you during this Christmas trip.

Also tell Rudolph that I have a surprise awaiting him.

See you guys soon .....

Hugs,

Satrupa

So here is the little secret recipe from the kitchen of Ina Garten. I followed it as is and the birds were gorgeous.

The Ashokan Reservoir

The Ashokan Reservoir is in the Catskill Region of New York State.

This photograph was clicked by my husband during our Summer Camp this year.

Charred Tawa Prawns

Have you ever built a snowman and discovered the next day that his grin has gotten a little crooked, or his tree-branch arms have moved? And you've wondered . . . what do snowmen do at night?

What do these little snow people do when we tuck ourselves cozy in our bed ....... Have you ever wondered if all the snowman march up to the neighborhood park for a little "Snowman' get together. Do they slide down the slopes of snow and throw snow balls at each other. Or do they accompany Santa on his sledge and go distributing gifts to all the cute angels on earth.

Mr Gavin took us to a wonderland of fantasy as he read out this hilarious story of 'Snow Man in the Night' to his students. I was one of the lucky audiences of Mr Gavin's Story telling group. My friend's 6 year old had invited me to be a part of Snowman's Night Celebration at his school this weekend. We did a little scrap book on snowman later in his classroom. This super creative fella made a Snowman Baby and a Snowman Mommy ...... Can you be any better creative than him. I loved watching him doing his little Snowman family.

I felt like I was back to school after all these years. He was excited to show me his school. Cut outs of Snow Man adored every nook and corner of the school. The school cafeteria served hot chocolates and there was cookies for everyone. What better than dunking some cookies in hot chocolate while watching lil brats run and play all around you. Ahh I was loving every moment of it and wished if time could come to a halt.

As we walked out after the event we saw flurries all over. The night could not get any better....... Kids were sticking their tongues out to feel the cold cottony snow ..... I knew it was going to snow ....... an indication of 'Snowman Night'.

I remembered the little snowman I had made last winter and how he looked distorted the next morning with a crooked grin. Well now I know what Snowman do at night :-)

My Snowman family with their sledge and reindeer :-)

Well this Charred Masala Tawa Prawns are a HIT ..... Perfect Appetizer for a cold snowy eve when you want to have some quick fix meal.

Preparation Time 20 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients

Big Shrimps/ Prawns - 14 nos

Chopped Onion - 1/3 cup

Garlic Clove - 1

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch

Cumin seeds - 1/3 tsp

Red Dry Chili - 2

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Salt per taste

Oil for cooking

Method of Preparation

1 Wash and de vein the shrimps/ prawns leaving only the tail. Pat dry and sprinkle some turmeric and salt. Keep aside

2 Make a smooth paste of Onion, ginger, garlic, dry red chili, cinnamon and cumin seeds in the blender and adding very little water or no water.

3 Add this mixture to the shrimps/ prawns and mix well. Add a little oil too while mixing.

4 Drizzle a little oil on a frying pan. When hot add the marinated shrimps/ prawns. Fry on medium-high heat till the masala on each side is a little charred.

5 Remove from heat and add a little lemon juice over it.

Serving Tips

Serve warm as an appetizer.

Potala Tarkari (Parwal Curry) Another way .......

If you want fresh Potala/ Parwal in this part of the world ..... you must be dreaming ! And if you badly want it then there is a word for it 'Compromise'. Sure you can find them in the frozen vegetable section of most Indian Grocery Stores. But I am little against that word 'Compromise' although it is a part of our everyday life. I still try to minimize it when it comes to cooking and pleasing my palette. Like they say 'Every thing comes for a price', the price of owning these fresh ones was 4.99 $ a pound. From the moment I picked those parwals I started weaving dreams of a special dinner ...... the attraction 'Potala Rasa'. What's so special about it ...... well you got to check that here.

But I was in two minds about it ..... Why ? Coz that recipe was already sitting on my blog and this vegetable was a rare sight. It's rare to spot fresh ones even in the Indian Grocery stores. So do you have this question for me "Do you cook to blog or Blog to Cook " .... Well Both !!

So my quest for a special Parwal Recipe began on Google and ended with my maternal Aunt. This was her tried and tested recipe so I was in no two minds about it. Although it needed a little bit of convincing for J who badly wanted Potala Rasa. The end result was great if you can buy my words.

It came out better than what I had expected and J was licking his fingers.

Preparation Time 30 minutes

Serves 3

Ingredients

Potala/Parwal - 10 nos (medium size)

Thin chopped Onion - 1 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp

Bay Leaf - 1

Cinnamon - 2 inches

Green Cardamom - 2

Black Cardamom - 1

Cloves - 3

Salt per taste

Oil for cooking

Method of Preparation

1 Wash Potala/Parwal and pat dry. Scrape the outer skin lightly. Slit in between.

2 Add some oil to a Kadhai. When hot fry the Potala/ Parwal by adding a little turmeric and salt to it. Cover and fry to cook faster. When Potala/Parwal gets 2/3 cooked remove from heat and keep aside.

3 Drizzle little more oil in the Kadhai. When warm add all the whole garam masala and bay leaf.

4 Add the chopped onions to it. Add salt per taste and a pinch of turmeric. Fry till the onions no more have raw smell and are soft. Add the cumin powder now.

5 Add milk to the onions, cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Now add the fried parwal to it. Cover and cook till the gravy is of medium consistency. ( Milk reduces to 1/2 it's volume).

6 Sprinkle garam masala in the end.

Serving Tips

Serve warm with any Indian flat bread.

Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon Walks the night in her silver shoon; This way, and that, she peers, and sees Silver fruit upon silver trees; One by one the casements catch Her beams beneath the silvery thatch; Couched in his kennel, like a log, With paws of silver sleeps the dog; From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep Of doves in silver feathered sleep A harvest mouse goes scampering by, With silver claws, and silver eye; And moveless fish in the water gleam, By silver reeds in a silver stream. Walter De La Mare

Paneer Butter Masala with a hint of fresh Methi Leaves

My friends son is worried these days. He doesn't mind getting late to school if mommy grants him few extra minutes to watch his favorite cartoon show in the morning 'Cat in the Hat'. He fears about growing up to become Daddy and go to office. So he pleads with mommy darling to let him watch his favorite cartoon.

I could not stop laughing when my friend told me about it .... I loved the innocence and the genuine fear of growing up and becoming like Daddy !! I am sure we all would have had similar thoughts during our years of growing up.

When I was of his age and I heard my mom and aunts talk during family reunions or even over the phone, I always used to wonder how these women never got tired talking about the same stuff. Their world revolved around their husband, children,in -laws, maid servant, clothes,jewelry, foot wear,hand bags, food, weight gain/ loss etc. I would make faces and pledge that I would never grow up to talk stuff like that. Per me whatever they spoke was boring. My world was all about Disney Princess, story books, Tom and Jerry, Coloring Books etc.

Unconsciously I have stepped into that phase of life where I am like my mom and aunts. My day starts thinking what I need to cook to feed hubby dear. Then as I begin my daily household chores I complain to the people on the other end of the phone about the difficulties of living in a servant less country. For a moment I refuse to accept the life of luxury I lead here ....... yes, I love being a hypocrite. I look for recipes and discuss about my cooking .... sometimes I brag about my culinary skills. I look for Sale and Offers and rush to the stores to get my hands full. I love to call my friends and cousins and boast about the new dress or footwear I bought and check for updates on the latest fashion trend. I look for any fine lines on my face, look for grey hairs and worry about the 'muffin top' that shows up below the old dress. I can talk for hours about calories and healthy eating. Every damn thing that I would have otherwise ignored hurts my ego. I no longer hang on to the Cartoon Network. It is more about Fashion TV, Food Network and Home Decor Channels. I am confined to the food, cosmetic and clothes aisle of department stores. I no longer venture in the Toys Section. Barbies and Dora's of the world no longer catch my attention.

I am sure the Generation Z would be looking at us as a bunch of boring people, the same way we used to do. And I could so much appreciate the genuine concern of my friend's son about growing up.

Preparation Time - 40 minutes

Serves - 4

Ingredients

Cubed Paneer - 2 cups

Fresh Methi Leaves - 2/3 cups

Chopped Onion - 1.5 cups

Chopped Ginger - 2 tsp

Chopped Garlic - 2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Chopped Tomatoes - 2 cups

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cummin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Green Chillies - 3

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Butter for cooking

Sugar - 1 pinch

Salt per taste

Method of Preparation

1 Bring any store bought paneer. Cut it into medium size cubes.

2 Finely chop onion,tomato,ginger,garlic and green chillies. Keep aside.

3 Heat some butter in a kadhai/ pan. Add cumin seeds to sputter. Add the chopped onion,ginger,garlic and chili and fry till golden brown and soft. Now add salt,chopped tomatoes,turmeric powder, red chillie powder, coriander and cumin powder. Keep stirring the mixture. Do not allow it to stick to the pan. Add about half a cup of water and simmer the masala/ sauce for some time.

4 Remove from heat and allow it to cool. Put the masala into a blender and grind it into a fine puree.

5 Add a little more butter (about 1 tsp) to the same kadhai. Add the ground/ pureed masala to the kadhai. Toss the cubed paneer and peas and stir well.Add one pinch of sugar.

6 Add the fresh chopped methi leaves to the gravy. Stir well.

7 Add little water if the gravy is dry and let the paneer simmer in it for 5 minutes.

Serving Tips

Serve hot with any Indian flat bread like Roti, Paratha or Naan.

Notes

If the paneer is in the refrigerator and hard to cube, place the entire paneer packet into a bowl of warm water. This will soften it.

Make sure that you cool down the masala before grinding it.

Variation

Use 3 tsp of canned tomato puree instead of fresh tomatoes.

Sunshine Award One more time

How was your weekend ? Were you indoors or out there in the shopping malls buying and wrapping Christmas gifts for you loved ones ? I hope what ever you doing is bringing you a lot of joy ..... that is what matters at the end of the day.

I was mostly snuggled up in my blanket .... staring at the flurries landing softly on the ground. The snow cover looked like a fleece blanket on mother nature. And all I did was eat, sleep and listen to christmas songs.

And monday is not the best day for anybody ...... so I am going to keep this short and sweet. Suja and Malar have shared this Sunshine award with me. Thank you girls, this sure makes my Monday special and brings a lot of Sunshine on this snowy day. Don't forget to sneak into their kitchens for some lovely recipes.

And since this season is all about spreading joy and good cheer I am sharing it with some of my blogger friends. I wish I could give it to everyone but the rule says to pick only 8. But you sure can keep the ball rolling by sharing it among eight of your friends.

There was a questionnaire that I had to answer as a part of receiving this award.

I would like to share this with

Kairali Sisters

Sayantani

Pree

Aipi

GB

Deepika

Home Cooked Oriya Food

The Key Bunch

Gurls here comes eight questions for you :-)

1 Which is the signature recipe that you inherited from your mother ?

2 Do you read the calorie values when you shop for food ?

3 What is your say on "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach"

4 Do you use measuring cups/ spoons etc when you cook or do you eye ball the ingredients ?

5 Tell me about a recipe disaster

6 What is your take on staging of food ? Do you agree that we first eat with our eyes ?

7 What was the first thing you cooked at your in law's place after your wedding ?

8 Does cooking stress you out after a tiring day or does it act as a stress buster ?

Don't forget to get eight secrets out of your friends with whom you share the Award.

And here are my answers to Malar's questions

Do you think 'Feminism' has robbed authentic home cooking at many houses?

I believe the word 'Feminism' is often wrongly used. Feminism refers to movements aimed at establishing and defending equal rights to women, which I feel is good. And tell me one woman would not like to be treated equal and enjoy her Freedom.

In my opinion cooking has nothing to do with 'Feminism'.

Does enjoying a rich dessert' interfere with your happiness...thinking about the calories, diabetes...cholesterol etc?

I don't let anything come between me and my dessert. I only worry about that 'muffin top' when I no more fit into my old dresses :-) But that too is short term memory.

How many stores do you visit to fill up your pantry and how often do you shop? (Groceries, Fresh produce, Kitchen utensils...everything counts)

I love shopping for food .... my personal favorites being the farmers markets. I miss them during winter. I go shopping once in ten days ..... well sometimes in between too. The search for fresh produce n kitchen stuff can take me anywhere.

When the entire world switches to ready made food or energy pills...will you still like to cook?

Cooking is so therapeutic. Per me it is a gr8 stress buster. No matter what the world switches too I will be still chopping, cooking , baking and grilling :)

When your partner or significant others' hate your particular recipe...will you still continue to make them in a same fashion or tweak them to suit their needs?

I guess we all cook for our loved ones .... so needless to say if the recipe needs to be tweaked to suit them I will do it. And there is no thumb rule in cooking .... that's the beauty of it.

Do you think 'cooking is in your gene' or 'you mastered it' out of hard work(I mean, experience)?

My answer would be 'All of the above'. It was in my gene and I mastered it with hard work :)

Do you think some of the Indian food' would be globalized in near future? (Like French Fries, Pizza, Burger, Popcorn, chocolate, coffee etc

Indian food is already globalized. The Chicken Tikka Masala was voted as the most popular food in one of the local newspaper of London in 2007. I hardly can think of anyone who can say no to Indian Kebabs and Tandoori dishes.

Buta Daali Alu Tarkari .. aka ... Chana Daal

One universal truth is ...... nothing can replace 'Ghar ka Khana" (Homemade food ). And no food can be more satisfying than home made ones and especially if it is made by mom. ...... Guess it has the Midas touch !!

But it was not always that I admired food from mom's kitchen as much as I do today, everything was better than her's . I used to be a very willful child when it came to food. The list of food that I didn't eat or didn't like to eat outnumbered the ones I ate. I used to give my mother, grandmother and aunts a tough time everyday ..... my tantrums were unending. And being the first grandchild I was pampered and spoilt. I used to piss my mother so much that she would threaten me about boarding schools and hostels.

And I used to dream of the freedom of staying in a hostel with nobody around to boss, nobody to force feed me with veggies. Little had I imagined about the food and other problems associated with hostel life. I still remember the first day in hostel when I walked up to the dining hall and served myself with cold rice, daal and eggplant curry. With moist eyes I walked to a corner trying to hide my tears as I ate that meal. No one was around to pamper me and none at whom I could throw my tantrums.

Laxmi Amma the cook stared at me as I struggled to finish that bland and disgusting food. "Don't waste food ..... you have to finish all you have on your plate", she told in a stern voice pointing at my plate. I struggled with every morsel as tears rolled down my eyes. I was missing home and more than that I missing the food from mom's kitchen. Slowly I befriended Laxmi Amma. She would fry me an extra pappad or make me an omelet. In return I would buy her jasmine flowers or get medicines for her aching knee. Each meal time I would remember 'ghar ka khana' and finish my food with a sigh. It was a lesson learnt the hard way. I remembered the words wisdom of my grandmother about God punishing children who wasted food.

Soon my semester was getting over ...... which meant that I was going home for vacation. Rather than making a list of lessons that I had to study, I made a long list of things that I wanted to eat. I would read out my wish list each time my mother would call to make sure that she remembers it all.

And the day I was home I ate like there was no tomorrow ..... everything that was on my plate !! As I licked my plate there was a burst of laughter. My mother, aunts and grandmother laughed their hearts out. It was sweet revenge !!

Preparation Time 30 minutes

Serves 3

Ingredients

Chana Daal - 3/4 cup

Potato cubed - 1 medium size

Chopped Onion - 1 tbsp

Chopped Garlic - 1 tsp

Chopped Ginger - 1 tsp

Green Chili - 2

Cinnamon - 2 inches

Cardamon - 2

Bay leaf - 1

Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/3 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1/3 tsp

Clarified Butter - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 pinch

Turmeric - 1 big pinch

Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Cilantro for garnishing

Oil for cooking

Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1 Wash daal and pressure cook till one whistle adding salt and turmeric. Keep aside.

2 Add a little oil in a kadhai. Fry the potato when the oil is hot. Fry till all the sides brown. Remove and keep aside.

3 Add some more oil if required. Add Cumin seeds, bay leaf, Cinnamon, cardamon to it and fry for a minute. Add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger. Sprinkle a little salt and fry till they are soft and there is no raw aroma.

4 Add a little turmeric, cumin powder and coriander powder. Fry for 2 -3 minutes. Add the potato and mix in. Add a little water and cover and cook till the potatoes get cooked.

5 Add the cooked daal and simmer.

6 Add butter and garam masala and stir in.

7 Before removing from heat add the shredded coconut and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serving Tips

Serve warm with rice or roti.

Notes

Do not over cook the daal. You may also opt not to add the coconut.

Let me know what Ghar ka Khana/ home made food means to you. I would love to hear it from you all .....