AMBIL - All time favourite recipe of Western Orissa

AMBIL or AMBILA is the favourite dish of Western Orissa. It is also unique to the region. This dish can be prepared very easily and good for health. It is one form of Soup or Sambar. Many variation of Ambil are prepared. However, I am writing about the most common form of this dish. I did not find the recipe anywhere in the net and decided to write about it for the benefit of everyone for easy access.

Ingredients:

- Pumpkin (Makhan), Radishes (Mula), Brinjal/EggPlant (Baingan), Drumsticks (Munga), Lady Finger/Okra (Bhindi), Tomato (Tamatar).
- Gram Flour (Besan) and Yoghurt/Curd (Dahi)
- Mustard Seeds (Soriso), Cumin Seeds (Jeera) or PanchPhoran (Mix of Five whole spices).
- Dry Red Chillis
- Curry Leaves
- Garlic

So lets start the process:

1. Cut all the vegetables (except Tomato) in suqare sizes. In a large shallow pan boil them adding turmeric powder (haldi) and salt. In western orissa we call them Dekchi. You can also use pressure cooker, but you will not get the taste. You have to boil them in medium heat.

2. In a seperate pan, fry the tomatoes with a table spoon of oil and keep it ready.

3. Pour the fried tomatoes into the boiling veggies. Ensure that the veggies are half cooked before adding the tomatoes.

4. Get a bowl and mix the Yoghurt/Curd with Gram Flour (Besan) and add water to make it consistant. Add one table spoon of Besan for four table spoon of Curd. Make it watery like butter milk.

5. Now add the mix to the boiling veggies. You can also add little bit of Salt after checking the taste. You can also add tamarind water if you want it to be sour (khata) test. You need to add the mix before the veggies are cooked. Check the mix, turn off the gas if veggies are cooked.

6.Now its time for Parjha (Hindi: Chaunk, Eng: Tempering). Take a small pan, add one or two table spoon of oil. When the oil is hot add Mustand Seed and Cumin Seeds or Panch Phoran if you have which causes it to start popping immediately. Now add fine chopped garlic and dry red chillis and Curry Leaves (Mersingha Patar). Don't over cook it, it takes a min to cook or it will burn.

7. Pour the mix to the pan in which veggies are boiling. And your Ambil is ready. Serve when hot.

Ambil can be stored for few days in fridge and eaten after heating it up. Infact if you keep the ambil for 12-24 hrs and eat later it taste great. Also there is very less oil and spices used. This dish is full of vegetables and the boiling water is not thrown out. This makes the dish very nutritious and healthy.

So do try it out and give me the feedback. Happy Cooking... DO check out the photos.... I have added which is step by step process. Boil The Vegetables Add Fried/Cooked Tomato Add Mix of Curd and Besan The Final Step of Parjha

Chai-Pakoda (Tea-Deep Fried veggies with gram flour)

When we are kids, we loved when it rained. Lot of rains ment: No School that day, stay at home and have good food, play indoor games and in the evening have Chai-Pakoda and Mudhi (Mur-Mura or Puffed Rice). I remember, one of us used to go out and get Pakoda/Samosa from the nearby hotel and return half wet. Yesterday it rained here and we had cloudy weather. We thought, lets try Chai-Pakoda for evening snack. This is very popular snack in Western Orissa. The best way to have it is with chutney. However you can have it with chilli/tamato sauce.

How to make Pakoda?

Ingridents:

1. Besan (Gram Flour)
2. Onion
3. Diced Garlic, Ginger, Green Chillis (optional)
4. Patato, Curliflower, Leafy Veggies (Diced and its optional)
5. Chilli Powder
6. Turmeric Powder
7. Garam Masala
8. Salt to taste
9. Baking Soda (pinch of it)


Process:

Mix all the ingridents together in a bowl. The mixture needs to be consistent and you need to be careful not to add too much water while mixing. You need to add little bit water at a time. The mixture needs to be thick enough to stick to the veggies.

Take a frying pan and pour any cooking oil suitable for deep frying. Ensure the oil is hot

Make small balls (it will be irregular) of the mixture with your fingers and drop to start deep frying. You need to fry till it turns golden brown. Ensure not to fry too much or it will not taste good.

So we are done... you can serve the Pakodas with any wet chutney (mint, tamato, tamarind...) or have them with ketchup.

"Pakhal" - Receipe of Western Orissa

Pakhal is the typically rice cooked and soaked in water. It is very popular in Orissa. I remember most of the people in our region eat Pakhal during summer. It is recommended during summer to avoid heat stroke. The "Basi-Pakhal" or Pakhal which is kept for 12-24 Hrs and left for fermentation is very good for summers.

There are many additions to Pakhal. It can be combined with curd, onions or fried whole masala can be added. So lets learn, how to make Pakhal.

RECEIPE:

Step 1: Cook rice and allow it to cool down. You may or may not drain the water. However, I suggest not to drain it. The water in which rice is cooked is rich in carbohydrates. For "Basi-Pakhal" you can leave it for 12-24 Hrs.

Step 2: Take some day chilli, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, two cloves of garlic fry that with litle oil.

Step 3: Pour the fried mix into Pakhal.

Step 4: Add curd into it, if you want.

Step 5: Salt to taste.

Serve Pakhal with vegetable fry, curry, fish fry or any side dish.

In Western part of Orissa, we eat Pakhal with Tamato Chutney (Patalghanta Chut Chuta), Sag (Cooked leafy herbs) and Potato Fries (Alu Bhaja).

Try cooking the simple yet great receipe...