Panas manji chuin alu bhaja

Its an authentic oriya recipe.The name "Panas manji chuin alu bhaja" suggests about the ingredients. In oriya jackfruit seeds are called Panas manji, chuin means drumstick & alu is potato.
Ingredients:

1 potato cut into 2 inch long thin slices(just like french fries)
2 drumsticks cut into 2 inch long slices
few jack fruit seeds(sun dried for 4 to 5 days & cut into half)
2tspoon mustard seeds
1/2 t spoon cumin
2 to 3 whole dry red chillies
Salt as per taste & little bit turmeric powder
refined oil

Procedure:

First make a paste of mustard seeds, cumin & whole dry red chillies adding a little bit of water. Wash the vegetables. In a pressure cooker put all the vegetables . Add the paste. Add some salt & turmeric powder. Mix it & close the lid. After a single whistle remove it from flame. In a pan add little bit of oil. Add some cumin seeds & 1 whole red chili. Then add the vegetables & saute it for 2-3 minutes.
Now its ready to serve.Its usually served with rice, dalma & tomato or mango khata.

Paneer Ball Manchurian

I got this recipe through a tv show.I tried this one & i liked it.So i thought to share this one.
Ingredients:
For paneer balls-

Crushed paneer-50 gm
2 boiled potatoes
Salt as per taste
A pinch of chilli powder
1/2 tspoon refined flour
1/2 tspoon corn flour
Oil for frying

For Manchurian-
1 onion cut into thin long slices
1 green chili cut into thin long slices
4 to 5 garlic cloves cut into thin small pieces
2 tspoon tomato ketchup
1/2 tspoon chilly sauce
1/2 tspoon soya sauce
salt
1/2 tspoon chicken masala or any curry powder
1/2 tspoon garam masala
little bit of turmeric & chili powder
finely chopped coriander leaves

Procedure:-

First make a dough of all the ingredients except oil. Then heat oil in a kadai.Make small balls of that dough & deep fry till the paneer balls became red.It looks just like gulabjamuns.

Then add little bit of oil in a pan.Saute the onions , green chili &garlic cloves for 2 mins. Then add turmeric powder, little bit of salt ,chili powder,chicken masala, garam masala & all the sauces. Then add paneer balls. Saute for 1 minute. Sprinkle coriander leaves & remove from flame.Its now ready to serve.
Try this one & let me know your feedback.If u have all the ingredients ready then it'll be prepared within 10 minutes.

Chicken Roll

I am very fond of chicken roll. So one day I made some rolls. Surprisingly my husband and his friends loved it. Chicken roll is a very popular street food in Orissa. Many people also know it as Frankie. But I still love the chicken rolls which can be found at any roadside food stalls in my home town Cuttack. So I will share my secret.

In short a "Chicken Roll" is tortillas made of flour wrapped with egg with a filling of chicken, keemas or vegetables are called chicken rolls.

Ingredients:(To make 6-7 rolls)
For Dough:

• 250 gm refined flour
• salt as per taste
• water as required

For filling:

• eggs (1 per each refined flour rotis)
• boneless chicken- 250 gm cut into small pieces
• curd- 1 tb spoon
• chilli powder as per taste
• chicken masala -1 tspoon
• turmeric powder -1/2 tspoon
• garam masala -1/2 tspoon
• ginger garlic paste-1 tspoon
• salt as per taste
• 2 onions cut into long thin slices

For garnishing:

• 1 big onion cut into long thin slices
• 1 small portion of cabbage cut into long thin slices(optional)
• 1 green chilli cut into small pieces
• a pinch of bllack pepper powder
• 1 spoon tomato ketch up
• little bit chilli sauce

Procedure:
First knead the dough using all the ingredients for dough. Then make thin rotis of the dough.
Marinate the chicken with curd,red chilli powder,turmeric powder, chicken masala, ginger garlic paste & salt. Keep it aside for 1 hour.After 1 hr put oil in a kadai, then add the chicken to the oil.
Let it cook for few minutes until the chickens are cooked.Add garam masala.Remove it from kadai. then add little more oil & saute the onions & ginger garlic paste till golden brown . Then add the chicken. After 2 -3 minutes remove it from flame.
Then in a bowl whip 1 egg with little salt, red chilli powder & turmeric powder.Then put little oil in a pan.Spread the oil in the pan. Then add the egg mixture on the pan & then place the roti on that egg mixture.When cooked turn it around. Then remove it from flame. Place it on a small sheet of paper with the egg side on top.Then spread tomato ketchup, chilli sauce & put the chicken masala.then sprinkle some black pepper powder.Put some thin sliced onions & chiilis & make it like a roll. Now your roll is ready to serve.

Enjoy your roll and share your experiences as well.

"Youth For Seva"

Last year during the teach india campaign of toi i came across "Youth For Seva".YFS is a ngo working in Bangalore & surrounding areas. They are also an integral part of Teach India campaign. They provide a platform for youth to contribute to the social cause. This I found to be ideal for professionals. They undertake various projects in schools, orphanages & hospitals in different areas of Bangalore. Anyone who wants to join only have to spend a few hrs in a week/month according to their availability. You can choose the locality and the organization. They have a mailing list which keeps you informed about their activities. For further details visit their website www.youthforseva.org

Ghanta Tarkari

Today I am writing about a vegetarian recipe which is very popular in Orissa, specially during the festive days. Ghanta tarkari has 2 variations , one with onions & another without onions. We don't use onions as it is made during the puja & also offered to the Gods. Ghanta means mixed in Oriya. So it's a mixed vegetable recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized potatoes peeled & cut into large cubes.
• 100gm pumpkin cut into large cubes.
• 50 gm arum(saru) peeled & cut
• 50 gm yam(desi alu) peeled & cut
• 50 gm parwal/potol
• 50 gm brinjal
• 4 french beans
• 4 long beans/jhudanga
• 50 gm lima beans /shimba
• 1 carrot
• 1 cup scrapped coconut
• 1/2 cup sprouted moong
• 1/2 cup soaked & boiled brown channa
• jeera & red chilli powder (roast 2 teaspoon of jeera along with 3 whole red chillies. Then grind it coarsely.)
• grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon jeera & 2 whole red chillies
• bay leaves (tej patta)
• salt & turmeric powder & chilly powder as required

Process:

Cut all the vegetables into 1 inch sized cubes.Then wash them properly.Then put a heavy bottomed pan on gas. Add 2 tablespoon oil.
Then add whole jeera & red chillies. Then add all the vegetables along with sprouted moong & brown channa dal.Then add tej patta, salt & turmeric powder & a little chillie powder. Add little water. Cover it & stir occasionally.
When all the vegetables are properly boiled add grated ginger ,roasted jeera & red chilli powder. After 2 minutes add grated coconut & remove from the gas.
Ghanta Tarkkari is ready to serve.Its best accompanied by plain rice & toor dal along with tomato kahjoor khatta.Its a very healthy recipe as it uses less oil & very less spices.

Ghanta tarkari with onion:

Make a paste of onion, ginger , garlic & red chillies.Fry the paste in oil & then add chopped tomatoes or tomato puree. Then add all the vegetables to this masala paste & also add lentils.All the rest processes are same.

Teach India

When last year the Times of India group initiated the "Teach India" campaign, I was excited to join the program. When this year i saw the advertisement i decided to join as i had time.
I registered in their website. The venue for the induction program was The Indus International School. The date was 19Th July 2009. I was given time at 10 am.We started at 9:30 am as the school was mentioned to be in sarajapur from the mail i got from times group.But the school was on Billapur cross , around 15 kms from sarajapur main road.So i got late. I reached the school at 10:20 am.I was feeling bad. i don't like to be late.
The school is a beautiful place far away from the city's pollution. We were told by the security guard to go to the first floor of primary block. When i reached there i found that the times group people has not come yet. I was relaxed. I thought that then i am not late.

There are around 100-150 participants are there & people from two ngos named "Outreach" and "youth for seva" are there. Neither these people nor the school management have any information regarding times group people or when they were going to came. So they decided to start their program. First the secretary of outreach gave a long speech.They are dealing with the children of migrant labourers in Bangalore. From his speech i could only feel that he's there to collect donation for his organisation. Then their director also gave speech .Then one of there teacher demonstrated how they teach those children. She was narrating everything in Kannada. She couldn't speak any other language. Most of the people present there including me doesn't understand Kannada. I felt pity about those migrant children's whose mother tongues are something different. I don't know how they understand her teaching.
When their presentation started getting longer and longer people get bored and told them to come to the point. So they finished rather stopped their presentation.

Then the member of another ngo youth for seva gave their presentation. He was to the point. He said that their organisation was also part of last year's teach India campaign. He then collected participants details. Then they informed us that we'll be contacted by them. He also gave a list of organisations and hospitals with whom they are associated so that you can choose any of them as per your convenience.Then the induction program was finished. To my surprise The times of India people were still hadn't come. Left the place at 1:30 in the afternoon.

So far i have received no response from the organisers. I am also feeling let down by the apathy shown by the TOI representatives. Being the sponsors for this it was their responsibility for showing respect for the people who had turned up. Since it is a nobel cause and I have always wanted to be associated with something like this, I am hoping I can become part of this movement. Hail Teach India!!

Nandi Hills

Last Saturday my husband & I visited Nandi hills. Its around 75 kms from our place. The road leading to Devanhalli from our place is scenic and very beautiful. So we decided to go by bike. We started at 6:30 in the morning. We reached Devanhalli in 1 hr. We had a good breakfast at hotel shanthi sagar . Then we started for nandi hills.Its around 25 kms from Devanhalli.
The nandi hills are located at 5970ft above the sea level. As we approached the Nandi Hills the temperature dropped suddenly. Within moments we were lost into this world of greenery. Around 8:30 we reached there. Its an ideal destination to spend your weekend far from the pollution and traffic of Bangalore. Amidst the beauty of nature I felt like being in the laps of mother nature.
We first visited Tippu's summer residence on top of this hill. There is a beautiful big water pond named Amrutha sarovar. There is a beautiful garden and children's play area. There is also a temple.Inside the temple there is also a beautiful well maintained pond. There is also a public guest house named Nehru Nilaya surrounded with beautiful gardens. Here a white stone sculptured Nehru stood in front of the Nilaya. In 1986 the SAARC summit was held here.
Above all, the breathtaking views ignite your senses. The cool breeze lets you unwind. Roaming amidst the tall trees we enjoyed the nature at its best. The lovely surroundings touched us magically. Amongst the chirping of birds, the passing clouds which carassed us, the beautiful weather, the cool breeze everything let us feel how close we were to nature. As the day slowly grows we started to feel the warmth of sun.
There are few restaurants on top of this hill. One is hotel Mayur which is run by KSTDC. The view from the restaurant was great. But in the menu card we didn't find any tea or coffee. Tea & coffees are replaced by many cocktails. So we had to leave that restaurant . Then we went to an open air restaurant in front of that hotel to have some tea.