I had dish long back in a restaurant in India. And couple of days back when we were almost out of vegetables in our kitchen with just some frozen stuff in the refrigerator, I thought of trying out this dish. Checked couple of recipes in net, and tried it out with some variations of mine. The dish came out pretty good, with comments from my friends as: it tasted somewhat like veg kurma (Chennai style).

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium potatoes - chopped into small cubes
2. Cut beans - 1 cup
3. Carrot cut into small cubes - 1 cup
4. Cauliflower (small florets) - 1 cup
5. Green peas - 1/2up
6. Onion - 2 medium
7. tomatoes - 2 medium
8. Cashew - 8-10 nos
9. Green chili - 3-4 nos
10. Cumin seeds - 1 spoon
11. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 table spoon
12. Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch
13. Cardamom - 2-3 nos

Preparation:

1. Fry the vegetables in one tablespoon of oil for some time. Cover it and cook in medium heat for sometime till the vegetables become tender.

2. Fry green chili, and cashew in little oil. Grind it along with one onion, 2 tomatoes, ginger garlic paste.

3. Take out the vegetables from the pan, and keep in a separate bowl. Heat some more oil in the pan, add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom. Add diced onion after a minute and fry it till golden brown.

4. Once the onion is fried, add the paste that was prepaed earlier. Add some turmeric powder (optional), and chili powder (according to taste, if required) and fry the paste until the oil separates. Mix it frequently and add 2-3 tablespoons of warm water if required, to ensure it does not get stuck on the bottom of the pan.

5. Once the masala is done, add the vegetables and mix it for sometime. Add a cup of warm water, cover it and let it boil for 5-10 minutes in low to medium heat. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This can be served with rice or chapati.

This is something my Mom prepares almost every Monday, as we are supposed eat 'Satwik' food on that day of the week. Well, as a kid I used to hate it (because of lack of spices in it), but as I grew up and went out to stay in hostel for studying.. I started missing it.

And then when I started working and took my own apartment, I prepared it and made my non-oriya friends have it with rice, they loved it. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Moong dal - 200 gms
2. Vegetable of your choice (preferably drumstick, plantain, potato, beans, pumpkin etc)- 250 gms
3. Tomato - 1 medium
4. Cumin seeds - 3 teaspoons
5. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
6. Ginger- 1 inch
7. Dry red chillies- 4/5
8. Ghee - for garnish
9. Turmeric - 1 teaspoon
10.Salt - to taste

Preparation:

• Roast moong dal in a wide pan, stir continuously so that it does not get burnt. Roast till it is light brown. Soak it in water for sometime(5-10 mins).
• Wash and cut the vegetables into 1 cm cubes, cut the tomato into half. Pressure cook* the dal and vegetables adding some salt and turmeric, (also the half cut tomato).
• Meanwhile roast 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds and 3-4 red chillies, grind them to a coarse powder and keep aside.
• Once the dal and vegetables are cooked (let it cook in the steam in the pressure cooker for sometime, after turning the heat off), open the pressure cooker and keep aside the two halfs of tomatos in a bowl.
• Heat ghee in a pan, add cumin and mustard seeds, one red chilly. Once the seeds start spluttering, add minced ginger (optional: finely chopped onion can also be added) and fry it for couple of minutes. Put the boiled tomato, and fry it for about 5 minutes.
• Now the bolied dal and vegetables can be added, into it. Once the dal comes to boil, add the cumin and chilli powder, cover it and let it cook for another 10 minutes in medium heat.
• Serve it hot with rice.

*Instead of pressure cooking, the dal and vegetables can be microwaved also.

I got introduced to this word "Potluck", when couple of weeks back I got a calendar invite in my Outlook (mail) for a Potluck from my manager, while I was visiting my business client's office.  The word was completely new to me and to be honest I did not get a chance to look for this word on dictionary. From the invite description, I could be quite sure though, it was a lunch party.  My curious mind had to wait till I was taken across the dining hall, by my manager.

So there it was, all different dishes; soups and salads, appetizers, main course and of course desserts, served on dining area. Everything was homemade, and served in vessels of different shape and sizes.  First thing that came to my mind, was the picnics we used to have, when we were kids.  Our class teacher divides the class into groups, and decides what food which group has to bring.  Moms used to cook and pack it in large boxes, and everyone used to bring those for the picnic, venues for which usually were some nearby park or zoo. Boy! It used to be so much fun.

Back at home I could not stop myself from browsing the net to find more about this word - Potluck. Its dictionary meaning explains it quite well; a meal, esp. for a large group, to which participants bring various foods to be shared.  The origin as well as usage of this word is few hundred years old.  Though the usage is more American, the word has an English origin, its root words being 'pot' and 'luck' (of course!).  The earlier usage, basically meant food served to the guests, without any grand effort spent by the host to prepare it. More like, whatever one is lucky to get in the pot, food that is available at the host's kitchen.

With passage of time, Potluck was being used for group dinners among communities or religious groups.  Where cost of food and effort spent for preparation was shared among everyone, and usually planned earlier to cover all basic courses of meals. Amount of food brought by individuals should suffice to cater to a large portion of guests, if not all. Though because of large verify of food available, consumption of each dish becomes rather less.

These days, Potlucks have become pretty famous among the working younger generation or even for parties/lunches at work.  Mostly because, this is easier to plan and arrange for, as the host/hostess does not have to put a humongous effort to throw a party and yet it turns out to be an interesting get together. Where everyone gets a mouthful of a whole different variety and taste of food; usually consisting of all courses of meal.

But even Potluck parties, need some amount of planning for it to become a hit.  The host/hostess needs to plan ahead the party, and let the guests or participants know about specific course of the meal or drinks they need to bring,  and the approximate number of people expected for the party.  Utensils for serving, sitting arrangements, and providing basic drinks like water or soft drink becomes the host's responsibility. Also the main dish or at least one of the main dishes is usually prepared and served by the host.  So keeping these few things in mind and doing a little bit of planning ahead, can make the Potluck parties real fun for everyone.

Ribbed gourd or Chinese Okra or Jhina (Hindi)is not a very popular vegetable. I personally never used to like its taste either, but few days back we tried out some recipe with it and it came out real good. This one is easy to cook and tastes great with chapati.

Ingredients:

• Ribbed gourd : 2-3 nos
• Peanuts : 1/2 cup
• Onion : 1 medium
• Garlic : 2-3 pods
• Ginger : 1/2 inch
• Green Chilli : 2-3
• Red chilli : 1-2
• Cumin - 2 teaspoons
• Mustard seeds : 1 teaspoon
• Oil to cook
• Salt to taste

Procecss:

1. Wash, peel and cut the ribbed gourd into small pieces. (1 cm cube)
2. Dice the onion, garlic and ginger, slice the green chillis inti thin and long pieces.
3. Roast the peanuts, one red chilli and one spoon of cumin seeds and gring it with little water to make a thick paste.
4. Heat a table spoon of oil in a wide pan and saute the ribbed gourd it it gets tender (this vegetable is already tender).
5. Heat oil in a separate pan, and saute the remaining cimun, mustard seeds, green chilli and onion.
6. Once onion slight brown, add garlic and ginger.
7. Once the spices are fries properly, add the paste and cook in medium heat for sometime. Add some water in the meantime, if it gets stuck to the pan.
8. After the paste is cooked for about 5-10 mins, the suated ribbed gourd can be added and mixed well with the gravy.
9. Add 1 and half cup of warm water and cover the pan and cook for about 10 mins.

Try it out hot with chapati.

A simple recipe, useful for those times when your are neither inclined towards cooking nor do you have time for it but still need to feed your growling stomach.

Ingredients (Serves two-three people)

• Rice - 1 cup
• Toor Dal - 1 cup
• Garlic(finely chopped) - 2 - 3 pods
• Green Chillies(finely chopped) - 2-3
• Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
• Water - 3.5 cups

Process:

1.  Put oil in a pan
2. Add jeera and fry it for sometime
3. Add chopped grlic, green chillies and fry it till the garlic becomes reddish brown in colour
4. Add rice and dal and pressure cook for two-three whistles

You can have it with curd or pickle or any curry of your choice.

Ingrediants:

• Radish : 2-3 nos
• Wheat flour (Atta) : 2 cups
• Onion :1 medium
• Green Chilli :3-4 nos
• Coriander Leaf
• Lemon : 1 no
• Salt to taste
• Oil to fry

Preparation:

• Grate the radish. Chop the onion, green chillis and coriander leaf. Mix them with the radish,along with juice of the lemon and salt to taste.
• Mix them well,and squeeze the juice of the mix. Keep it ina separate vessel. Make small balls to be used as stuffing.
• Take the wheat flour in a big bowl, and prepare a dough using the radish juice.
• Make small balls of that dough, flatten it, put the stuffing in and make round parathas using some wheat flour helps not to stuck to the surface.
• Heat the frying pan. Cook the paratha, once the paratha is half cooked, fry the paratha with oil.

Enjoy hot Muli paratha with curd, pickle and chutney.

Time of preparation: 15-20 mins

Ingredients:

• Paneer (Cottage cheese)
• Besan (Gram flour) : 1 cup
• Ginger : 1 inches
• Garlic : 2-3 pods
• Green Chillis(Jalopenos): 2-3 nos
• Coriander leaf
• Red chilli powder : 1 tea spoon
• Salt to taste
• Oil to fry

Preparation:

• Put Paneer into fingers 2-3 inches long, sprinkle some salt and clilli power,mix it and keep aside.
• Mix the besan, with half a cup of water, green chillis, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, salt to taste in a mixer (food processer) till it becomes a smooth paste. Keep aside in a bowl.
• Heat oil in a pan, dip the paneer in the batter and fry it till light brown (do not deep fry).Serve it hot with mint chutney and tomato sauce.

It was my friend’s birthday and we wanted to celebrate trying some new cuisine. Finally we agreed upon a Lebanese restaurant about a mile from home. It was a warm but nice evening, so we decided to walk down to this place.

The restaurant was a cozy place, decorated with lovely paintings and woven curtains and adorned with lovely carpets.  I browsed through the menu, there were 'Mezze' (appetizers) and main course.  They had ample of vegetarian dishes to choose from, in both the sections.  That is something astounding in a restaurant, usually vegetarians do not have much to choice when eating out.  The non-veg section had more of fish, seafood and poultry, lamb was the only animal meat in the menu. 

Lebanese cuisine would be a part of the Mediterranean delicacy.  Though the middle eastern cuisines are similar in names and to some extent in the basic ingredients, the spices, preparation method and as a result taste vary.  Lebanese food is a perfect combination of rice and bread, lots of fresh vegetables, fish and sea food.  Olive oil and garlic are the signature of this cuisine. Another noticeable ingredient would be grape leaves, it is used abundantly used in salads and wraps.  Not many sauces are used in cooking; the spices and herbs are used for flavor generally. 

Few main dishes that are part of Lebanese cuisine;

• Pita – Pita is a double layered wheat flat bread, used in main course usually, and is served with the main dish.
• Hummus - It’s a dip made of chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic and other spices. It can scooped with pita bread as an appetizer or it accompanies the main course as a dressing.
• Fattoush - This is a salad made up of fresh seasonal garden vegetables and toasted/ fried pieces of pita bread. Lemon juice, herbs and olive oil is used for the flavoring.
• Baba ghanoush - This main course dish is made with fried eggplant and chickpeas and served in gravy of onion, tomato and some other spices.  This is usually served with rice.
• Falafel - This is a fried ball or flat patty made of beans or chickpeas.  Optionally it can contain meat, and is used as a stuffing for pita bread. Falafal is a street food in Middle East countries.
• Grape Leaves (Dolma) - Grape leaves are extensively used in salads,  otherwise they are used to wraps, containing  the minced vegetables as tomato & peppers or even meat. These wraps are served with yoghurt. 
• Kibbeh - It is made up of minced lamb meat, bulgur wheat and various spices. The minced meat is kneed with the wheat and spices and then it is either baked or deep fried, then served with fresh yoghurt. Kibbeh is the national dish of Lebanon.
• Shawarma - this is a sandwich made of shaved meat, which is already marinated and grilled. Along with the thin slices of meat, herbs and essentially olive oil goes into the pita bread to make this dish. It is served with fresh garlic sauce.  This is another street food/ fast food in Lebanon.
• Baklava - Baklava is the famous sweet dish of middle east cuisine again, this pastry is made up of layers of a special dough called phyllo (flour, water and little oil/butter) filled with nuts and sweetened with sugar and honey.

We tried out the Fattoush, Baba Ghanoush and Chicken Shawarma.  With a complimentary basket of pita bread and fresh yoghurt seasoned with spices. We wanted to try out Baklava, as I had heard a lot about this dessert, but it was our bad luck Baklava was not available in that restaurant.  But food was amazing, and it was different than any other cuisine I tried till now.  On way back home,  I was wondering, the same basic ingredients rice, wheat, vegetables and meat; how the spices and preparation method make is so very different. Across the world….thousand of different cuisines.  Mystifying, isn't it?