AARISA PITHA

Ingredients:
2 cups rice (chaula)
1 cup sugar (chini)
litre refined cooking oil (rifaain tela)
Method:
Soak the rice in water for about 2 to 3 hours. Wash it with water and then drain all the water. Keep the rice in room temperature to dry
for about 2 to 3 minutes. Grind it to make a semi-rough powder of it by using a grinder. Heat cup of water and add 1 cup of sugar.
As you go on stirring on medium flame, the boiling water forms a syrup. The syrup should be consistent. Slowly add 2 cups of rice
powder to the syrup and stir continuously to form a batter. Take the batter in small portions and flatten the same with the help of your
palms in the shape of small thick puris/ kachoris . Fry the thick puris (pithas) in oil till they become golden brown. Take them out and
serve hot. The pitha also tastes great when served after cooling. A hard pitha may also be preserved in room temperature for about two
weeks. (Feedbck from a visitor says that she couldnt prepare this pitha in proper manner after following the steps. The solution lies in
getting the right consistency (paga) of the dough that you get after adding sugar syrup to the rice powder.
MANDA PITHA
Ingredients:
2 cups of crushed rice (chaula chuna)
3 cups of milk (khira)
1 cup of finely grated coconut (nadia kora)
cup sugar (chini)
5-6 small cardamom (aleicha)
1 teaspoon black pepper powder (gol maricha)
salt to taste (luna)
Method:
Stuffing Mix finely grated coconut and sugar in a heated frying pan. Add cardamom and black pepper powder and mix thoroughly.
Pitha Heat milk. Add salt to the milk. Prepare dough by adding crushed rice to the boiling milk. Stir it continuosly and boil further until you
get a thick dough. Keep the dough in room temperature and knead it by adding one spoon oil to make it more soft. Form 8 to 10 balls
by rolling them with the help of your palms. Flatten each ball and place the stuffing in it. Close the flattened balls after putting the
stuffing and carefully give them a rounded shape again. Steam the stuffed balls for 3-4 minutes in a steamer. Put them on a sizzler
plate and serve hot. It may also be seved in room temperature.
Variation:
You may also prepare another variety of Manda Pitha where semolina (suji) is used instead of crushed rice. This is known as Suji
Manda. Follow the steps mentioned above. But replace 2 cups crushed rice with 2 cups of semolina. However in this case use a little
more milk (say 4 cups).
PODA PITHA
Ingredients:
300gm Rice (chaula)
150gm black gram without outer skin (chopa-chhada biri)
1 cup finely scrubbed coconut (nadia kora)
10-15 small pieces of thin coconut slices (nadia khandi)
200gm sugar (chini)
50gm chopped ginger (kata ada)
bowl of cashew nut broken into pieces ( khandi kaju)
1 table spoon ghee or refined oil (ghia / refain tela)
teaspoon salt (luna)
1 teaspoon baking powder (baking powder)
Method:
Soak the rice and black gram in water in separate bowls for about 4 hours. Wash them thoroughly. Put the black gram with water in
the grinder and form a fine batter. Do the same with rice too but keep in mind that the batter should be coarse and not as fine as the
batter of black gram. Mix both the batters and add coconut slices, grated coconut, chopped ginger, salt, sugar, cashew nuts and baking
powder. Mix all the ingredients well and keep it covered for about 2 hours for self-fermentation. Pre-heat the pressure cooker. Form a
thin layer of oil on all the inner surface of the cooker. Now pour the mixed batter into the cooker and close the lid (without mounting
the whistle-weight). Place the pressure cooker in simmer flame for about one hour. Now your hot poda pitha is ready. When the
cooker comes to normal temperature take out the pitha carefully, and cut it into desired shapes and serve. (Note: Instead of pressure
cooker, oven may also be used)

KAKARA PITHA
Ingredients:
For dough (khali):
4-cups wheat flour (ata)
2-cups sugar (chini)
litre refined oil (rifaain tela)
For stuffing:
Grated coconut-1 cup (nadia kora)
cup sugar (chini)
1 teaspoon aniseed (pana-madhuri)
1 teaspoon black pepper (gol maricha)
4 cloves small cardamom (chhota aleicha)
Method:
For Dough
Add cup water to table-spoon wheat flour to make a paste. Heat 5 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a frying pan. Add the
paste to the pan when the sugar solution becomes saturated and stir well. Make sure that no lump is formed while stirring. Leave the
pan on the flame for 2 minutes for the mixture to boil. Now add rest of the flour to the mixture and lower the flame. Stir it properly.
Now transfer the mixture from pan to a flat plate. Knead to make a smooth dough by adding 1 tablespoon of refined oil. The refined
oil prevents formation of lumps.
For Stuffing
Roast aniseed, black pepper and cardamom and then powder them. Fry grated coconut and sugar in a frying pan. Do not add oil. Add
the powdered ingredients to it and stir. The stuffing is ready.
Make small balls of the dough. Flatten each ball and put the stuffing on it and again form a ball so that the stuffing remains at the
center. Now flatten the balls to give it the shape of a kachori. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the flattened balls till it becomes golden
brown. Your kakara pitha is ready to serve.
Variation:
A small variation in the above recipe may be made to prepare modak (also known as manda pitha in certain areas of Orissa). The
difference lies only in the final shape of the pitha. At the end of the procedure, instead of flattening the balls to give them the shape of
kachori, leave them in the shape of round shaped balls and fry as stated. Your modak / manda is ready.
orissa bread
Nadia Chitau Pitha
Ingredients
Arua Chaula / Rice - 3/4 cup
Nadia / Coconut, grated - 3/4 cup
Luna / Salt - 1/2 tsp (as per your taste
Refine Tela / Refined Oil as required
How to make Nadia Chitau Pitha
Soak the rice in water for 2 hrs. Grate the coconut and keep it aside.
Grind the drained rice with grated coconut with just enough water. Add salt and leave it for 1 hr. (Check notes)
Add water to make a thin batter out of it.
Heat oil in a tawa, pour some batter into it, and cover it.
After couple of minutes, remove from flame
Serve hot with boiled milk, dalma or any spicy curry.
Notes:
3/4 cup of rices gives about 1 & 1/2 cup rice after soaking.
Make the batter thin, so that you can easily spread the batter by just swirling the tawa.
The recipes mentions that this should be coved with lid covered, and not flipped on the upper portion.
After grinding, the batter was refrigerated. So that it doesn't get fermented but is ready to be used.

Paratha or Paranthas are often made for breakfast or as a tiffin box to go with pickle. Parathas are made in every house. Every home as
its own way or method of making parathas.Basically, Parathas are a category of Indian Breads. There are also stuffed parathas likealoo
paratha, gobi paratha, mooli paratha and paneer paratha which i make often.I usually make parathas when I make a rich gravied dish
like paneer butter masala,punjabi chole, malai kofta or shahi paneer. Parathas also goes well with lemon or mango pickle or you can
have them with a cup of hot tea too. some people like to dip them in tea and then enjoy eating them.I use this technique of making
plain parathas very often. I call it the folding technique for making parathas. I make parathas as mentioned in this post or the lachedar
parathas. The Lachedar Paratha recipe is on the following link: Lachedar Paratha
For the Plain Paratha you will need:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp oil or ghee
salt and water as required
Lets Start Step by Step Plain Paratha Recipe:
1. Combine all the dry ingredients for the dough. Add water, ghee and form a smooth dough. Add more water or ghee if required.
Cover the dough and keep aside. The dough should be pliable and soft. not hard.
2. Roll the paratha into a disc of 3-4 inch diameter.
3. Apply ghee on this disc.
4. Fold the paratha as shown in the pic below.
5. Now again Apply ghee on this fold
6. Again fold the paratha.
7. Now sprinkle some wheat flour and roll the double folded dough into a triangular or square shaped parathas or circular shaped
parathas (the last one requires a little bit of practice ). You could apply ghee and fold once more into a triangle if you wish too.
8. Fry the Parathas on griddle or tava with ghee or oil. Dont fry the parathas on low heat otherwise they will become hard. The
griddle or tava should also be hot enough before you put paratha for frying.
You have to fry both sides of paratha until they are completely cooked or you see some brown spots as shown in first pic above. Care
must be taken that the edges of paratha are cooked well. You can press the edges with spatula or spoon to do this and use enough oil or
ghee to fry them.
aan recipe without yeast an easy naan recipe which was in drafts for many months. was not updating as the pics were not that good.
made naan many times after that, but was just was not able to click. so decided to update this naan without yeast recipe as i have many
requests for this one.
whenever we go to a restaurant then most of the time we end up ordering naan with a curry dish. knowing very well that it will be
probably made with all purpose flour (maida) and not good for health. but what to do. naan tastes so well with curry dishes that you
end up loosening your guard about eating healthy food. once in a while we all like to relax our guard and relish fried food or other
supposed to be unhealthy food.naan is one such yummy dish that make you forget about all purpose flour :-). i do make whole wheat
naan, but sometimes the family wants soft textured naans made with all purpose flour, the way they serve in restaurants. so the trick
for me it to combine both whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. in this recipe, i have used 2: 1 proportion of whole wheat flour and
all purpose flour. but you can use 1:1 or even 3:1.if you are very conscious about eating whole wheat flour only, then you can check
my recipe of whole wheat naan made with yeast and the butter naan recipe made with yeast. i have one more naan recipe with
yeast where the naans have really puffed up like pita breads.preferably naan should be eaten hot. as once it cools down then it
becomes dense, hard and loses its taste. atleast the restaurant ones become like that. not this recipe. the naan remain soft even when
they become warm or cool down. there are many versionnaan like garlic naan, cheese naan each having their own flavors and
admirers.naan goes very well with curry dishes like dal makhani, paneer butter masala, shahi paneer, punjabi chole etc.this naan
recipe has been adpated from the cookbook 1000 great indian recipes (India| US). i usually make naan with yeast, but wanted to try
without yeast and this recipe was a success. after that made a few times too.

lets start the step by step naan recipe without yeast:

1. add water, milk and yogurt in a bowl. add sugar.
2. mix till smooth.
3. sieve the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. mix the sieved flour with the milk + yogurt + water mixture. knead to a smooth dough.
5. cover with a wet cloth and keep aside for 10 minutes.
6. after 10 minutes, add oil to the dough
7. and knead the dough again.
8. cover with the same moist cloth and keep aside for 2 hours, till the dough leavens.
9. make medium sized balls of the dough. roll a small circle.
10. sprinkle some onion seeds or kalonji on the rolled dough.
11. roll into a four or five inches round circle.
12. naan bread ready to be placed on a hot tava or griddle.
13. place the naan on a hot tava or griddle. partly cook both the sides of the naan on the tava.
14. then place the naan with the help of tongs on fire and cook both the sides till they get browned and slightly charred. you can also
cook them on the pan itself with or with out oil/ghee/butter.
15. when the naan gets slightly charred and browned, remove the naan and apply some butter, ghee or oil on the naan. you can have
them plain also.
serve the naan hot or warm with your favorite curry dish like malai kofta, palak paneer or dals like dal tadka, dry fry. in the pics, the
naans are served with methi chole (chickpea fenugreek curry).
Cakes
Manda Pitha : Steamed Rice Cakes
It was on the days that she was fasting that she would usually make pithas. Pithas are a broad category of fried or steamed (and
sometimes baked) cakes (for the want of a better word) made with a variety of flours usually with a sweet filling inside. Though these
are sweet, they are not considered desserts and you will not find them at the mitha dokan (sweet shop). They are made exclusively at
home, usually during festivals or certain fasts. And with most things cooked during the day of the fast, these would first
be anointed with tulsi leaves (holy basil) and offered to the Gods, and only then would we be allowed to have our share. Manda pitha
is a steamed pitha made with rice flour (or paste, as I have done here) with a sweet coconut filling inside. The recipe for the filling
that I have used is the most basic one. Every home has its own signature take and sort of builds up on this, embellishing it with a
variety of things. So in some homes they add a handful of channa dal, cooked al dente to the coconut mixture, while in some others
they add some crumbled chhenna (paneer/cottage cheese). Some even spice it up with some crushed pepper which, if you ask me
really adds some kick to the mixture. These pithas can be had just by themselves, or as a part of a whole meal. They go well with
the quintessential Oriya dish called Dalma. You could even serve them with some kheer, or even team it up with a hot curry.
Ingredients:

Rice : 1 1/2 cups

Milk: 1 1/2 cups
Water: 1 cup
Jaggery
Coconut (grated)
Salt : a pinch or two
Cardamom : 2-3 pods
Cashewnuts : 5-6
Raisins : a small handful
Ghee: 2-3 teaspoons
pineapple cake

This is a bit before my time, but I have vague nursery memories of a friend of my grandmother's making a version of this, which she
would serve with a warm sauce made of pineapple juice thickened with - I imagine - cornflour. That I can do without, but I am still of
the mind that it is perfectly all right to make this with canned pineapple rings. I feel it is slightly bad sport to start peeling and slicing
your own pineapple.
Anyway, canned pineapple is just fine, though I advise going for the one in its own juice rather than in syrup, and I add some of the
juice to the sponge, too. This seems to make it light and fluffy.
Ingredients
butter (for greasing)
2 tablespoons sugar
6 slices canned pineapple in juice (plus 3 tablespoons of the juice)
11 glace cherries (approx. 75g total weight)
100 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100 grams soft butter
100 grams caster sugar
2 large eggs
Method

1.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6/400F. Butter a tarte Tatin tin (24cm/9 inches wide at the top and 20cm/8 inches diameter at the
bottom) or use a 23cm / 8-9 inch cake tin (neither loose-bottomed nor springform).

2.

Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base, and then arrange the pineapple slices to make a circular pattern as in
the picture.

3.

Fill each pineapple ring with a glace cherry, and then dot one in each of the spaces in between.

4.

Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, butter, caster sugar and eggs into a food processor and run the motor until the batter
is smooth. Then pour in the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to thin it a little.
Pour this mixture carefully over the cherry-studded pineapple rings; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently.

5.
6.

Bake for 30 minutes, then ease a spatula around the edge of the tin, place a plate on top and, with one deft - ha! - move, turn it upsidedown.
Basic Vanilla Cake
This moist single-layer vanilla cake has a delicate texture and delectable crumb, but it's the old-fashioned browned-butter glaze that
gives it a nutty flavor. Use this Basic Vanilla Cake batter for Cupcakes Americana, Old-Fashioned Jam Cake, and Crunchy Coffee
Cake as well.

1 1/2 cup(s) sifted cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 cup(s) (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup(s) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1/2 cup(s) whole milk
Directions

1.
2.

3.
4.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8-inch cake pan with butter and dust with all-purpose flour. Sift the cake flour, baking
powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Beat in the butter one heaping 1/4 teaspoonful at a time, using an electric mixer set on low speed, until the mixture resembles coarse
sand. Beat in the sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles fine damp sand. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the
vanilla and milk, and beat on medium-high, just until blended. Do not overbeat.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in
the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
Un-mold and cool completely. Ice with Browned-Butter Glaze.
chocolate cake
Perfect for birthdays, this is a great recipe for an easy, foolproof chocolate cake. Its moist and fudgy and will keep well for 4-5 days.
Ingredients
For the cake

225g/8oz plain flour

350g/12oz caster sugar
85g/3oz cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 free-range eggs
250ml/9fl oz milk
125ml/4fl oz vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
250ml/9fl oz boiling water
For the chocolate icing

200g/7oz plain chocolate

200ml/7fl oz double cream
Preparation method

1.
2.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins.
For the cake, place all of the cake ingredients, except the boiling water, into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, or electric
whisk, beat the mixture until smooth and well combined.
Add the boiling water to the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth. (The cake mixture will now be very liquid.)
Divide the cake batter between the sandwich tins and bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch and a
skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely, still in their tins, before icing.
For the chocolate icing, heat the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over a low heat until the chocolate melts. Remove the pan from
the heat and whisk the mixture until smooth, glossy and thickened. Set aside to cool for 1-2 hours, or until thick enough to spread over
the cake.
To assemble the cake, run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the cake tins to loosen the cakes. Carefully remove the cakes from
the tins.
Spread a little chocolate icing over the top of one of the chocolate cakes, then carefully top with the other cake.
Transfer the cake to a serving plate and ice the cake all over with the chocolate icing, using a palette knife.

3.
4.
5.
6.

7.
8.
9.

Black Forest cake

Have you ever tried German Black Forest cake- a rich, luscious, chocolate cake that originated from Germany, and is covered with
whipped cream, kirschwasser ( brandy that is distilled from the fermented juice of cherries) and chocolate? Well, whether you had it
or not, here is the recipe for creating that very special cake! Try it and enjoy!

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour

2/3 cup (57g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (102g) shortening

1 1/2 cups (300g) white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (350 ml) buttermilk

1/2 cup kirschwasser

1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) butter

3 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners' sugar

1 pinch salt

1 teaspoon strong brewed coffee

2 (14 ounce) cans pitted Bing cherries, drained

2 cups (475 ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon kirschwasser

1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Steps

1Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2Coat the bottoms of two 8-inch (20 cm) round pans with parchment paper circles.
3Sieve together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Reserve it.
4Soften shortening and sugar until it is frothy and fluffy. Whip in eggs and vanilla.
5Puree the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, until combined. Pour into 2 round 8 inch pans.
6Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick injected into the cake comes out clean.
7Let it cool completely.
8Detach paper from the cakes.
9Slice each layer in half, flat, creating 4 layers entire.
10Sprinkle the layers with the 1/2 cup kirschwasser.
11In a medium bowl, blend the butter until it is light and fluffy.
12Combine confectioners sugar, a bit of salt, and coffee; whip until velvety. If the texture is moreover thick, add a couple teaspoons of
cherry juice or milk.
13Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling.
14Top the cake all around the sides in a circular shape with 1/3 of the cherries. Do this with the remaining layers.
15In another mixing bowl, whisk the cream to stiff peaks.
16Beat in 1/2 dollop vanilla and 1 tablespoon kirschwasser.
17Spread frosting at the top and sides of cake.
18Drizzle the cake with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on semisweet baking chocolate.
19Finished.