They say age is a circle, a newborn is an old man now! The wheels of time turn and stand at the same place where it was some years ago. You sleep in the same posture, the birth mark is still on the right shoulder and the sink of your dimples is still in your cheeks. In a span when the pace of life is the only living constant,age is our running companion.
Last year I saw a new life unfold in my arms, a tiny new orb in my sky. Just a few winters back I had embraced the same moment and its novice hood. My father stood beside me when I had welcomed his granddaughter and yet again he stood at the same place stoic in his demure as he first held his grandson. I see a few more wrinkles and a couple of new white strands but what sediments is the image I have grown up with.
I found a weird stillness in his emotions which never brims, only surfaces at its calculated best. He cherished his meals as a toddler and he still does. He was the loudest when it came to pitch and you can still hear him from a few yards away.
I have come to be protective of his good and bad and most indebted for his hand on my back. I see him a year younger through all the hurdles of life and the wheel turns once more, along with him and my circumstances.
I am ready to welcome the new scorching sun , old rustling leaves and the fresh pelting rain on my roof. Through all this I am still his elder daughter.
Not much to say about gratitude. Just Papa, I love you!!
The recipe today is a soulful recipe, steeped in tradition and a chapter from the Odia cuisine. A warm curry which has been cooked in the mature flavours of mustard. It lends great depth and flavour to the dish. There is a punch of strong nutrition with iron rich drumsticks and nutrients spiked aubergines,potato and lentil wadi.
Goes without saying, this is my dad’s recipe and I can’t stop raving about it.
- Mustard Paste
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2-3 cloves Garlic, peeled
- 1-2 green chillies
- a pinch of salt
- Curry
- 2-3 Drumsticks,peeled and cut
- 1-2 small aubergines, diced
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 4-5 lentil Wadi (optional)
- 1 tsp Phutana (fennel,cumin,mustard,fenugreek,nigella seeds)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp oil
- sprig of coriander leaves to garnish
- Soak all the ingredients in 3 tbsp of water for 10 minutes.
- Then grind it into a fine paste.
- Allow the paste to stand for 5 minutes.Then the mustard skin sediments at the bottom.
- In a cast iron skillet, add a tsp of oil and dry roast the lentil wadi on all sides.Until golden brown. (Only if it readily available in your asian grocery shops. Otherwise this step can be avoided).
- Steam the drumsticks and potatoes for 5 minutes.
- In a deep bottomed vessel, add the oil. Then add your Phutana and allow it to splutter.This step is an integral part of Odia cuisine.
- Then add your steamed vegetables along with aubergines into the vessel. Followed by gently pouring the ground mustard paste into the vessel, leaving the sedimented skins at the bottom.
- Then add your turmeric and salt according to your taste and give it a quick stir.
- Add two cups of water and allow it to simmer.The consistency depends on your liking you could go for a think to thick consistency and adjust the addition of water accordingly.
- In the final step add your roasted lentil wadi and give its quick stir. The wadi are quick in absorbing the gravy juices and become plump.Do not stir any further.
- Then finally garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with piping hot rice.
Whats the Oriya connection with this dish?
I am sorry if I didnt understand the question properly. But this dish is cooked as apart of everyday cooking in Odia households. This vegetable melange. This is not the Bengali Sukto nor the avail. As both have slightly varying process. But india is diverse you never know when you trip over what cuisine. 🙂