Monday, August 2, 2010

KANIKA, THE ULTIMATE SWEET PULAO FROM ORISSA and AWARDS


This sweet pulao,  among 56 items, is cooked every day for Lord jagannath, Puri. It is linked to my great childhood memories and often a party dish where my Vege and non vege friends gather. This is a safe dish as it is liked by every one from south to north and east to west.Of course this recipe has numerous variations and will be slightly different from the one we eat at Jagannath temple. But the recipe essentially remains same.
This recipe exclusively comes to you from SOMEONE, which she learnt from her MIL. (I generally dont make this, too simple for me. She wont read this blog anyway  ha  ha . I just need to report that the recipe has been given to all the foodie-friends..)
THE RECIPE: This variation of recipe is used generally in marriage , threading ceremony and in many festive occasions in Orissa. It is a sweet vege Pulao with  a strong fragrance of nutmeg, cardamom and clove. You can eat it with vege side dishes like the famous Besara, Mahura, chhinchaDa of Orissa, Dahi -Brinjal, Bengal gram dal, tomato / Mango chutney, Paneer etc and with all kinds of non vege dish from Mutton and fish.
INGREDIENTS
- Rice Basmati or any local rice with a fragrance, 3 cups ( standard tea cup of 150 ml capacity)
-Bengal gram dal 1/2 cup (approx)
-Sugar 1 cup ( you may use less)
- salt as required
-Raisins 25 gms approx
-water 6 cups
Turmeric powder 1 level tsp.( This is for coloring) 
-Ghee 3 tbsp ( you can add more or less,   (ghee is not absorbed in rice, it only coats)
Ghee 2 tbsp for garnish at the end ( you may skip this)
NOTE: Vegans can use hydrogenated oil like dalda or any smell-less white oil.
NOTE: You may add dry fruits like Cashew, sliced almonds. I dont use; as these have only decorative value here and do not add to flavor.
Spice -1
Bay leaf 3
Black cardamom 6
white cardamom 6
clove 6
Cinamon 11/2 inch broken
Spice-2
Nutmeg , one whole nut, freshly ground ( dont use, off the self Nutmeg powder)
Mace ( Jayatri) 1 piece , freshly ground 
( fine grinding is not necessary)
PROCESS
Wash the rice and soak for 30 minutes, remove from water and spread for drying ( surface moisture only)
Soak bengal gram for 1-2 hrs so that they swell up a bit.
Heat 6 cups of water close to boiling in a separate pan and keep covered. We will add hot water to the rice later..
Heat ghee in a thick bottom deep pan. (DO NOT OVER HEAT TO SMOKING) 
Remove from heat and fry the raisins , remove as soon as they swell up.
Return pan to burner and give seasoning with   bay leaf 
Add the bengal gram dal and stir fry for few minutes.
Add the rice and shift gently few times to mix. (DO NOT TRY to stir too much..it will break the soaked rice. This is true for all Pulao and fried rice cooking.)
Add the boiling water, turmeric and salt. Mix very gently, ( salt should be as much as for any other Pulao) 
Add all the spices under spice-1 above.
Bring to boil and cook covered. ( stir gently from time to time. Prevent foaming up by controlling heat at the beginning.)
When the rice is almost cooked, add sugar, raisins and mix gently but thoroughly. ( Dont add sugar at the beginning, the rice wont cook in sugar).
Add the Nutmeg and mace powder , ghee and mix and cover.
When water dries up, the dish is ready . Keep covered.

AMENDMENT.
 For my southern friends and people who are not supposed to take sugar.
SOMEONE  uses 3 rice 1 sugar..you can make with 3 rice and 1/2, 1/3. 1/4th sugar ( all measures in cup at your discretion).
 The fragrance of the raw spices makes all the difference....

AWARDS: 
I am proud and delighted to say that I have received not one but three awards from our great Blog friends. I am wondering if by not posting blog regularly, I am getting so many awards, what will happen when I post some ..I feel really good, Thank you so much, Padmaja, Chetana and Satya.


40 comments:

Prema said...

very delicious dish dear!congrats for ur awards dear!

Gouri Guha said...

Ushnishda,
aapnar kanikata daroon dekhte hoaeche. I simply love the Puri temple kanika and the Lingaraj temple kanika is equally tasty. This preparation is so special.

Dada, the other day when i went to CR Park fish market, I saw a gentleman resembling you...just imagined from the picture i see here. Thought I'll walk up to him and speak out, but somehow...That gentleman came in an maruti esteem car and parked his car on the road causing trouble for the moving traffic. As I watched him sitting in my car i thought, this cannot be Dada.

I'm going to BBSR soon and if possible will go to Puri and relish the maha prasad.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Didibhai
I feel good that you are going to Orissa. Haven't gone there for ages.
No it wasn't me at CR park. For a moment I thought you might have seen my younger brother who resembles me to some extent..but none of us drive esteem.
Have a nice trip.
Ushnishda

Vrinda said...

Thats an awesome pulav recipe,very unique with bengal gram and sugar..thanx for sharing and congrats on ur awards...

? said...

Good to see the posts again! Loved reading the description.
Have marked this dish to try.
-Shri

Nandinis food said...

The 'ultimate' sweet pulao is cool! Very tempting too!

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Awesome recipe and will surely try this.. congrats on awards too

Padmajha said...

That recipe sounds interesting but wondering if it would be too sweet.
Anyways,regular posts or no posts you deserve those awards Ushnish :)...[Your comments on our blogs are highly motivating :)]

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Kaku,
Apni je eto time ber kore nijer hobby (cokking) ta continue rakhte paren eita onek boro bepar amader jonne. Really simple and delicious dish.
Congrats on your award.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Satya said...

hi ushnishda
kanika looks simply delicious ...u expalined it very nicely ...thanks for sharing ...actually with kanika i am having a lot of childhood memories ...i spent full my school n college in cuttack orissa ...in ganesh puja n saraswati puja we used to have gr8 boji in our school n there we used to eat this kanika, dalma, tomato kthota ,kheeri n all ...what a golden days they were enjoying with friends n all...ur recipe refresh all my sweet memories ... thank u n congrats for somany awards

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Unknown said...

Hi Ushnishda,
Awesome pulao! The rice looks so welcoming and loaded with the flavors of spices,i can almost get the aroma here just by looking at the pics!! This recipe is going on my "must make" list... :)BTW will post ur razela recipe soon.
Congrats on ur awards,wishing u many more to come.:)

sangeeta said...

I'v had this rice at lingaraj as well as jagannath temples , never knew what the name is ..
i love all the whole spices in any kind of rice preparation tough this one i'd like with a little less sugar than 3:1 ratio.
I think A would love it too , i make zarda sometimes n he loves that.

Do post the bengali mishti pulao if you make it , i love that n have never tried myself.

PreeOccupied said...

Kaku, this looks awesome. Since I am leaning towards vegetarian dishes, I would like to give this a try soon.

Sushma Mallya said...

Very different kind of pulav,never made a sweet version of it anytime but would love to try it as it looks very delicious...

Akila said...

First time visit... nice kanika and wonderful blog... love it....

Jaya M said...

Dada,
Ki bolbo almost feel like eating it right now :-) (can see the garam pulao er Bhaap on the snap)...Ami Kolkata theke O Puri ghorte pari ni ...next time this is my to do list --visiting Puri and if possible making this at home..Thanks for sharing ..regards jayashree

aipi said...

Hi Ushnishda- I have been to Puri just once when I was much younger but I still distinctly remember eating this pulav at the temple (off of a earthen pot). Of course I didn't know the name until now. The dish looks like it is made with love and care and makes me reminiscent of my Puri trip. Thanks for triggering a lot of memories.
And yes... congratulations on your awards :)
Aipi

Devasena Hariharan said...

Uncle, sweet dish.. What i most like in ur writings is descriptive narative of different festivals, temples.

Never been to Jagannath temple. Write more abt it.

Oriyarasoi said...

So nice of you to post this dish.Its been a long time since i have sampled this dish. And a big congrats for wining those awards. Way to go!!!

Spice said...

Sounds delicious....not a big fan of sweet rice dishes but do like them once in a while, thanks for sharing....

Urmi said...

Heartiest congratulations to you for your award. Keep it up!
Pulao looks fabulous, delicious and tempting. Great recipe.

Urmi said...

Please collect your award from my blog.

Indian Cuisine Blogroll said...

First time here...great pulav recipe..looking forward to more recipes from orissa...

Keri said...

Outstanding. You have a beautiful way with food. Thank your for this teach.

Come and visit my sandwich blog, I'd be honored to have you as a visitor and/or follower! Take care, Keri

shahana said...

Never heard about this sweet rice dish before.Sounds grt.Will try this out.

Siddhi Shirsat said...

hi Ghosh uncle...this pulao is very tempting one...loved the recipe ans way of preparing, vl try it sun...
hey thx uncle for ur commnt on mackerel dish...actually when i had posted it i was thinking that you and aunty will surely love it:-)
M fine here, bit busy with work so do not get time to visit blogs and commnt...how r u and aunty uncle?...give my regards to her, when ual r coming 2 goa?...its raining very heavily this days in goa....fried chicken with toamto and galric looks very tempting too, i just love such chicken dishes, waitng to try it

Vikis Kitchen said...

Never been to this Temple. Very nice write up ji. Moreover the prasadam looks divine. Bookmarked it....wanna try that sweeter version soon.

Anita said...

Wow, I liked this dish. How do you find out this recipe ? Can you post the recipe of Baingan Bharta, which is prepared at Puri temple ?

Urmi said...

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Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear babli
Happy independence day to you too.
Thats a great art work I must say
have a nice week

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

ami Puri giechilam chotobelay. okhaner khabar apurbo legechilo specially akta mishti ghee bhat. akhon bujhechi ota Kanika chilo. ami ajker age Kanika naam tai shunini. akbar try korbo karon ghee bhat ba mishti polau ami bhishon bhalobasi kintu ami akdom banate parina. kamon chal bhenge ghente jay. boudi kintu sotti asadharon baniechen. sab chal lamba lamba dehe sotti khete ichche korche.

Dolly Sharma said...

Ushnishda..Congratulations on all ur awards..I've been extremely busy with my kids summer vacation. Not much time to visit my blogpals..Did miss all of you..Great to see u posting recipes again..lol..Not that I'm complaining abt all the travel related awesome pictures and info..I have'nt been to Jagannath Puri yet..but when I do..I'll surely look out for Kanika..Good post..Happy Independence day to you..and to ur SOMEONE...

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

Kanika looks perfect and congrats on awards

Adelina said...

a delicacy fit for Gods, indeed. I am saving this recipe to try. All along a have been dealing with South Indian dishes- this one is special and certainly different!

Alessandra said...

Never tried a sweet pulao before, it sounds interesting and delicious.

You have a very nice blog, lots of vegetarian recipes, I'll be back!

ciao

Alessandra

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Kanika - the ultimate bhoji food... Looks awesome... Haven't had it in a long time!

Sandhya Hariharan said...

this one looks good to me... i m blog hopping after a while..
thanks for dropping by!!

Satrupa said...

Thanks for dropping by my blog. I am very happy to see a varied variety of food in your space. Especially your inclination towards bengali n odiya cuisines.

The information on Kanika is nice to know :)

Cheers n Happy Cooking,
Satrupa

http://satrupa-foodforthought.blogspot.com

moutushi said...

Eta thik Jagonnath er bhog er polao er moto khete, Thank you

Unknown said...

Hi Ushnish, I'm a new visitor to your site. I did my high school and college from BBSR... all beautiful memories and times. This is the first time i searched for "kanika" and found your recipe.
Written like a chemical engr... I'm one too! especially the line in which "only surface moisture is lost" !
Thanks for this recipe and wish you all the very best in all your endeavours...