It’s
been raining heavily here and though many parts of the world are still enjoying
their summer, we are ready to welcome the Monsoon here. The sounds of the rain
drops in the window pane drove me back to my childhood memories when rainy days
are welcomed with adrakwali chai and an array of foods like aloo chop, Bara,
Singada(Samosa), Mudhi Mixture etc. As my father would never allow us to have
those amazing street foods for which Odisha is famous for as he was very strict
with hygiene, so my mother used to make all those delicious items at home. If
you happen to ever land up in Bhubaneswar, you cannot escape the aroma of
street food of the city. Among a plethora of foods to try out , Bara-ghuguni is
a typical Odia comfort snack that you must not forget to try. Hot baras dipped
in warm ghuguni in the monsoons is a snack to die for.
Through my blog I have always taken you through various lesser known recipes belonging to Odisha , which are not only drool worthy , they are also amazing in taste. One such delicacy had caught my fancy and this seems the perfect backdrop for this crispy regional delicacy to have it’s introduction……CHAULA BARA ( Crispy Rice Vada) . This is very different from the Bara and Ghuguni we eat in the Coastal regions. The major difference is the use of rice in the Rice Vadas whereas we use Urad daal Vadas in our Bara Ghuguni.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice
- 4 tbsp urad daal
- 1/2 tsp carom seeds
- 1/2tsp cumin seeds
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 to 2 green chilli chopped
- salt as per taste
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Few curry leaves
- Oil for deep frying
Let's Learn how to make this crispy Chaula Bara:
- Wash and soak the rice, urad dal overnight.
- Grind the soaked rice, urad dal to make a thick batter using less amount of water .
- Add chopped onion, green chillies, carom seeds, cumin seeds, baking soda, and salt. Mix well to form a smooth batter.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan , once the oil is hot, then take a spoonful of rice batter in your hand and carefully drop this in the hot oil . Fry till the colour of the baras changing to golden brown. Flip and cook the other side. Repeat the same with the remaining batter.
- Serve it with Tomato chutney and mircha chutney which is nothing but a tangy green chutney made with crushed green chillies, garlic, tamarind paste, coriander/ mint and salt.