Kanji is an authentic Odia dish that is
quite popular in Southern part of Odisha which is basically a soupy based dish with a unique
sour taste. Normally Kanji is cooked during winter months when all the
vegetables are abundantly available, but now
a days it is made throughout the year. Use of lots of vegetables along
with the Curd makes this a healthy dish
by nature.
Usually three types of kanjis are made in
Odisha as told by my mother: pariba kanji( Kanji made with vegetables) , saga
kanji( kanji made with leafy vegetables) and Sukhua kanji( Kanji made with dry
fish). Kanjis are made with either Dahi as the base or Torani( water from the
water rice or Pakhala) or Peja( the water from the cooked rice). In villages in
older days when refrigerator was not there , the women folk of the villages
used to keep little Torani with Peja in a container and keep adding the same
everyday upto 7 to 8 days till the liquids gets fermented. After which they
used to add salt, turmeric and sufficient water to the fermented liquid and cook
with vegetables or dry fish to arrive at this spicy tangy soupy like dish.
For this
#Foodie Monday Blog Hop , the theme is #MothersDaySpecial and I have a hard
time choosing a recipe to post as whatever I know about odia cuisine, it is
from my mother only and she does not eat any other food than odia food. When I
try to think what is my mother's favourite recipe, I realize all these years it
is our choice which she took care of but never told what is her choice of food
she wants to eat. For her we are her world and our choice has become her
choice. So preparing a recipe with her favorite vegetable i.e drumstick comes
to my mind. I have seen her making a lot of dishes with drumstick and recently
I have made drumstick pickle for her also. I have decided to make Kanji which is a very rustic flavourful soupy things with drumsticks and its leaves for Mother's day keeping my mother's choice for simple and traditional food in mind.
It is said ,If
you have a drumstick plant on your garden ,you seems to have a doctor at
home. Drumstick increases appetite, help to reduce headache and diarrhea,
purifies blood and excretes toxins out of the body. Drumstick leaves
posses the power of reducing the sugar
level in the blood and it might be the reason for which Sugar patients are recommended to take
drumstick leaves to make the level of sugar normal in the blood.
Cuisine: Odia
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Serves:4
Ingredients:-
- 1 cup, curd
- 3 tbsp gram flour
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt as per taste
- 3 cups water
- A pinch of Hing
- 2 tsp Garlic-Green chilli paste
- ½ tsp fennel powder
Vegetables Needed:
- 2 nos of drumsticks
- 1/2 cup drumsticks leaves
For Tempering:
- 2-3 tsp Mustard oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 Dry Red chillies
- Few Curry Leaves
Let's learn how to make this recipe:
- Combine together curd, water, gram flour(besan) and ½ tsp turmeric powder(haldi). Whisk well or blend it in a blender to a pulse to make a smooth lump free mixture. Keep it aside.
- Wash and cut the drumstick into 3 inch long and pluck out the leaves from the stems of the drumsticks leaves.
- In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil. Add hing (asafoetida) and add drum sticks and it's leaves and sauté for 2 to 3 mins.
- Add green garlic paste chili paste, fennel powder. Saute very well.
- Cover and cook for 2 to 3 mins.
- Add salt and allow it to boil. Keep stirring.Once it starts boiling, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 mins or till the drumsticks are well cooked.
- Adjust the consistency and seasoning of the kanji as per your requirement and Cook for another 3 to 4 mins.
- Heat oil in small pan. Add mustard, allow it to crackle.Add fennel seeds and curry leaves, fry for few seconds.Add broken red chilies, fry for another few seconds.Pour this tempering immediately over the prepared kanji and cover .
- Serve this yummy and sour Kanji with any rice dish.
This is going to be part of our #39th Foodie Monday Blog hop theme of #Mothersdayspecial
16 comments
Fabulous 👌🏻Bookmarking it now, try it sometime in this week ... Thx for share
ReplyDeleteThanks Rupal for liking this
DeleteIt's amazing to see you focusing on the old recipes which my grandma cooked .. Your recipes make me nostalgic
ReplyDeleteBy old I mean truly long lost recipes ... Authentic ones
DeleteMommies don't even tell what they like to have but your drumstick pickle might had made her happy. Kanji is awesome share.
ReplyDeleteHave not tasted this for decades...bookmarking it...a lovely share by you..m
ReplyDeleteLovely authentic tribute to Aunty! Making and gifting her favourite veg in pickled form must have delighted much too dear.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious, loved it Alka !!
ReplyDeletehmm delicious looking soup . The way you explained is urging me to try this as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteAwesome share Alka. Rightly said we never know what our mother love to eat. Every mothers are same. Love to make what their children like. Loved your write up. A must try recipe. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAwesome share Alka. Rightly said we never know what our mother love to eat. Every mothers are same. Love to make what their children like. Loved your write up. A must try recipe. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAlka a very informative post. Till I read your post kanji for me was water leftover from cooked rice. Your dahi kanji is so similar to the drumstick sabji we gujaratis make, using besan and yogurt. I love your idea of adding the leaves. Read many articles about the healthy benefits of including the leaves in one's diet.
ReplyDeleteLove this Traditional recipe from Orissa.Something new for me. Another healthy recipe using drumstick leaves bookmarked.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS PREETHI
DeleteVery interesting and traditional recipe, thanks for sharing Alka :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Krithika
Delete