We are now on M and the one that starts with the North East states Manipur. With my chosen Bread theme, I had such difficulty finding bread in these states. That's when I had to resort to the other clause I had for myself. And started looking at their staple food or at least with Rice. I had decided that if I didn't get any Bread variety, I would check out for dishes with Rice or any famous dish made with flour.
Some years back we had a popular event happening in the blogosphere, better known as RCI or Regional Cuisines of India. When I had started blogging, RCI - Andhra just got over and I was upset I missed a chance. I just took the time to check out my RCI entries and enjoyed reading about TN, Karnataka, Maharastra, Orissa, Gujarat, Bengali and so many states that I participated. I tried my best to take part in this event as Regional Cuisine has always been my passionate topic. Can you believe, I had done for Sikkim as well! And there went off my chance of having something ready to make.
Anyway, with the chance of finding bread from Manipur being very bleak, I decided to go with Rice dish. My Bihari colleague said she has Manipuri friends, and I was pestering her to get recipes from her. It took such a long time as this friend was busy and finally, I landed myself in Aparna's post from where I got to know about Anthony's recipes on Manipuri Khichdi and Ooti.
He was so eloquent in describing this Khichdi and Ooti, that I wanted to try this right away. So I had to shop for the white peas.
Somehow I never liked this variety and never stock it. When the dried peas get cooked, I detest the aroma that comes out. Surprisingly in Ooti, there was none. And the Khichdi, though mine little dry, was tasting and lived up to what Anthony was praising. I remember reading this Bachelor's Cooking blog during my initial days of blogging and never thought it was authored by a Manipurian and someday he will come to my rescue!
After doing our research and study of these North-East states, I felt there is an urgent need for people from these states to record their recipes online. I am sure my friends would agree on this and we could've saved ourselves, hours of logging over these states, trying to find something that we can cook, especially vegetarians.
Now let's check out this delicious combination. I am sure if you want some more.
Manipuri Khichdi
Ingredients Needed:
Basmati rice 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1/4 cup
Onion, finely chopped - 1 small
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Peanuts roasted and skinned - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 2 medium
Cardamom pods - 3
Cloves - 3
Red chilies - 3 nos
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
How to make the Khichdi
Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins.
Wash and pressure cook the Toor dal along with turmeric powder till so soft.
Then add the rice to the dal and simmer.
Meanwhile, heat a nonstick pan with oil and a tsp of ghee, add the jeera, bay leaves, cardamom, and cloves.
Now add the onions and fry till golden brown and add the ginger garlic paste. Pour it into the boiling cooker of dal-rice. Cover the cooker and let go of two whistles and let cool.
Heat remaining ghee and then fry the Peanuts. Saute them and add to the dal rice once the pressure falls down. Mix well.
The Khichdi is ready to serve with Ootti. You can also serve with pickle.
Notes:
This is your regular Khichdi, so make sure you add enough water. I didn't realize that Anthony was using raw peanuts. So like me, if you are using fried peanuts, you can add them in one shot in the beginning.
Ootti / White Peas Subji
Ingredients Needed:
White Peas - 1 1/2 cups
Onion finely chopped - 1 big
Ginger, finely chopped - 1“
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilies - 3-4
Bay leaves - 2 medium
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
How to make Ootti
Soak the peas in water overnight and pressure cook till done.
In another pan, heat the oil and add the bay leaves, cumin, and chilies. Just sauté and add the ginger and onion. Saute till onions are brown. Pour this into the peas and mix well.
Serve hot.
We enjoyed the Manipuri Khichdi for lunch with Ootti, appams, and some pickles.
Konda and I enjoyed our meal very much and I took this for my colleagues as well, who was very surprised that the meal was very tasty.
Priya Suresh says
Lol Valli, totally agree with you, while searching recipes for NE i was complaining myself that blogger from these regions should upload their recipes just to help people like us.Manipuri khichdi is almost like our regular one pot meal and that ooti sounds a prefect side dish for this khichdi.
divya says
Awesome....simply awesome...
vaishali sabnani says
Yes even I had decided to this ooti..but after I got those black rice , I switched over to do the kheer..both the dishes are simple and delicious.
Suma Gandlur says
Same pinch, valli. I too made the same dishes. And genuinely loved that khichdi.
The Pumpkin Farm says
valli this state was the most familiar name among the ne states but it gave me the most pain in terms of the recipe hunt..so really think this BM of ours is going to help the blog world a lot...your recipes are very nice and there is no repulsion for any vegetarians to try them out, good find
Usha says
So agree with you on the food from these NE states to be documented. You guys have did an awesome job coming up are searching for some delicious Manipuri food. I have not checked everyone's posts at but from the pictures from the linky, everything looks so good.
Coming to Ooti & & Khichidi, you found some yummy dishes for the state.
Rajani S says
i really liked ooti. there is a fresh peas version as well. will try that sometime. yeah. 。how i wish there were more resources online for NE
Varadas Kitchen says
Nice combo. I ran across tat blog too and almost made this same combo but changed my mind. It has come out really well.
Harini-Jaya R says
I agree with you Valli. Waiting for inputs from friends is very frustrating as they have their own priorities 🙂 Lovely find though!
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
I so agree with you on waiting for comments!!! so frustrating!!! khichdi is such a wholesome meal! love it..
Jayanthi Padmanabhan says
i love the ooti. you could pair it with a whole lot of things other than the khichdi and it'll be great
Gayathri Kumar says
Even I made from Anthony's blog. The kichdi and ooti looks good...
shobha says
Healthy & delicious khichdi……….looks inviting.
Pavani N says
Love that Khichdi & ooti combo -- will have to try this soon. I remember Anthony's blog from my beginner blogging days 🙂
Chef Mireille says
the ooti looks so creamy and perfect to pour over rice
Archana Potdar says
yes Valli searching for NE states was difficult. I too had wanted to make Khichidi with ooti it still is on my to do.
Padmajha PJ says
RCI was my fav event too! And that was the first place I went to look for recipe ideas!
And this looks like a wholesome meal. The spread looks inviting...
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
This is something that my family would love...So many similarities between the states 🙂
Priya Srinivasan says
I made this first for manipur and then changed my mind and made sana thonghba again. Loved this khichdi, very simple, yet the taste aas great, peanuts added nixe crunch to the rice.
Manjula Bharath says
seriously true the north east people should share some recipes in english so that it might us na I found many links but it was in their own language which was difficult for google to translate .. Khichidi and ooti from manipur is my fav 🙂 they are superb pair and I wud love to finish them right away 🙂
Just another opinion says
Ooti becomes more tastier when you put bamboo shoots in them, try eating khichidi and Ooti on red lotus leaf atleast once..the fragrance of red lotus leaf makes khichidi even more heavenly