Eastern Delights

The eastern states of India like Bihar, Bengal and Orissa, have a very rich culture. And coming to their cuisine, Rice is dominant over Wheat. Fish is also a favorite of the people of eastern India, apart from these plenty of vegetables are also grown which form a substantial part of Eastern Indian meals.
Steaming and frying are popular methods of cooking and Mustard oil is commonly used for frying and cooking.
The spices used in their cuisine are also markedly different from those used in the other parts of India. They majorly use Mustard seeds and paste and also, as they call, a magic spice mix 'Pancha-phutana'. It is also called as Panch-phoron or Panch-puran in Bengali.

Chhatu Besara

In Oriya Besara are kind of dishes which are cooked in Mustard. I got a few recipes from here.

Chhatu Besara (Recipe adapted from here, with some modifications)

Ingredients:

Mushrooms : 400 gms
Potatoes : 3, peeled and diced
Amchur Powder : 1 tsp
Panch-Phutana : 1 Tbsp
Mustard paste : 3 tsp
Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp
Mustard oil, for frying
Salt, to taste
Water : 100 ml

Panch-phutana:
Mustard seeds
Fennel seeds
Kalongi
Fenugreek seeds
Cumin seeds
Method: Grind all in equal quantities to fine powder, you may add fenugreek seeds in less quantity.
You can know more about this here

Mustard Paste:
Mustard seeds : 3 tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 3
Garlic : 2 cloves
Method: Grind all the ingredients to fine paste using little water.

How I did it:

1. Make quarters of the mushrooms put them in water with some turmeric powder. Then squeeze the mushrooms from water and keep aside.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan and fry the squeezed mushrooms in medium flame.
3. Heat some oil in a separate pan and add punch-phutana, after the spice splutters, add the potatoes.
4. Add turmeric power and salt, according to taste, and then add the mustard paste.
5. Add water, and cover the pan and let it cook for about 15 mins, till potatos are done.
6. Add the fried mushroom and amchur powder. Fry till the water evaporates.
7. Adjust salt.
8. Serve hot with Rice or Rotis.

Chhatu Besara, with Rotis

And the Verdict:
It was in a different taste, but delicious.
Not spicy, so according to me, it goes better with rotis than rice.

Food Event:
This is my entry for the RCI: Oriya Cuisine event being hosted by Swapna of Swad.