Purba Feasts from the East: Oriya Cuisine from Eastern India

Rating:
Summary: Move over Madhur Jafrey, make room for Laxmi!
Review: I have been interested in international cooking for years with a particular fondness for Indian cooking. I discovered this wonderful book on Amazon.com and found it appealing because 1) it covers a region of India (Orissa) whose recipes I have never seen before and 2) the author is actually a scientist so I knew the recipes would not omit any details. I must say I was not dissapointed. If you are like me, you will be amazed that Dr. Parida is not a full time chef and cookbook author.

Once you read the preface you will also see she has a great sense of humor that shines through again and again throughout the book.

For those among you who sometimes feel that the spice mixtures of Indian recipes are a little overwhelming, this book is for you. All of the recipes I made from this book are flavorful without being overpowering.

So far I have 3 recipes that I love from this book:

1) Khichidi - a wonderful rice and lentil combination that is extreemly easy to prepare, elegantly seasoned and can serve as a full meal on its own.

2) Baigana Bharta - Mashed fried eggplants. while the description may not sound so appetizing, think of it as an alternative to Babaganoush. The buttery flavor of the slow roasted eggplant and the delicate seasonings make this an excellent dish hot or cold. I serve it cold as an appetizer with thinly sliced crusty bread. My dinner guests rave about it!

3) Kheeri - Rice pudding. Indian comfort food! Rice pudding is one of favorite desserts and when I first saw this recipe I thought it had a typo because it appeared to call for too much milk. I tried the recipe as printed and the result was a deliciously silky rice and milk concoction that I have made again and again.

I highly recommend this wonderful book. Lets encourage this highly gifted author to keep writing books!

Rating:
Summary: Move over Madhur Jafrey, make room for Laxmi!
Review: I have been interested in international cooking for years with a particular fondness for Indian cooking. I discovered this wonderful book on Amazon.com and found it appealing because 1) it covers a region of India (Orissa) whose recipes I have never seen before and 2) the author is actually a scientist so I knew the recipes would not omit any details. I must say I was not dissapointed. If you are like me, you will be amazed that Dr. Parida is not a full time chef and cookbook author.

Once you read the preface you will also see she has a great sense of humor that shines through again and again throughout the book.

For those among you who sometimes feel that the spice mixtures of Indian recipes are a little overwhelming, this book is for you. All of the recipes I made from this book are flavorful without being overpowering.

So far I have 3 recipes that I love from this book:

1) Khichidi - a wonderful rice and lentil combination that is extreemly easy to prepare, elegantly seasoned and can serve as a full meal on its own.

2) Baigana Bharta - Mashed fried eggplants. while the description may not sound so appetizing, think of it as an alternative to Babaganoush. The buttery flavor of the slow roasted eggplant and the delicate seasonings make this an excellent dish hot or cold. I serve it cold as an appetizer with thinly sliced crusty bread. My dinner guests rave about it!

3) Kheeri - Rice pudding. Indian comfort food! Rice pudding is one of favorite desserts and when I first saw this recipe I thought it had a typo because it appeared to call for too much milk. I tried the recipe as printed and the result was a deliciously silky rice and milk concoction that I have made again and again.

I highly recommend this wonderful book. Lets encourage this highly gifted author to keep writing books!

Rating:
Summary: Lakshmi from Puri to Laxmi from New York..
Review: One Lakshmi feeds the world, another Laxmi in NY tries food recipes and cooks them to taste.  Lakshmi at Puri is busy in making recipes from all her creations and endows color, grandeur and nutrition to food.  Laxmi at NY examines these recipes and selects the ones that people can attempt in their homes.  The eternal Lakshmi opens her many kitchens to scientist Laxmi to learn and write for the rest of the public.  Laxmi Parida, a computational biology scientist at IBM in NY has produced a magnificent collection of Oriya recipes in a book form.  The book called "Purba: Feasts from the East" is distributed through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.  For every Oriya and for any person interested in Orissa, this is an elegantly produced and extremely valuable reference book.  It has the distinct honor of the first Oriya cook book to hit the US stands.  Congratulations to Dr Parida, who carries the blessings from SriLakshmi.

The 207-page book is broken into nine chapters: Oriya pantry, Jalakhia, Pitha, Breads, Bhata, Entrees, Sun-drying (badi and pickles), Mitha and "East meets Far East".  Each chapter is wholesome and is loaded with specific recipes that carry the nostalgic charm and full-bodied instructions for preparation.  Through her home kitchen back in Orissa and with the urging of her mother (remember "Bend it like Beckam"), she has herself tried each dish and knows the failings well.  She is an astute observer and an expert teacher.  With the objective humor of a scientist, she guides any novice to travel through the roads of Oriya culinary arts.  For me, the reading itself was a meal.

Anything that you ate in homes or streets during your time in Orissa is in the book. My special favorites were the recipes for various chakulis, chitaus, arisa and kakara. People who know me know my weakness to these objects.  What we don't normally succeed is to create a full holiday meal as one had taken in Lekhanapur or Nardia. The holiday meal consists of pithas of grains and legumes of the season, seasoned with herbs and spices particular to the season, supplemented with vegetables cooked according to the climate and temperature of the season.  This is the food culture of Orissa and the book enables you to recreate it.  Then go to my other favorites of mithas: rasagolla, ladoo, kesar, khiri and tons of other savory dishes. Time has come that we impress our neighbors with the brilliant food that Oriyas invented and the  brilliant style the food is composed.  Let there be a weekly meal with "kakharu and saga" and "potala rasa" or a nonvegetarian festive meal with "machha mahura" and "mangsa gugni".  Let children enjoy "gaja" and "singada" and let "peda" and "sandesh" replace cakes.  Time has come to announce to the words that Oriya is style and sophistication.  The culture and food have been hundreds of years in the making.  It's royal.

Dr Parida is available to assist the new cooks to initiate into Oriya cooking. the veterans can comment and add more dishes to the book to make a second part.  SriJagannatha eats sabara food and the whole set of recipes from the hills and forests need assembly.  The recipes from south and the recipes from the inner villages at Puri would make other volumes.  The books reminds you of the richness of food as a sustenance and the beauty of human ingenuity in creating crafts in taste and nutrition.  At (cheap) e book is a bargain for all the information and the meticulous guidance.  Enjoy!!   

Rating:
Summary: Lakshmi from Puri to Laxmi from New York..
Review: One Lakshmi feeds the world, another Laxmi in NY tries food recipes and cooks them to taste.  Lakshmi at Puri is busy in making recipes from all her creations and endows color, grandeur and nutrition to food.  Laxmi at NY examines these recipes and selects the ones that people can attempt in their homes.  The eternal Lakshmi opens her many kitchens to scientist Laxmi to learn and write for the rest of the public.  Laxmi Parida, a computational biology scientist at IBM in NY has produced a magnificent collection of Oriya recipes in a book form.  The book called "Purba: Feasts from the East" is distributed through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.  For every Oriya and for any person interested in Orissa, this is an elegantly produced and extremely valuable reference book.  It has the distinct honor of the first Oriya cook book to hit the US stands.  Congratulations to Dr Parida, who carries the blessings from SriLakshmi.

The 207-page book is broken into nine chapters: Oriya pantry, Jalakhia, Pitha, Breads, Bhata, Entrees, Sun-drying (badi and pickles), Mitha and "East meets Far East".  Each chapter is wholesome and is loaded with specific recipes that carry the nostalgic charm and full-bodied instructions for preparation.  Through her home kitchen back in Orissa and with the urging of her mother (remember "Bend it like Beckam"), she has herself tried each dish and knows the failings well.  She is an astute observer and an expert teacher.  With the objective humor of a scientist, she guides any novice to travel through the roads of Oriya culinary arts.  For me, the reading itself was a meal.

Anything that you ate in homes or streets during your time in Orissa is in the book. My special favorites were the recipes for various chakulis, chitaus, arisa and kakara. People who know me know my weakness to these objects.  What we don't normally succeed is to create a full holiday meal as one had taken in Lekhanapur or Nardia. The holiday meal consists of pithas of grains and legumes of the season, seasoned with herbs and spices particular to the season, supplemented with vegetables cooked according to the climate and temperature of the season.  This is the food culture of Orissa and the book enables you to recreate it.  Then go to my other favorites of mithas: rasagolla, ladoo, kesar, khiri and tons of other savory dishes. Time has come that we impress our neighbors with the brilliant food that Oriyas invented and the  brilliant style the food is composed.  Let there be a weekly meal with "kakharu and saga" and "potala rasa" or a nonvegetarian festive meal with "machha mahura" and "mangsa gugni".  Let children enjoy "gaja" and "singada" and let "peda" and "sandesh" replace cakes.  Time has come to announce to the words that Oriya is style and sophistication.  The culture and food have been hundreds of years in the making.  It's royal.

Dr Parida is available to assist the new cooks to initiate into Oriya cooking. the veterans can comment and add more dishes to the book to make a second part.  SriJagannatha eats sabara food and the whole set of recipes from the hills and forests need assembly.  The recipes from south and the recipes from the inner villages at Puri would make other volumes.  The books reminds you of the richness of food as a sustenance and the beauty of human ingenuity in creating crafts in taste and nutrition.  At (cheap) e book is a bargain for all the information and the meticulous guidance.  Enjoy!!   

Rating:
Summary: A book on food with a difference.
Review: Very rarely one comes across a book that seems on surface to be
devoted to a narrow specialty, but which by virtue of its author's
knowledge and expertise, becomes a mirror in which the whole
subject area and more is reflected and illuminated.
In this sense ``Purba'' is not merely a book on food originating from a major
state in eastern India -- it is a palette on which the author
manages in her inimitable style to unify the basic methods and
techniques of food preparation from different regions of the
world as disparate as France, China and Orissa (the last being
the state in eastern India where she hails from). In this
identification of the basic principles and techniques of cuisine
from across the world, this book and its author (a computer
scientist from Orissa, working in New York) is symptomatic of
our times; for better or for worse, an indicator toward our
globalized future.

``Techniques + Ingredients = Recipes''. This, according to the
author, is the defining equation of all cuisines. It also captures
succinctly the point of view from which the author (a scientist
byprofession) approaches the subject. It is not on the particulars,
but on the universal techniques, that cut across cuisines across different
continents, that our attention is focused on. The author is clearly
a master of her subject matter, as well as a good expositor, with a
sleek style and the occasional scientific humor. It is in fact a good
read even if you don't want to step into the kitchen in this lifetime.

Of course, subject of the book is food from Orissa and the author
does an extremely good job of exposing the richness and variety of
Oriya cuisine to the non-Oriya speaking world. This is a great service
in itself, as unlike cuisines from North and South India, food from
Eastern India tend to be unnoticed outside India -- partly, because
of their elaborate preparations which makes them unsuitable for
the typical Indian restaurant. But, when one really delves into it there are
immense riches here to be picked for the gastronomically inclined and
``Purba'' is a wonderful introduction to this rich, new, culinary world.
The recipes themselves are described with unusual precision, and
is suitable for both beginners as well as experienced cooks.