Ghugni & Dusaka~Indian State Bihar

Ghugni & Dusaka ~Bihari Cuisine

Today on day 4 we are at Bihar ...
Bihar is a north Indian state. The Bihar plain is divided into two parts by the river Ganges which flows through the middle from west to east.

According to Wikipedia

The name Bihar is derived from the Sanskrit and Pali word, Vihara (Devanagari: विहार), which means "abode". It could also mean College as there was a town close to Bodh Gaya called Bihar Sharif which was destroyed in the medieval period.

In A typical Hindu Brahmin household you will hear conch shell being blown at dawn. Not surprising that in rural Bihar, religion is the main component of popular culture. Shrines are located everywhere foot of trees, roadsides, and the dashboard of a dilapidated taxi to the plush office of a top executive, holy symbols or idols have their place.

There are many variations on the festivals too.  While some are celebrated all over the state, others are observed only in certain areas. As Bihar is diverse so festivals take place round the year. Many of these are officially recognised so are proclaimed as government holidays.

But what is Bihari cuisine like?

Again according to Wikipedia,” Bihari cuisine is eaten mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, and some cities of Pakistan, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago as these are they places where Bihari people are present.

Bihari cuisine is predominantly vegetarian because traditional Bihar society influenced by  Buddhist  and  Hindu values of non-violence did not eat eggs, chicken, fish and other animal products. However there is also a tradition of meat-eating and fish dishes.

Dairy products are consumed frequently throughout the year, with common foods including yogurt known as dahi and also buttermilk known as  mattha,  ghee,  lassi  and butter. The cuisine of Bihar is similar to a great extent to North Indian cuisine but has an influence from other East Indian Cuisine (for example like Bengali cuisine). It is highly seasonal, with watery foods such as watermelon and Sherbet made of pulp of the wood-apple fruit being consumed mainly in the summer months and dry foods, preparations made of sesame seeds, poppy seeds in the winter months.

Some dishes which Bihar is famous for, include Sattu Paratha, which are  parathas  stuffed with fried chickpea flour, Chokha (spicy mashed potatoes),  Fish  curry  and  Bihari Kebab, Postaa-dana kaa halwaa. As the seasons change so does the Bihari thaali, every 3–4 months. The constants are  rice,  roti,  achar,  chatni, dals and milk products with some variation.

People use both vegetable oil or mustard oil and jeera or panch foran (literally "five seeds", namely saunf or fennel, rai or mustard, methi or fenugreek, ajwain or caraway seeds  and mangraeel (Kalaunji) or onion seeds  for "chhounkna"/"Tadka"(tempering) of some vegetables. There is a lot of light frying, called  bhoonjnaa, in Bihari food.

One of the most remarkable things about this cuisine is "smoked food". It refers to using smoked red chilli to infuse a strong aroma in food. It is used in preparing "chokhaa", i.e. mashed brinjals/potatoes/tomatoes, either single or combined. Smoked chilli is also used in preparing kadam (a common fruit sweet sour in taste, technical name Anthocephalus morindaefolia) chutney.”

So why did I choose Ghugni & Dusaka? It so happened that

I had just made Litti Choka as a part of SNC. Litti Choka that had been my choice for Bihar… J So was wondering if sattu ke paratha will be okay.

That is the time when Vaishali called…. and we got discussing the BM for Indian States. Vaishali suggested Ghugni and Dhuska. She also told me it’s on her blog. Do you think I will let this opportunity slip from my fingers? A readymade recipe and taste guaranteed, no sir, I may be many things but definitely not a fool.:)

I made the whole thing like Vaishali. Let me assure you hubby loved it and he served himself more.

Ghugni I made, like Vaishali with black gram as I like the taste of these grams more J  and used 1 tblspn mustard oil and 1 tblspn rice bran oil as we do not enjoy the smell of mustard oil & the Dhuska is made from rice flour and a little urid daal. It is supposed to be deep fried, but I made it like a dosa.

Remember to soak the rice, dal and the grams in the night.

Ghugni & Dusaka

State:  Bihar, India 

Recipe Source: Ribbons n Pasta

Ghugni~Bihari Cuisisne

 Ingredients for Ghugni: 

• 1 tbsp mustard oil 
• 1 tbsp rice bran oil
• 1 cup black gram( brown chick peas), soaked overnight 
• 1 tsp jeera/cumin seed 
• 1 big tomato, finely chopped 
• 1’’ piece ginger, paste 
• 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped 
• ¼ tsp haldi/turmeric powder 
• ½ tsp dahnia powder/coriander powder 
• ½ tsp red chilli powder 
• ¼ tsp garam masala 
• ½ tsp amchoor/mango powder 
• Salt to taste 

Method:

• Heat  the oil add the cumin seeds, green chilli and tomatoes. 
•  Cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
• Add the grams, and piece ginger paste, green chillies, turmeric powder,  coriander powder,  red chilli powder.
•   Bhoojana or stir fry well till the oil starts coming out. Come on you do stir fry till oil comes out  often never knew that it was called bhoojana also.
• Add water and pressure cook for two whistles, and then on slow fire for about 10 minutes or till the grams are done. 
• Now add garam masala and mango powder. Set aside.

 While the you are ‘bhoonjo—ing’ get the

Dusaka~Bihari Cuisine

Ingredients for Dhuska :

• 2 cups rice 
• ½ cup split black gram 
• ¼ cup Chana daal 
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Soak the rice and daals overnight. 
• Grind to a paste. Add salt and cumin seed. Mix well.
• In the original version the oil is heated in a kadhai then pour a ladle full of the batter and fry till crisp. 
• But I made a dosa on a non stick tava or girdle.  To do that Heat the girdle. 
• Drizzle some oil.  Pour a ladle full of batter, spread the batter a little. Cook on one side
• Flip and cook the other side.  Drizzle oil in between to make it little crisp. 
• Serve with Ghughni, and sliced onions. 

Events: Linking this to Fabulous Feast Friday, a linky party started by Mireille. Edition # 9 is hosted byMireille & Sandhya this weekend.

An InLinkz Link-up

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 39

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