Baghare Baingan: From Nawaab's Darbar to My Plate!

Baghare Baingan

What happens when my current obsession meets my all time favourite vegetable? The answer is not just licked clean plate but licked clean vessel in which it was cooked, and also the fate doesn’t end there! It goes well beyond like licked clean spoon, serving bowl, and storing container also. Err… pardon my poor sense of humour but being foodie and food blogger means suffering some side effects of the same!!!

So my current obsession being Peanuts and my all time favourite vegetable being Brinjal I had to cook Baghare Baingan. ‘Baghar’ means Tadka or tempering and ‘Baingan’ is of course eggplants in Urdu and loosely translated Baghare Baingan means ‘Tempered Eggplants’. The technique of tempering which is well known in Indian cooking is nothing but flavouring the oil with aromatic spices and herbs which takes any dish to another level in taste department.

I first tasted ‘Baghare Baingan’ at my friend’s wedding who was a resident of royal city of Nawaabs in south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh called Hyderabad. This delightful bi-religious city is famous for its world famous cuisine and honestly I feel Baghare Baingan is one their best and finest delicacies. My friend always said that no important function is complete without serving Baghare Baingan in their lunch or dinner menu. It said to be one of the main dishes served in Nawaabi Darbar (royal court) as it uses rich ingredients fit for kings and queens palettes. Although we don’t have any royalties ruling our country anymore, they have left their rich food culture which occasionally every common man can enjoy in their modest homes.

The trademark of this dish is baby eggplants which are cooked twice, first shallow fried in oil and then cooked in creamy and delicious gravy of peanuts and coconut along with caramelised onions. While these caramelised onions lend its sweet taste to the base gravy, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and peanut give it a nutty flavour. And addition of roasted dry coconut gives it a creamy, dreamy texture to already rich and flavoursome gravy. The actual spices used are handful in the base gravy. But the real smoky flavour comes from the Baghar or Tadka or tempering of selected aromatic spices that infuse smoky flavour to the base gravy. The recipe may sound little laborious and time consuming but trust me when I say it’s worth it. It won’t take more than one bite for your loved one to fall in love with this dish and of course, fall in love with you again ;)

While we are talking of recipes, how about some delicious, quick meal? Check my post on Lemon Rice at Beyond Curries for this weekend's quick fix meal ideas :)

Roasted Spices, Coconut, Peanuts & Onions for Baghare Baingan

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Baghare Baingan (Tempered Baby Eggplants in rich & creamy sauce of roasted Peanuts & Coconut)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30-40 mins
Serves: 5-6
Recipe Inspiration: 660 Curries
Recipe Level: Medium to High
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat breads or flavoured/steam cooked Rice

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Ingredients:
10-12 Baby Purple Brinjals/Eggplants
2-4 tbsp Oil (I used 2 tbsp Oil)
Salt to taste

For Peanut-Coconut Gravy:
2 medium Onions, thinly sliced
½ cup Peanuts
¼ cup Desiccated Coconut/Kobbari (Dry Coconut)
1½ tbsp White Sesame Seeds
½ tbsp White Poppy Seeds
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Preferably Kashmiri/Dhegi Chilli Powder. Substitute it with 1 tsp chilli powder+1 tsp Paprika, adjust acc to taste)
¾ tsp Haldi/turmeric Powder
1 tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder or 1 tsp Tamarind Paste (Optional, adjust acc to taste)
½ -1 tbsp Jaggery/Brown Sugar (Adjust acc to taste)

For Baghar/Tadka/Tempering:
1-2 tbsp Ghee/Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Kalonji/Nigella Seeds (Optional)
1 tsp Methi/Fenugreek Seeds (Optional)
2 Dry Red Chillies (halved)
A Spring of Curry Leaves
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

Baghare Baingan

Method:
Preparing Peanut-Coconut Paste:
Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add thinly sliced onions. Fry these onions till they are caramelised and turn golden brown, about 5-8 mins, on medium-high heat. Transfer them into a food processor or mixer jar.
In a same oil roast coriander seeds, sesame seeds and poppy seeds till they turn light golden and release their aroma. Add them to caramelised onions.
In a same wok, stir in desiccated coconut and sauté till they turn light golden shade. Add them to caramelised onion and roasted spices.
Next roast peanuts in a same pan till they are lightly roasted, about 3 minutes, on medium-high flame. Mix them with other fried/roasted ingredients.
Let all these roasted/fried ingredients cool slightly.
Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, jaggery and dry mango powder/tamarind paste with other roasted ingredients.
Grind these ingredients to smooth paste adding enough water (about ¼-½ cup) as and when needed. Keep it aside until needed.

Preparing Baby Brinjal:
You can keep the stems or simply remove it as I have done here. Wash the eggplants and pat them dry.
Make ‘+’ incisions carefully from the base of each eggplant, making sure that the stem end is intact.
Heat oil in a wok and arrange all the eggplants in single layer. The water in eggplant will make the oil to splutter. So cover the wok with lid and reduce the heat to medium-high.
Cook these eggplants, stirring in between, till their skin is charred and they fork tender, about 10-15 mins.
Transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Preparing Baghar/Tempering:
Heat 2 tbsp of ghee/oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add cumin seeds, kalonji, methi, hing, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Sauté till cumin seeds turn golden red in colour, about 1 min.
Next add ginger-garlic paste and keep stirring till the paste turns golden red and becomes dry mass, about 2-3 minutes, on medium heat.
Mix in Peanut-Coconut paste that you had prepared earlier and close the lid for a minute or two. This way the base gravy gets smoky flavour of bhagar or tempering of spices.
Open the lid and let the paste cook for another 8-10 minutes, stirring in between, on medium flame.
Add about ½ -1 cup of water to the gravy and salt to taste and bring the whole mixture to gentle boil, about 5 mins.
Drop shallow fried baby eggplants into the gravy and cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes till eggplants are cooked through and all the flavours blend well.
Serve this delicious Bhagare Baingan with any Indian flat bread or bowl of steamed or flavoured rice and enjoy!

Baghare Baingan

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Notes:
Use small Indian eggplants that are fresh, round and have shiny purple body and green stems. If they have black seeds then it is better to discard them as they tend to be bitter in taste.
If you don’t get baby eggplants then simply use the common purple aubergines you get in your nearby supermarket. Slit this big eggplant lengthwise and then slice them in to ½ inch moons and proceed with the recipe.
While grinding all the roasted spices, peanuts, onion and coconut, you can also add few cashews nuts or almonds which lend rich taste to the gravy.

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Ridge Gourd Curry: For Busy Weekdays...

Ridge Gourd Curry

What a week it turned out be!!! Meetings one after another, deadlines to meet, problems to resolve, and never ending telephone conversations with clients! By the time I get back home, I feel like I am ready to hit the pillow and never bother about cooking or even eating for that matter! Yes, it was one of those crazy weeks!

While my work life has taken over my personal life, I still managed to take some time to talk to my babies, feed them and sing them lullaby! Yes, it’s been more than ten days since I have had sowed all those seeds and right now only Methi plants have sprouted with tiny (a very tiny) leaves. Keeping my fingers crossed, I hope other will follow the suit pretty soon.

As far as the cooking is concerned, we have been surviving eating a large bowl of Salad with Dal Rice or with frozen Rotis and pickle. Once really hot stove has turned really cold but microwave is thriving on all the attention it’s been getting since past few days! And it would have kept going like this if not for this delicious bowl of Ridge Gourd Curry.

This got to be one of the simplest recipes I have had created! The base gravy uses the same ingredients that I used for Stuffed Capsicums in Peanut Sauce recipe. I had some left over peanut and spice mixture for Peanut gravy and used them as base gravy ingredients for this recipe. The recipe is simple, quick and straightforward and most importantly, you needn’t stand in front of your stove stirring the ingredients. Tender ridge gourd pieces are cooked along tamarind pulp and jaggary and then in a gravy of roasted peanut powder and spices to enhance its taste. It can’t get simpler than this. Make it when you are running short of time and have no patience to chop one vegetable after another and see how simple food can taste so delicious!

Ridge Gourd

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Ridge Gourd Curry (Ridge Gourd served in Peanut Gravy)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Level: Basic/Beginner
Spice Level: Low to Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat breads or with flavoured/steam cooked Rice

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Ingredients:
1 medium tender Ridge Gourd, slit vertically and then cut into 1 cm thick half moons
Small marble sized Tamarind Pulp/½ tsp Tamarind Paste or 2 tbsp Lime Juice
½-1 tsp Jaggery/Sugar
½ inch Ginger, grated
2 tbsp Roasted Peanuts Powder
½ tbsp Coriander Powder
¾ tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½-1 tsp Garam Masala (Adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Tadka:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
Few Curry Leaves
A big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
1 Dry Red Chilli, halved
1 tbsp Oil

Ridge Gourd Curry

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add curry leaves, dry red chilli and hing and sauté for half a min.
Next add grated ginger and ridge gourd pieces along with turmeric powder, tamarind pulp and jaggery. Sauté, on medium flame, for about 3 minutes.
Next add red chilli powder and garam masala and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add about 2-3 cups of water and bring it to gentle boil. Mix in salt to taste and roasted peanut powder and mix them well.
Cook for another 5-10 minutes till ridge gourd is cooked well. Switch off the flame. If using Lime juice, add it now and mix well.
Serve this delicious Ridge Gourd in Peanut Gravy along with steam cooked rice and enjoy!

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Note:
The ridge gourd I have used here is a tender one and hence I have kept its peel. If you are using matured ridge gourd, then don’t forget to scrape/peel the skin and then use it.
Lemon/Lime juice should be added after you switch off the flame or else they will turn the gravy bitter.

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Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce: What is Your Current Obsession?

Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce

Regular readers of my blog will know how obsessed I can get over few things. Ever since I moved to this country, weather has been one of the biggest obsessions of my life. Surprisingly, I am not going to talk about weather today (there is no point in nagging and repeating same things, is it?). But I am going rant on my other obsession in my life! Yeah, you guessed it right. Let’s talk about food! (What you had in mind?;)

I easily get obsessed with one food item at time. If I am start liking one vegetable at one point, then I continue to cook and experiment with same vegetable till I really get tired of it! If one day I chop and cook them, next time you will find the grated form of that veggie. At one time I may stuff that vegetable with aromatic spices and other time I may use it as a stuffing for some other vegetable. Sounds little crazy? Thankfully my ‘much’ better half is not a fussy eater and he doesn’t mind eating them as long as it tastes good!

Like vegetables or fruits, these days I am obsessed with ingredients and right now I am experimenting and dissecting Peanuts! Yes, good old peanuts. After using it in Capsicum Masala Rice and Rhengan Reveya, I seem to have fallen head over heels in love with Peanuts! And why not? They are good as they and get better when they are roasted! But trust me when I say they taste best when they are used as powder form in cooking! This simple looking guy transforms every dish into nutty and flavourful affair! And to prove that again I am presenting you Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce.

Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce

This Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce may look very imposing and complex dish! But trust me my friends, it is one of the easiest recipe that you can cook to impress your family and friends. I have used simple mashed potato spiced with aromatic spice powders as a filling for bell peppers. And the Peanut Sauce that we have here can be cooked by even the novice cook! Don’t shy away looking at the long ingredient list. If you look through them carefully, you will realise that the most of the ingredients used are easily and readily available. So what are you waiting for? Why not try this delicious spicy potato stuffed bell peppers served in delicious, nutty and creamy gravy of peanuts and see how your loved ones lick their plate clean? :) Well, now that you know about my current obsession, how about telling me yours? I am sending this delicious Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce to dear EC's WYF-Side Dish event.

Spicy Potato Stuffed Capsicum before cooking

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Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce (Spiced Potato Stuffed Capsicum in creamy Peanut Sauce)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 25-35 mins
Serves: 4-6
Recipe Level: Medium
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat breads or with flavoured/steam cooked Rice

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Ingredients:
For Stuffed Capsicum:
6 medium Bell Peppers/Capsicum
3 large Potatoes, washed, peeled, cooked and mashed well
1 large Onion, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder or Juice of ½ Limes
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tbsp Kasuri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Optional)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds/Jeera
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
½ + 2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

For Peanut Sauce:
1 large Onion, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
½ cup Roasted Peanut, ground to powder
1 tbsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder or 1 tbsp Lime Juice
½ tbsp Jaggery/Palm Sugar/Sugar
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce

Method:

For Stuffed Capsicum:
Heat ½ tbsp of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and hing. Sauté till cumin starts to sizzle and turn golden red. Add finely chopped onion and sauté till it turns translucent, about 2 mins, on medium flame. Add ginger-garlic paste and kasuri methi and sauté till raw smell disappears, about 2 mins.
Mix in mashed potatoes and all spice powder along with salt to taste and mix them well. Switch off the flame and let this potato mixture cool.
Cut top of capsicum, about 1 cm, and scoop out seeds and membrane so that you are left with capsicum cups for stuffing. Stuff each capsicum with potato filling.
Next heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and arrange capsicum in single layer. Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes on medium flame. Open the lid and turn the capsicum around so that it is cooked from all the sides. You will see that its skin is wilted and charred marks start to appear when cooked. Over all it will take 15-20 minutes to cook thoroughly on medium flame. Once cooked, keep it on aside on a plate lined with kitchen towel/paper.

For Peanut Gravy:
Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onions. Sauté it on medium flame for about 2 minutes and then add ginger-garlic paste. Cook for another 2 minutes till raw smell of GG paste disappears.
Next add coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric powder and cook for half a minute. Add about 2 cups of boiling water and bring the whole mixture to gentle boil.
Mix in peanut power along with amchur, jaggery and salt to taste. Keep stirring till the gravy starts to thicken, about 5-7 minutes. If you think the gravy is too thick, add about ½ cup of water.
Switch off the flame and arrange stuffed capsicums. Serve this delicious Stuffed Capsicum in Peanut Sauce, garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves, with any Indian Flat Breads or flavoured Rice and enjoy!

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Capsicum Masala Rice: An Ode to Vibrant Spring!

Capsicum Masala Rice

At last my favourite weather is here to stay. Yes, I am talking about spring, the season of new beginning! It’s the season of bursting colours and heady fragrances.

The streets in our neighbourhood are lined with cherry blossom trees and other flowering trees. So every morning and evening when I take a walk to work and back home, I feel blessed to walk under these trees where they shed their delicate petals while swaying to cool breeze. I find it really difficult to step on those delicate pink and white petals and crush them under my feet. So if you see some girl wearing crimson red jacket, walking cautiously with bowed head and taking small and big jumps in between walking, then you don’t have to think twice as who that person is! You knew I was little bit crazy, didn’t you? Well, sunny daffodils and vibrant tulips competing with the magnificent rainbow ob blue sky will surly make anyone go crazy and wonder at the splendour of Mother Nature blessing on us!

Capsicum Masala Rice

To match the dazzling colours of spring, I made this colourful Capsicum Masala Rice from dear Sailu’s blog.

Sailu says,

This fast and flavorful dish is a simple recipe, quick and easy-to-make and so tasty! Fresh crunchy capsicums, masala flavor and crunchy peanuts jazz up the taste of the rice dish and make this recipe a real winner!

And I completely agree with her. The peanut powder along with roasted and freshly ground spices lends it oh-so-good nutty flavour and the coloured peppers give it nice crunch along with vibrant colour. The aromatic tempering of curry leaves along with other ingredients and roasted peanuts gives it a nice crunch and wonderful flavour. I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit our taste. Over all, this recipe of Capsicum Masala Rice is a keeper and very simple and quick one without compromising taste and flavour! Thank you, dear Sailu for sharing this colourful and delicious recipe. Doesn’t it look like I have served you wonderful colours of vibrant spring in that bowl? Its my ode to vibrant Spring!

Before I forget, Wishing all the readers of Monsoon Spice a very Happy Vishu!

Roasted Spices and Peanuts for Capsicum Masala Rice

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Capsicum Masala Rice (Coloured peppered Rice spiced with freshly ground mixture of peanuts and aromatic whole spices)

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins (If using leftover rice) – 30 mins (When using freshly cooked rice)
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Source: Sailu’s Kitchen
Recipe Level: Basic/Beginner to Medium
Spice Level: Medium to High
Serving Suggestion: As it is or with Papad, any Raita or Yogurt

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Ingredients:
6-8 cups Cooked Rice (Use Basmati or Sona Masuri)
3-4 medium Peppers/Capsicums, cut into 1 inch squares
½ tbsp Jaggery/Sugar (Optional)
2 tbsp Lime/Lemon Juice (Optional)
2-4 tbsp Roasted Peanuts
Salt to taste

For Spice Powder:
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
5-7 Dry Red Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
½ tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
½ tsp Mustard Seeds (Optional)
¼ tsp Hing (Optional)
2-3 tbsp Roasted Peanuts
Few Curry Leaves
½ tbsp Oil

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black gram
½ tbsp Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas
A pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Few Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Oil

Capsicum Masala Rice

Method:

Heat ½ tbsp of oil in a pan and all the ingredients (except roasted peanuts) listed for spice powder and roast them on low flame for 2-3 minutes till the lentils turn light golden and heady aroma of roasted spices fills your kitchen. Let them cool completely before you grind them to fine powder. Set aside this spice powder till needed.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal, hing and curry leaves. Sauté till mustard starts to pop and splutter and also the lentils turn golden brown.
Add chopped capsicums and stir fry for 1-2 minutes till its skin starts to wilt. Mix in ground spice powder, jaggery powder and salt to taste and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Now add cooked rice, lemon juice and peanuts and gently mix them well till every grain of rice is coated with spice mixture. Cook for another 1-2 minutes till every grain of rice is heated through.
Serve this delicious bowl of Masala Capsicum Rice with chilled Yogurt/Raita, pickle and papad and enjoy.

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Rhengan Reveya: Rural, Rustic Charm!

Rhengan Reveya

Will it be called too much of bragging if I were to say I cook very mean Indian food?
Will it be called blowing your own horn, little too loudly perhaps, if I am to say I cook better than the chefs at well known Indian curry houses?
Will I be kicked out from the restaurant for asking the chefs to change their career because they failed to cook one decent pot of rice?
Err, will I be?

I think I am in trouble! Who am I kidding; I am in deep $h1t!!! It is becoming difficult for me not to compare the food served in Indian restaurants with the ones I make at home. Most the restaurants have standard vegetarian menu of Aloo Gobi, Aloo Palak, Palak Paneer, Paneer Makhani, Channa Masala, Malai Kofta and some lentil dishes. And I cook all these at home with less oil, less fat and more flavour! Over 3 years of testing and experimenting in my small 10X8 feet kitchen, I feel I can give good competition when it comes to making most of the Indian foods served in restaurants. And there are times when I can’t help but compare the food they serve and feel I cook better than that! I am my worst critic and yet I feel this way. You have no idea how miserable I feel when faced with situations like this where I end up twisting my nose and giving lectures as what is missing or what went wrong with that bowl of food!

The problem is food menu in any restaurants is limited few items which anyone can cook better at home provided you have right ingredients and know how to use them. We can’t blame westerners if they think that Indian cuisine begins and ends with ‘Curry’. Think about it! One country, more than forty languages, over 1500 dialects, hundreds of festivals, 28 states and 7 union territories and yet first thing that comes to mind when you talk of Indian food is ‘Curry’! It can’t get more ironic than this, can it?

India is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi ethnic society as you will find that every state with its own traditions, culture, lifestyle, and food is no exception. Then why limit your menu to just handful of things? It’s not like people like only those foods. I am sure they will enjoy tasting different regional cooking that not only tastes wonderful but also healthier. I have seen my western friends relishing simple lemon rice and mango rice with raitas. I have seen that content look on their face when they are served fluffy and soft Idli with coconut chutney. And it didn’t take long for them to fall in love with lightly spiced Kichidi when served with pickle, yogurt and papads. Yes, if given choice and chance I am sure that everyone will enjoy discovering regional cuisines of India.

Among so many curry houses, we have very few favourites who have unique food items listed in their menu. One among them is a small vegetarian Guajarati restaurant that serves authentic regional cuisine to its customers. This restaurant is run by family members of four and mother and daughter in law team is in charge of kitchen. This is the only restaurant that we visit almost every month for their simple yet delicious Gujarati Thai that has selection of one starter, two vegetarian sides with Pulkas, Dal with rice or Kichidi with Kadhi, roasted papad, and dessert (either plain or mango Shrikand). We have been visiting this place since one year yet we are not tired of eating same food! The main reason is it tastes more like home food prepared by someone who really cares for you. Yes, it’s like any food prepared by your mother or grandmother who keep in mind to cook food that not only tastes great but it is lot healthier and good for you. The food served there is simple, rustic and without any frills in a friendly environment with great service. I am really thrilled to find one restaurant that serves exceptional food at reasonable price and leave you feeling satisfied and content!!!

One such lovely food served there is Rhengan Reveya which is a simple and rustic stuffed baby aubergine and potato satay. When asked for the recipe, Kaushi, the mother in charge of kitchen, gave me this rough recipe of this traditional Gujarati dish which involves skilful marinating and stuffing of baby aubergine and potatoes with ground spices and peanuts. After few trial and errors I have successfully managed to create Rhengan Reveya that same tastes very close to what is cooked by dear Kaushi. Kaushi says you need lot of patience when it comes to master the art of creating a truly scrumptious dish of Rhengan Reveya, or any food for that matter, to bring out all the delicate flavours of a traditional satay marinade and follow the delicate cooking procedures involved in creating this magic! I totally agree with her!!! If you are looking for cooking and eating authentic, rustic and delicious Gujarati food then this recipe of Rhengan Reveya is definitely for you. Don’t get daunted by the long list of ingredients as it is really one simple dish that doesn’t take more than 20 minutes of your cooking time. I highly recommend this dish of Baby Aubergine and Potatoes if you love this king of vegetables for its amazing texture and phenomenal taste when cooked right!

Groud Peanuts & Spices for Stuffing

Stuffed Baby Eggplants & Potatoes for Rhengan Reveya

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Rhengan Reveya (Baby Aubergine and Potato Satay, rustic food from Gujarat)
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 4-6
Recipe Source: Kaushi
Recipe Level: Basic/Beginner to Medium
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat breads or with flavoured/steam cooked Rice

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Ingredients:
8-10 Baby Purple Eggplants, washed, dried
8-10 Baby Potatoes or 2 medium Potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

For Tadka/Tempering:
½ tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida

For the Stuffing & Marinating:
1/3 cup Roasted Peanuts, ground to fine powder
¾-1 tbsp Roasted Coriander Powder
½-¾ tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1-1½ tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Aamchur/Dry Mango Powder (Optional)
1-2 tsp Sugar
A big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida (Optional)
1 inch Ginger, peeled and grated
3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Rhengan Reveya

Method:

Grind roasted peanuts to fine powder and transfer it into a mixing bowl. Mix in all dry spice powders one by one. Next add grated ginger, finely chopped coriander leaves, salt to taste and oil and mix them well. You will get a crumbling mixture. Keep it aside till needed.
Make ‘+’ marked slits ¾th way on baby eggplants keeping their stems intact. Stuff the eggplants with prepared mixture. Make sure that you don’t break the eggplants while stuffing. Once you have stuffed all the eggplants with mixture, add chopped potatoes to remaining stuffing and mix well so that potatoes are coated well. Mix eggplants with potatoes and keep them aside to marinate for 5-10 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and hing. When cumin starts to sizzle and turn golden red, mix in stuffed eggplants and potatoes. Add about 1-1½ cups of boiling water and cover the lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it cook undisturbed for 5 mins.
Open the lid after 5 mins and gentle mix all the vegetables. Add little more water if needed and cover and cook again for 10-15 minutes, mixing in between, till both eggplants and potatoes are cooked though.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with steam cooked rice or Roties and enjoy this rustic, delicious Rhengan Reveya.

Rhengan Reveya

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Notes:

For this batch of Rhengan Reveya I went on to prepare freshly roasted and ground coriander and cumin powder and without any doubt they tasted amazing when combined with other ingredients for stuffing. So I would strongly recommend you to prepare fresh batch of coriander and cumin powder if you have enough time and see the whole world of difference it makes when it comes to flavour and aroma. Just lightly dry roast them on low heat for 1-2 minutes to bring out their heady aroma and grind them to fine powder once cooled completely.

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Masala Bhindi: Going Nuts!

Masala Bhindi

There are so many things happening around me, so many things that I want to write and so many thoughts to share. But today I feel like I have run out of words. May be I’ll be able to do it once I clear my mind and focus on just one thing at a time. But I am not sure when this going to happen! :)

So, al I am going to write about is food and just food, till I bounce back with some old stories, some sweet memories, some crabby bites and whole lot of rants. Today’s recipe is something I tried few days back, it’s Masala Bhindi. It was another hectic day at office and I was seriously not in a very good mood to cook anything, let alone chop vegetables and grind spice powder. But the thought of good food and wasting big bagful of Okras that I bought for ridiculous price were enough to dive into a long process of washing, cleaning, drying and chopping slimy Okras. First I thought of making simple Bhindi Do Pyaz (recipe to come soon) but later changed my mind when I saw a cup of roasted Peanuts sitting not-so-happily in pantry. It was few days back when I had roasted these peanuts to make Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna and I wanted to finish them as soon as possible.

Peanut with Okra? Sweet okras stir fried with crunchy roasted peanuts. The idea was enough to make me go nuts and with in few mins I was roasted few basic spices along with my favourite lentils to make a spice powder. Along with spices I thought of roasting white Sesames which is not much used in my recipes. Last week I had bought big bag of Indian red Onions (also called curry onions) from Indian grocery shop. It is quite expensive when compared with the usual white onions we get from supermarket but it tastes way too better than white ones. So I picked the biggest one I could find in that 5 kg gunny bag as I like the taste of fried onions. Except for cleaning, drying and chopping of okras, it took me very little time to make this Masala Bhindi. When served with Chapatti, Rice and Dal I felt it was worth all those efforts I put into cooking after one hell of the day! The sweet taste of okra and onion was perfectly in sync with roasted spice powder, peanuts and sesame. Try this recipe if you are tired of same old Bhindi Fry or Bhindi Masala and discover the nutty combination ;)

Roasted Spice Powder, Okras & Peanuts for Masala Bhindi

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Bhindi Masala (Stir fried Okra and Red Onion spiced with ground roasted spices, Peanuts and Sesame)
Prep Time: 10-15 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 4-5
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Low to Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat bread or flavoured/steam cooked rice

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Ingredients:
25-30 small and tender Okras (about 8-10 cups), trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large Red Indian Onion, thinly sliced
2-3 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp Haldi/Turmeric Powder
¼ cup Roasted Peanuts
1 Roasted white Sesame Seeds
Juice of ¼ - ½ Lime (Adjust acc to taste)
2-3 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

For Spice Powder:
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
A big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
½ tbsp Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas
¼ tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
2 tbsp Roasted Peanuts
½ tbsp Roasted white Sesame
3-5 Dry Red Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)

For Tadka:
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Few Curry Leaves
A big Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
1 tbsp Oil

Masala Bhindi

Method:

Dry roast cumin, hing, channa dal, urad dal and red chillies in a pan till the lentils turn golden brown and aromatic. Let them cool and combine with roasted peanuts and sesame. Grind them all into a fine powder using coffee grinder or mixer. Keep it aside till needed.
Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a pan and add chopped okras to it. Cook them on high heat, stirring continuously, till okras turn crisp and brown spots start to appear. It usually takes around 5-7 minutes. Transfer these fried okras into a plate lined with kitchen towel.
Next heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves to it. When cumin starts to sizzle and turn golden red, add thinly sliced onion and finely chopped garlic. Sauté continuously till onions turn golden brown, about 2-3 mins.
Mix in turmeric and ground spices and toss them well. Make sure that the spices are evenly distributed among onions. Now add fried okras, salt to taste and mix well. Cook them for two more minutes making sure that the spices have coated every piece of okra.
Switch off the pan and mix in lime juice, roasted peanuts and sesame and toss well. Serve this delicious Masala Bhindi with Rice/Chapatti and Dal and enjoy.

Masala Bhindi

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Notes:

Few tips for those who find it difficult to cut, and cook those slimy Okras.
Always choose young and tender okras. The best ones are the ones that get easily snapped when you bend the tail end of the pod.
Make sure that you dry the Okra completely after washing them in water. Either spread them on kitchen towel in single layer and leave it for few hours or pat them dry with dry kitchen papers/towels. It is a must that the okras are dried properly if you don’t like them go slimy.
Next while chopping them, make sure that you have dry chopping board and knife. Keep dry kitchen paper next to you and clean the slime from knife using it whenever needed.
I have tried stir frying the okra with very little oil and ended up with really slimy okras. So then onwards I usually use little more oil than normal and cook it on a very high heat. This way the okras not only get cooked fast and retain their crispiness, but also any moisture in them disappears at high heat. And you will be surprised to see how the sliminess is reduced in short period of time.

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Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna: Recreating Forgotten Taste...

Coconut-Mango Pulihara

Last week of March and just a day away from 2 months summer break. Yes, it was the day before my last exam and every year we had same exam to write, Moral Science!!! I always felt that it had to be some immoral and sadist person’s way of making us kids suffer one more day in the name of exams. Yes, Moral science paper which was not at all counted in the final exam valuation. So there was no question of studying! We kids were all excited about 2 long months of sun, mangoes, ice creams and candies, meeting our cousins (more like a bunch of monkey soldiers from Ramayana), lazy afternoons, swim in a stream and late nights.

The day before last exam was also the day where our home buzzed with excitement and non-stop ringing of telephones from our cousins. “Don’t forget to pack your cricket bat and wickets”, said one cousin to my brother. “And bring along that new board games too”, screamed another cousin of mine. “Did you pack your piggy bank for Goli Sodas and ice candies? I have 58 rupees 75 paisa in my piggy bank”, I whispered to my sister in excitement. “And Amma promised that she will give us 20 rupees each when we go to Grandma’s place”, said my chuckling brother.

At last it was the day which we all were eagerly looking forward to. We were too excited to even sleep in the previous night thinking what if we overslept and no one woke us! We surprised our parents by getting up from bed without any alarm and got ready in lightening speed. After quick breakfast, we went through our list of things-to-pack, making sure that we have not left anything behind. Then the waiting game began….

Every five minutes we would look at the clock and then look out on the road for the sign of military green jeep. Our three year old brother continued to stare at the clock without batting his eyelids to make sure that the big hand in clock is moving towards 12 while the small one was at 10. Just when the clock was about to strike ten, we saw a giant green jeep coming towards our house and we would start waving both our hands, screaming at top of our voice to make sure that our uncle noticed all three devils. We never wanted to take risk as what if he at that time suffers from short-term memory loss and drives away!

Every time our uncle came to pick us and along with him were my cousins whom he had picked from their home on the way. Without giving him much time to think about the weeks of torture he will have to face, we would pressure him to take us to Ajji’s home even before he could finish his coffee made by his elder sister, making him choke on the Chakkuli’s that he was busy stuffing his mouth with. Within few minutes we would dump our bags on second rows of seats and jumped into the back of this giant of jeep that served also served as boot for carrying gunny bags filled with Areca nuts, rice and Cocoa from farm. That place was our favourite place to play cards, board games and also house-house game. A thick blanket with green and black checks was spread on a 5 feet by 5 feet boot and we six cousins sat on it spreading tiny stainless steel kitchen toys. While some pretended to be mothers, others were their husbands and kids. While the husbands and kids went to school by jumping to second and front rows of seats, mothers of the family busied themselves with cooking and gossiping! Thus the game went on till we travelled for 3 hours and at last reached our granny’s place.

Those blissful days of fun and frolic…. The days of innocence and carefree spirits… Ah! The magical world of childhood where few rupees were more precious than today’s millions of rupees!!! The simple days where drinking Goli Soda and licking the ice cream running down on your arms were the ultimate pleasures any kid ever wanted!!! The carefree days where seat belts in vehicles were unheard of and two or three wounds on knees were considered too small an issue to even look at!!! I can give up everything to live those days again!

As the nostalgia hits me hard again, I try to loosen the knots of my memories to weave the beautiful days of my childhood… While my mind is busily knitting the colourful days, my hands pick up the ingredients to create a long forgotten recipe from my grand ma’s kitchen. While my mind pictures the retro coloured visuals of one of my favourite childhood favourites, my taste buds, along with my nose join my fingers in typing a familiar name quickly on Google search. And voila, with in few minutes I come across this recipe which very much sounds and looks like the one I have in my mind. Thanks to Mika, I was able to recreate the taste from my childhood which I had thought was buried with the death of my grandma. I found the same taste and aroma of my Ajji’s Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna in Mika’s recipe for Mango Rice and it was indeed as refreshing and tantalising as I remembered it to be.

Coconut-Mango Pulihara

Sweet Coconut, sour mangoes, spicy green chillies and pungent mustards, a flavour sensation in true sense! Crunch from the Tadka and peanuts is just added bonus to this unbelievably simple and delicious Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna. Only thing I missed was the small bowl prepared using banana leaves that would fit nicely between our small hands. My granny made these parcels of Coconut-Mango Pulihara in fresh banana leaves tied with threads made using banana stems and put it in a basket made using thick base leaves of areca nut plants along with small bowls made using banana leaves whenever we kids left for our trip to nearby ponds or hills. Can you think of any other better way of saving mother earth and better bio-degradable bags and plates? The heavenly smell of coconut-mango-chilli-mustard mixed with fresh smelling banana leaves is something I will never be able to put it into words. It is something that one has to experience to know exactly what I mean! If you are lucky enough to get some fresh, sour mangoes make it at once and experience the true flavour of simple ingredients. And if you are really-really lucky enough to get fresh banana leaves, just serve this warm Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna in it to take a small trip to heaven!

Coconut, Mango, Green Chillies & Mustard Powder for Coconut-Mango Pulihara

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Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna (Rice flavoured with ground mixture of fresh Coconut, Green Mango and Mustard Powder)

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 5 mins (If using leftover Rice) - 30 mins (If using fresh Rice)
Serves: 3-4
Recipe Source: The Green Jackfruit
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Low to Medium
Serving Suggestion: Serve as it is or with any Raita/Yogurt and Tender Mango Pickle

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Ingredients:

1½ cups Rice (Preferably Sona Masuri or Basmati)
1 cup Fresh Coconut Pieces or ¾ packed cup grated Coconut
1-1½ cups Green Raw Mango Pieces (you can peel the skin if needed)
3-5 Green Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
2 tsp Mustard Seeds, ground to Powder using coffee grinder or Pestle & Mortar
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Sugar (Optional but recommended)
¼ cup Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1-2 tsp Fresh Lime/Lemon Juice (optional, use it if the mangoes are not sour enough)
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp Urad Dal
1 tbsp Channa Dal
2 Dry Red Chillies, halved
Few Curry Leaves
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1-2 tbsp Ghee or Oil

Coconut-Mango Pulihara

Method:

Cook rice using 1:2 ratios of rice and water. Once cooked, separate each grain with a help of fork and keep it aside to cool. The best rice is usually the leftovers from previous day’s dinner or lunch.
Take coconut pieces, mango pieces and green chillies in a food processor or mixer and pulse it to get roughly ground paste without adding any water. You should get bits and pieces of coconut, mangoes and chilli when you eat this rice. Keep this mixture aside.
Heat oil or ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, dry red chillies, curry leaves and hing. Sauté till dals turn golden brown.
Mix in ground coconut-mango-green chilli mixture, mustard powder, turmeric powder and sugar and give it a good toss for 2-3 mins and switch off the flame. Remember not to over cook this ground mixture as you want to retain the raw sour taste of mangoes. Add lime or lemon juice, if using, and salt to taste and mix well.
Mix in cooked rice and toasted peanuts or cashews and give it a good toss so that every grain of rice is coated well with ground mixture. Serve this delicious Coconut-Mango Pulihara/Chitranna hot as it is or with yogurt or any raita and pickle of your choice and enjoy.

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Vangi Baath: Curried Memories!

Vangi Baath

Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…

Small girl was staring at the grandfather clock ‘tic toc’ing since last half an hour. She was waiting for her father to return from work. She was hungry, sleepy but determined to wait till he returned. She couldn’t know what time it was but her mother had shown her that her father would be back when the small hand on clock points to seven and the large one to six.

Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…

Oh this old, old clock… “May be it is slow because it is getting older, just like Gampa (grand pa)”, she thought. Why, the long hand seems to be stuck at three from long time.

Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten… she counted missing ‘eight’ and felt happy about able to count till ten that her Ajji had taught her that day. “Come my little darling and have your dinner”, said her mother smiling. ‘No Amma, I am waiting for Appa to come home. Then I will impress him tonight when he returns with this new lesson I learnt and I will ask for that doll with red saree for my birthday”, she said loudly to her mom. Mother looked at her little girl who will be celebrating her third birthday in month’s time and made mental note of buying the doll which her daughter liked.

Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…
Tic toc…

Vroom… little girl heard her the sound of her father’s bike approaching and started to jump up and down clapping and giggling that sounded similar to the sound of her jiggling silver anklet. “Appa came… Appa came… Appa came…” she chanted and ran to her father spreading her hands like a bird flying in the sky with its wings spread out widely. As her father lifted her, she planted sloppy, wet kiss on his cheeks and giggled as he tickled her tummy.

With non-stop chatter she watched with adoration as her father as he came to pick her up after taking bath and went inside the Pooja room. There he made her sit on his lap and taught her new Ganesha Shloka and put small red tilak of Kumkum and fragrant Sandalwood on her forehead. After promising her to buy her favourite doll for her birthday, both father and daughter went to dining room. There her mother was waiting for them along with her aunts, uncles, grand parents and elder cousins. Freshly cut green plantain leaves were placed in two long rows along with small wooden planks serving as seats. As the cook started serving two types of palyas, pickle, salt, raita, and rice, little girl kept on chatting with her father telling him what new things she had learnt that day from her grand parents and cousins.

Just when she was about to start eating, she saw cook-uncle serve odd coloured rice with some black pieces in it. She hesitantly picked handful of rice along with strange looking black pieces and started to closely examine its contents. There were some lentils and mustard and also two of her favourite things, roasted cashews and peanuts. Slowly she started to pick peanuts and cashew pieces and popped them into her mouth. They were crunchy and delicious, just the way she had thought them to be. Then slowly she picked roasted lentils and put them in her mouth. Oh, they were crunchy and tasty too.

Then slowly she picked one of odd looking black thingy and took a small bite of it. Munch, munch, munch… “Mmm, not bad”… One more bite, and this time it was little bigger bite. Munch, munch, munch… “Mmm, it’s bit tasty”, she thought to herself. Next she picked small mouthful of rice and put it into her mouth. “Oh my god!!! It is so spicy yet tasty”. “Water, oh spicy… water please”, she screamed. She could feel the water coming from her eyes as well as her nose. But the worst thing was seeing her cousins laughing at her.

That was the first time she had first hand experience of eating spicy food. And that was the day I was first introduced to spicy Vangi Baath, many southern Indians favourite way of serving Eggplants. I was not even 3 yrs old when I had first tasted this Curried Eggplant Rice and the memory of it is so fresh that I feel as if it had happened just few days back. It’s really strange how the thought of certain foods can take you down the memory lane. It’s strange how our memory is connected to certain taste that we had experienced long back. And it’s really strange how we remember even minute detail of something happened decades back. Ask me something that had occurred just few days back and I can bet my full years salary and I won’t be able to recall it. But ask me something that had happened decades back and I can tell you minute of minute details without fluttering my eyes!!! Strange, indeed… Curried rice and curried memories....

Coming back to the recipe part, yes it is Vangi Baath’s turn today. Being hardcore (?!) Brinjal/Eggplant lover I was surprised to note that I haven’t had posted my all time favourite recipe of Curried Brinjal/Eggplant Rice. This most famous Southern Indian Rice was cooked at least once in every fortnight at my parent’s home. Since my Dad loved anything cooked with this King of Vegetables, it was no surprise for Daddy’s girl to fall in love with it instantly. If you have already prepared the spice powder, then it a matter of few minutes to whip up this delicious, spicy Rice. I usually prepare Vangi Bhath Masala Powder from scratch and stock it in refrigerator and use it as and when required. But if you don’t have patience to make it at home, then simply pick a packet of MTR Vangi Baath powder which is usually available in any good Indian Groceries. But let me tell you some secret, nothing can beat homemade fresh batch of Vangi Baath Powder. Served with dollop of chilled Yogurt and crisp Papads, this is one meal to enjoy any time of the day. I am sending this bowl of Vangi Baath which is my dad's favourite food to dear Alka who is hosting a lovely event called Just for You.

Vangi Baath

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Vangi Baath Masala/Spice Powder
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 5 mins
Makes: Around 1½ cups
Shelf Life: 2 months when refrigerated in an air tight container
Recipe Source: Amma
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Medium to Hot

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Ingredients:
1 cup Channa Dal
¾ cup Urad dal
¾ cup Coriander Seeds
1 tbsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds
1 cup Dry Red Chillies (I used combination or regular chillies and Byadagi Chillies for Spice and Colour)
½ cup Desiccated Dry Coconut
3 inches Cinnamon Sticks
4 Cloves
½ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1 tsp Salt
3 springs of Curry Leaves
1 tsp Oil

Method:

Dry roast channa and urad dal separately till they turn light golden brown in colour and keep them aside.
In a same skillet dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies, hing, poppy seeds, cinnamon sticks and cloves till they turn light golden and fills the kitchen with heady aroma, about 2 mins, on medium flame. Keep them aside to cool down completely.
Now dry roast desiccated coconut till it turns light golden, about 1 min and keep it side to cool.
Heat oil in a pan and roast curry leaves till they turn crisp, about 1 min and set it aside.
Once all the lentils and spices have cooled enough grind them to fine powder. Store this Vangi Bhath Masala Powder in an air tight jar and keep it in refrigerator.

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Vangi Baath (Curried Brinjal/Eggplant Rice)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins (60 mins if using freshly prepared rice)
Serves: 3-5
Recipe Source: Amma
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Raita/Yogurt or with Papad/Chips

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Ingredients:
5-6 cups Cooked Rice/2 cups uncooked Rice (Preferably Basmati or Sona Masuri)
8-10 Baby Purple Brinjals/Eggplants, stems removed, halved and then sliced into ¾ inch wedges and placed in cold water
2 tbsp Vangi Baath Masala Powder (Use homemade or store brought, Adjust acc to taste)
1 small marble sized Tamarind Pulp, soaked in ¼ cup hot water for 10 mins and juice extracted
1 tbsp Jaggery/Brown Sugar (Optional, Adjust acc to taste)
1-2 Green Chillies, slit (Optional)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
2-3 tbsp Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp Channa Dal/Split Bengal Grams
1 tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
2-3 Dry Red Chillies, halved (Adjust acc to taste)
2-3 springs of Curry Leaves
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
2 tbsp Oil

Vangi Baath

Method:

Cook rice in enough water and let it cool completely. Then take this cooked rice and add tbsp of oil to it. Mix well making sure that every grain is separate. Keep it aside till needed.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When it starts to pop and splutter, add channa dal, urad dal, halved dry red chillies, hing and curry leaves. Sauté till the lentils turn golden brown.
Now add baby brinjal wedges and slit green chillies if using and stir fry continuously for 5 mins till oil and lentils are coated well.
Now add tamarind water, jaggery, vangi baath powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste and mix well. Cover and cook at medium heat for 5-8 more minutes, stirring in between.
When the brinjals are cooked well add cooked rice and roasted peanuts and mix well. Cook for 2 more minutes till every grain of rice is cooked through and the spice mixture is coated well.
Serve this delicious Vangi Baath with cool Raita and Papads and enjoy.

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Notes:

Fry finely chopped onion after tadka and before adding brinjal pieces if needed.
Add potatoes, green peas and capsicum/bell peppers in place of brinjals to enjoy this delicious rice if you are not too fond of eggplants.
Replace tamarind with few tsp of lime/lemon juice.
Use Ghee in place of oil if you are not counting all those calories.

Wishing all my fellow Indians a very
Happy Republic Day.

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Stuffed Bhindi Masala: My Okra Love Affair

Stuffed Bhindi Masala

Remember me?
It’s great to see you after all these years.
Can we be friends?
Your profile is so cute. I would love to add you as friends.
Are you so-and-so?
Aren’t you so-and-so’s cousin or friend?

Wondering what’s this all about? Well, these are the friendship requests I get on social networking sites. Some are from old friends whom I have almost forgotten and some from total strangers and some simply wanting to increase the number of friends in their profiles and some from lonely guys and girls seeking ‘real fun’ (Duh?!). Having it said, these social networking sites are really cool as I got to meet my long lost (not at your usual Kumbh ka Mela ;) friends all around the world. I always believed I had just few friends until I saw my friends list crossing 3 digits and then hitting close to three centuries. Now who would have thunk I made so many friends over all these years.

Well, meeting all these friends also means travelling back in time and remembering and sometime painfully reminding all those funny and embarrassing moments. Most of my recent friends think me to be a no-nonsense, serious kind of person to walk on this planet. Imagine their shock when they read my primary school friend’s message with bold letter flashing on my scrapbook asking me if I still play pranks on my boss or colleagues as I used to do with my teachers by placing the duster or the most common trick of spilling ink on their chair and snatch my colleagues lunch box as I did to my juniors and classmates. And an enthusiastic scrap left by my close friend about hitting that pimple faced boy with my metal compass box for teasing me for wearing gaudy pink lipstick and matching nail polish in my high school was enough to shake the foundation of my sophisticated image that I had built (but not completely succeeded is another matter all together). And one friend decides to write a long testimonial on how smart I was to mix hair remover solution and face bleach cream with shampoo to teach a unforgettable lesson to our hostel warden for stealing my favourite shampoo and that piece of information was enough to make me turn from serious working girl into a total prankster! My close friends are hell bent on spoiling all my reputation. ~sighs~ I say friends can also be your worst enemies (I can prove it, may be in another post) but they are the kind whom you cherish.

When people compare marriage to chewing gum, I couldn’t help but compare friendship to Okra. I know it sounds weird but I can be weird sometime! ;) You see my theory comes from the fact that Okra can be annoyingly slimy yet it tastes delicious when cooked right. Similarly friends can be annoyingly irritating yet they are the best part of your life. ~clap, clap or slap, slap~ Whoosh… Ok, I made that all up as today we have this lovely Okra or Bhindi recipe. So no need to break your head on the weird comparison of Okra and friendship. Without much delay (!!??) let us go to the recipe bit.

By now the regular reader of my blog would have realised how much I love Bhindi. This time I am posting a recipe of Stuffed Bhindi Masala which I cooked last night without following any recipe in particular. I used the ingredients which I thought would enhance the flavour of Bhindi and pleasantly they did. By the time I finished stuffing and sautéing, one quarter of the stuffed okras were stuffed in our mouths. Since I had already sliced the onions and chopped the tomatoes I had to use them in cooking. May be next time I will just stuff the okras and simply stir fry them or bake them. The stuffing used is roasted peanuts and few spices which gave pleasantly nutty flavour with touch of spiciness to sweet okras. While onions add more crunch and sweet note, tomatoes lends lovely tangy flavour to the dish. Try this recipe when you have time and see how okra can beat any vegetables hands down when cooked right.

Stuffed Bhindi

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Stuffed Bhindi Masala (Okra stuffed with roasted Peanut and Spice powder and cooked with sweet Onions and tangy Tomatoes)

Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Serves: 4-5

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Ingredients:
24-30 tender baby Okra/Bhindi (1 and half to 2 inches long) or 18-24 tender Okra, tips removed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 large Onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
3-4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Green Chillies, slit (Adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Few Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Lime Juice (Optional)
2 tbsp Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp Oil

For Stuffing/Filling:
¼ cup Roasted Peanuts
1 tbsp Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tbsp Coriander Seeds
4-5 Dry Red Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1 tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste

Stuffed Bhindi Masala

Method:

Wash okras and spread them on dry kitchen towels to remove excess water or simply pat them dry with kitchen towel.
While the okras are drying, heat a pan and dry roast channa dal, dry red chillies, hing, jeera and coriander seeds till they turn golden red and fragrant. Let them cool completely before you powder them. Add these roasted spices with roasted peanut, turmeric, amchur and salt to taste and grind them to coarse powder.
Now trim the okra ends and carefully make a slit on one side and stuff it with ¼-½ tsp of spice powder. Don’t worry if you are left with excess spice powder as it will be used later.
Heat about tbsp of oil in a pan and sauté stuffed okras on high flame, if required in batches, for about 4-5 minutes till brown spots start to appear and it is half cooked. Place them on paper towel till needed.
Now heat another tbsp of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to it. When jeera starts to sizzle and turn light shade of brown, add curry leaves, finely chopped garlic and slit green chillies. Sauté till garlic turns light shade of brown, about one minute.
Add thinly sliced onion and sauté on medium flame till it turns golden brown, about 3 mins. Mix in finely chopped tomatoes and remaining spice powder and cook till tomatoes release it juice and turns pulpy, about 3 minutes.
Now add stuffed okras and sauté for 5-7 mins on medium flame till the okra is cooked through and the flavours blend well.

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Chitranna or Lemon Rice with Drenched Monsoon Memories!!!

Chitanna/Lemon Rice

It was first of June in early 90’s, one of the worst days for many school kids. It was the day when schools would reopen after two months of adventurous summer holidays. Dressed in new uniform with shining new boots and socks and cart load of new text books and notes on our bags, we kids would drag ourselves to school half heartedly. The thought of no more sleeping late at night and getting late in the morning, no more picnic lunches in mango groves and climbing the mango trees, no more sling shots and biting into raw or juicy stolen mangoes was enough to dampen our spirits. To top it all on every first day to school it would rain like it never rained before.

It was one of those Monsoon Days, when heaven opens its door to the heated earth to bring down the high mercury level, giving it new lease of life. Although these heavy pours would cut down our out door play time, we kids loved playing in the rain and getting drenched from head to toe. Many a times we would ‘forget’ to carry our umbrella and come back home with slush mud covered boots and bucket full of water dripping from our uniforms. Sometime Amma would scold us and most of the times she would shake her head knowingly and rush us into bathroom. After leisure warm bath where half the time spent on splashing the water at each other and screaming at top of our voice, me and my sister would scrub ourselves dry with warm towel and snuggle into fresh cloths. Once dressed we would run to kitchen and sit on the long two wooden stools facing the kitchen counter and chatter non-stop telling our Amma everything that had happened at school. Amma would smile at us and make our evening snacks while listening to who got punishment for being naughty at school and how much we scored in our surprise tests. With in few minutes she would place two big steel bowls filled with evening snacks and steaming cup of coffee/Bournvita filled to the rim of steel glasses.

One of my favourite evening snacks was Chitranna or Lemon Rice. It’s a simple rice dish more commonly made using left over rice from afternoon lunch or dinner. Sometime Amma would add few vegetables to make it healthier and colourful and usually she would add finely chopped onions to give it a nice crunch and sweet note. This delicately lemon flavoured rice was instant hit with me because of roasted peanuts tossed into it. I would hold the hot steel bowl containing lemon rice and let the steam rising from it tickle my nose. Aromatic curry leaves and crunchy dals in tadka is what makes it flavourful and the lime juice adds nice zing to it. And that gorgeous yellow colour from turmeric would well compliment the green colour from chilli and red roasted peanut with skins. This was one dish which added little sunshine to those monsoon days and proved once again that simple food is what comforts me the most during rainy days.

Today while eating it from ceramic bowl instead of steel one and eating it with a fork in place of fingers, I can’t help but think of my childhood. The aroma, sight and flavour of this simple, down to earth Lemon Rice was enough to bring back a flood of drenched memory of monsoon days, my home and my Amma lovingly cooking it for two little girls in pig tails and big smile on their face. Amma, this is to you with all my love. And this is my entry for lovely Nags who is hosting Saas, Bahu Aur Sensex Contest to celebrate spirit of Indian women.

Chitanna/Lemon Rice

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Chitranna/Lemon Rice (Lemon Flavoured Rice with toasted Peanuts and Spice & Curry Leaves Tempering)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins (If using leftover rice) & 30 mins (If using freshly cooked Rice)
Serves: 3-5
Recipe Source: Amma

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Ingredients:
2 cups of Rice, washed, rinsed and cooked (or you can use 6-7 cups of cooked, left over rice)
1 large Onion, finely chopped (Optional but recommended)
2-3 Green Chillies, thinly sliced (Adjust acc to taste)
½ cup Roasted Peanuts
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
Juice of a fresh Lemon/Lime (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tbsp Sugar (Optional, but recommended)
Salt to taste

For Tadka/Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas
½ tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils
1-2 Dry Red Chillies, halved
Big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
10-12 fresh Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Oil

Chitanna/Lemon Rice

Method:

Cook rice with enough water and fluff it with a help of a fork so that each grain is separated. Keep it aside to cool.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add channa dal, urad dal and halved dry red chillies. Sauté it on medium heat till dals turns light golden brown. Now add hing and curry leaves and saute it for few seconds.
Add finely chopped onion and sauté it on medium flame till onion turns translucent, about a minute or two. To this add green chillies, turmeric powder and sugar and mix well.
Add cooked rice, freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice and salt to taste and mix well till each grain of rice is heated through.
Switch off the flame and toss roasted peanuts and mix well. Adjust the seasoning before serving hot with chilled Raita and enjoy.

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Baby Brinjal Masala Palya: Simply Delicious

Baby Brinjal Masala Palya

What happens when someone hosts 3 blog events back to back, creating a hatrick!!!
She checks her mail box religiously every morning as soon as she gets up only to realise it’s all over… At last!!!

Not that I have had any second thoughts about hosting the events. In fact I loved being a gracious, ahem, hostess and making sure all my guests were enjoying the party. Well, they were the best parties I have ever hosted, I think! But in the end I did have this small voice in my head shouting I might have over done it this time. I kind of mixed up with the dates and committed myself to host events before I could realise I was about to host three much loved blog events back to back. With ever increasing workload with two new and very important projects to work on, I was literally walking on a tight rope balancing work on my left hand, home on right hand and blog events on my head ;) So no more parties for few more months but you are very welcome to come here and have some home food :)

Talking of home food, I have been cooking some simple foods these days. Not many ingredients and no complex techniques. I have been experimenting with few spices, tweaking here and there till I am satisfied with the end result. One such recipe is Stir Fried Baby Green Brinjals or Baby Geen Brinjal Masala Palya. Recent trip to down south, I bought few lovely green baby brinjals which are otherwise not available in my neck of woods. The speciality of these brinjals is that they have thin lovely green skin with lots of seeds within. They take very little time to cook compared to the purple baby eggplants and taste oh-so-wonderful. I didn’t want them to over cook so the option of stuffing them was out of the window. After thinking for a while I opted to slice them and stir fry with just few spices which would bring out the flavour of these green beauties.

The recipe is inspired by recent post of Dondakaya Vepudu but with my own twist. I have used same ingredients for the spice blend but also added few other ingredients to give it little smoky and complex flavours. Addition to cumin, dry red chillies and roasted peanuts, I also added garlic, tamarind and little jaggery. The result was simply delicious where I ended up eating half the content right from the pan. The pungent garlic, sweet jaggery, sour tamarind and smoky dry red chillies were pure pleasure to be experienced. And the best part was hubby dear is allergic to eggplants, so I had it all for myself;) You can try same spice blend with other vegetables like Ivy Gourd/Tindora or even purple eggplants and I am sure it will taste equally good.

Baby Brinjals

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Green Brinjal Masala Palya (Baby Green Brinjal/Eggplants stir fried with roasted spices)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients:
6-8 Baby Green Brinjals, washed and towel dried
2-3 Garlic Flakes, finely sliced
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste

For Tempering/Tadka:
1-1½ tbsp Oil
½ tsp Mustard Seeds
¾ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tbsp Channa Dal/Split Bengal Gram
½ tbsp Urad Dal/Split Black Gram
2 Dry Red Chillies
Big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Few Curry Leaves

To be Roasted & Ground to Fine Powder:
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
5-6 Dry Red Chillies, stems removed and halved (Adjust acc to taste. I used Byadagi Chillies)
2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1½ -2 tbsp Roasted Peanuts, skins removed or leave it as it is
1 small marble sized Tamarind Pulp/½ tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jaggery/Brown sugar

Baby Brinjal Masala Palya

Method:

Remove the stems of baby brinjals and cut it vertically in the middle. Slice each halves into 1 cm slices. Place the sliced brinjals in a vessel filled with cold water till required. Immersing brinjals in cold water helps in preventing discolouration.
To make spice powder, heat few drops of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, halved chilles and finely chopped garlic. Roast them in low heat for a minute till garlic turns light brown and cumin seeds too turn light brown. Let it cool down a bit before you proceed to next step.
Place them in a mixer along with roasted peanuts, tamarind pulp and jaggery and grind into fine powder without adding any water. Keep this aside till needed.
Heat oil in a same pan and add channa dal, urad dal, mustard, dry red chillies and hing. Sauté it on medium flame till mustard starts to pop and splutter.
Now add cumin seeds, sliced garlic and curry leaves and sauté till cumin, dal and garlic turns light golden brown.
Drain water from sliced brinjal pieces and add them to the pan. Increase the heat and stir fry them continously for about 5 mins. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste and give it a good stir for another 5 mins.
Mix spice blend and stir fry for another 3-5 mins till all the flavours blend well and brinjal pieces are cooked to tender.
Serve this delicious stir fry with steaming bowl of Rice/Chapatti and Rasam/Dal/Plain Yogurt and enjoy.

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