Aloo Baingan / Curried potato and eggplant

This is an authentic combo of vegetables. Potatoes and eggplants beautifully pair each other. Both veggies cooked with a few spices take themselves to a whole new level. This subji makes a great accompaniment with rotis, chapathis, naan or with some rice and dal. It can be made real quick and tastes delicious.

 

Ingredients

Eggplant/Brinjal - 1 big or 4 small ones

Potato - 1 big or 2 small sized ones

Onion - 1 medium sized

Tomato - 2 medium sized ones

Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander/Dhania powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida/Hing - 1 pinch (optional)

Oil - 1 spoon

Coriander leaves/Cilantro - for garnish

Salt to taste 

Directions

Dice the potatoes and eggplants into even sized pieces.  Also chop the onions and tomatoes.

In a kadai/saucepan, add the oil and do the tempering with cumin seeds and hing. Add the diced onions and saute until they get translucent. Then add the tomatoes and cook for about two minutes until they turn mushy.

Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and mix well. Saute for a minute. Add about two table spoons of water, cover and cook for about five minutes or until the veggies turn tender.

Add the garam masala and mix well. Cook for two more minutes, adjust salt and spices and turn off the stove. 

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve warm along with any side - rice/roti/chapati/naan.

 

Sending this recipe to Any One Can Cook hosted by Umm Mymoonah

Bisibelabath

This is a one pot meal that is wholesome and can be made with any number of veggies on hand. it is quite delicious served with some papads and pickle. It is comfort food to many South Indians! I have tried several variations of this rice and each time it is a hit at my place. here is my favorite version of Bisibelabath! The ingredients list may seem too long, but it is so easy to prepare. The spice powder can be made ahead in bulk and stored for future use..

Ingredients
Rice - 2 cups
Toor dhal- 1 cup
Vegetables - peas, carrot, beans, potatoes, brinjal, drumstick - a total of two cups chopped (can be replaced with any veggies of choice)
Turmeric powder- ¼ teaspoon
Asafoetida- ¼ teaspoon
Shallots/Onions - ½ cup
Tomatoes - 2 diced
Garlic - 6 cloves (optional)
Green chillies- 3
Sambar powder- 1 teaspoon (optional)
Tamarind extract - 1 teaspoon or juice from tamarind of lemon size
Ghee - 2 spoons
Coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons chopped finely
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

For tempering

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Ghee/Oil - 1 teaspoon

For the spice powder :
Roast and grind the following -
Toor dhal - 1 teaspoon
Channa dhal - 2 teaspoons
Urad dhal- 1 teaspoon
Coriander seeds/Dhania - 1 tablespoon
Jeera / Cumin seeds - 1 ½ teaspoon
Cinnamon - 2 one inch pieces
Cloves - 5
Peppercorns - ½ teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds - ½ teaspoon
Saunf/Aniseeds - ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Red chillies - 4 or more according to your choice of spice level
Dried Coconut - 2 spoons (optional) can also be replaced with fresh grated coconut

In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add all the above ingredients and roast it until everything gets toasted. take care not to burn the spices. Allow it to cool and coarse grind the spices in a mixie / spice grinder.

Directions
Cook the rice along with salt and water. Rice:water= 1:2
Cook the toor dhal along with water, tomatoes, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Dhal:water = 1:3
In a large saucepan or in a pressure cooker, heat some oil and saute the shallots or onions. Once they turn translucent, add the green chillies and garlic and saute for a while.
Add all the chopped vegetables and required amount of salt and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tamarind mixture and a little water. Cover and cook until the vegetables get tender. Add the ground spice mixture and saute for 2 more minutes until a nice aroma is released.
Now add the cooked rice and dhal to this mixture and mix well. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or pressure cook for 3 whistles.
Meanwhile, do the tempering with ghee/oil, mustard seeds, urad dhal and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the rice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with some papads or pickle.

Molten Lava Cake

This is one of the best cakes I have ever baked. This recipe is a keeper for sure. It sure satisfied my cake and chocolate craving :) The best part is that it can be made from start to finish in 30 minutes and also it needs only five ingredients. I used dark chocolate instead of the semi-sweet chocolate and it tasted equally yummy! A bit healthier too.. Also loved the fact that it is baked i single sized servings. loved the gooey center of the molten lava cake. I baked it a little longer and it still resulted in a soft and moist center. This sweet goes to A Sweet Punch hosted by Divya this month. Now onto the recipe..

Ingredients

Recipe courtesy : www.showmethecurry.com

Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate/Dark Chocolate – 4 oz (113g)
Butter – 4 oz (113g)
Eggs – 2
Sugar – 1/3 cup (75 g)
All-purpose Flour – 1/4 cup (40g)
Butter – for greasing ramekins

Directions

1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Alternatively Microwave for 2 minutes checking every 30 seconds.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Once chocolate is melted, remove pan from heat and add in butter. Mix until the butter melts fully.
4. Add chocolate/butter mixture into the eggs, add all-purpose flour and mix until well incorporated.
5. Butter bottom and sides of ramekins (small glass/porcelain bowls) and pour in mixture about 3/4 way full.
6. Place ramekins on a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C) for 10 – 15 minutes. Shorter for gooey (molten) inside, longer for stiff inside.
7. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate cakes cannot get any better!

My Legume Love Affair (MLLA #28) - Event Announcement

Hello Foodie Friends..
Am back all charged up after my trip to India.. Will catch up with all your posts soon.. Am here with an exciting event announcement.

Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook offered me the opportunity to host October's edition of My Legume Love Affair (MLLA #28). Thank you Susan!

What is a legume?
According to Wikipedia, “A legume in botanical writing is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or a fruit of these specific plants. A 'legume' fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a pod, although "pod" is also applied to a few other fruit types, such as vanilla. Well-known legumes include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, soy, and peanuts.”

Fresh or dried beans, lentils, pulses, and/or the sometimes edible pods that contain these seeds, derivative products like tofu or besan,  fenugreek, carob, peanuts, etc are all acceptable ingredients for this event.

MLLA is all about the legumes of any sort as the main draw. Hence, please note that the "legume" being used for the dish must be the main ingredient rather than an auxiliary one.

Here are some of the rules for participating in this event:

• Post any recipe on your blog with any legume as the main ingredient during the month of October. Use of logo is optional.
• Please link back to this announcement post and also to MLLA host line up page on The Well Seasoned Cook .
• All courses and cuisines (vegetarian/vegan/non-vegetarian) are welcome, as long as legumes are the dominant ingredient. 
• Multiple recipes are allowed (although only one submission will be counted towards the random drawing). Recipes submitted to other events are also allowed. Recipes from archives can be accepted ONLY if updated and reposted as current.   
• Email your recipes to divyablogs[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following details on or before Oct 30: 

1. Name:
2. Location: (required)
3. URL of the recipe:
4. Picture of any size: (optional yet preferred)

•  Location of each participant is necessary to know who qualifies to win the Hurst Bean prize, shipped to U.S. residents only. If you don't want your location published in the round-up, please indicate this in your email so that I can maintain your privacy.
• For those who dont have a blog, pls send me the recipe and other details and I will gladly add that to the round up as well. Such entries also make eligible the participants to win the random drawing. 

Here comes the best part of the event:
Susan has offered to sponsor two exciting prizes to a randomly selected winner:

1) Winner chooses any cookbook or food-related book from Amazon U.S. valued at not more than 15USD, not including shipping.  This prize is offered by Susan at her expense and includes worldwide shipping.  Susan does not receive any compensation from Amazon.

2) Hurst Bean Box - A case of six bags of the winner's choice of Hurst Bean products, suitable for every diet, sponsored by Hurst Bean. (Due to shipping restrictions, this prize can only be awarded if the winner is a U.S. resident.) FTC Notice: In May 2010, Susan, at her request, received two Hurst Bean complimentary products which are not available for purchase in her local markets. Susan does not generally accept free products from Hurst Bean nor is she financially compensated by them.

Drawing Structure - If the winner is a U.S. resident, she/he will be the recipient of both Prizes 1 and 2 above.  In the event that an international winner is drawn, a second drawing will be conducted from the U.S. pool of entrants to ensure that the Hurst Prize is awarded every month.  The international winner will receive the book, and the U.S. winner will receive the Hurst Prize.

What are you waiting for? Start cooking!! Looking forward to your entries..

Aloo/Potato Bonda

I try to avoid making deep fried goodies often. But we couldn't resist these aloo/potato bondas on a chilly rainy day. We had these beauties along with a cup of tea on a rainy evening watching our favorite TV show!

These can be made in a jiffy if you have some boiled potatoes ready. Just mix the batter, dip the potaot mixture and deep fry them! Heavenly bliss! This could be served by itself or accompanied with any chutney of choice or just mighty tomato ketchup!

Ingredients

For the Potato Mixture

Boiled and mashed potatoes - 2 cups

Chopped onion - 1/2 cup

Green chillies finely chopped - 2

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Fresh Coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons

Asafoetida/Hing - 1 pinch

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

For the batter

Gram flour/Besan/Chickpea Flour - 1.5 cups

Rice flour - 1 tablespoon

Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon

Cooking soda - 1 pinch

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

 

Directions

First prepare the potato mixture. 

In a saucepan, heat one spoon of oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add the onion and green chillies and saute till the onions turn translucent. Add the turmeric powder and asafoetida and switch off the heat. Add the boiled and mashed potatoes and mix well. Also add in the coriander leaves and salt. Allow it to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the batter. Mix in all the ingredients listed under the batter section ( gram flour, rice flour, chilli powder, cooking soda, turmeric powder and salt. Add water little by little and make it into a thick batter. it should not be very runny. It should be like idli batter consistency.

Make small lemon sized balls using the potato mixture.

Now heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel.  Once the oil turns hot, slowly dip each potato ball in the batter and deep fry in batches of 4 to 5 for about 2 to 3 minutes until they turn golden brown on all sides. 

Using a slotted spoon, remove the bondas from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with chutneys/ketchup!

Colorful Summer Salad

This is one quick and easy salads I threw in for my solo-lunch when i had no mood to cook an elaborate meal for myself. This salad has some fresh summer ingredients and the addition of nuts and raisins adds some protein to it and makes it a wholesome meal.

I actually used some trail mix in this salad!! Yes that is weird but I tell you try it next time you make a salad. it is just amazing. The nuts and dry fruits give a nice chewy/nutty texture to the salad and makes it sweet and salty!

Have you ver been to Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes? Do try it if you have one near your place. I have never been a salad person earlier until I visited Souplatiation! They have an array of soups, salads, flatbread and dessert in a buffet style and very affordable!! Real food and healthy indeed!!

Coming on to my salad, I will have to tell you this salad is truly inspired from the salads in Souplantation. I threw in various ingredients I had in my pantry and refrigerator to make it a fun and colorful meal!

 

My salad mix contains:

Lettuce

Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves

Cherry tomatoes from my little garden

Baby Carrots

Fresh Diced Pineapple

Boiled chickpeas/garbanzo beans

Trail Mix - Contains raisins, walnuts, almonds, Macademia and Brazil nuts

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Just toss all the ingredients with the drssing. Chill and Serve!

Show Me Your Curry!

When I asked for suggestions for my "Show me your.... " event, many readers suggested the title - "Show Me Your Curry"! So this month month is all about gravies, curries, dhals and stews. I am sure every Indian household makes atleast one curry based dish a day. it is so versatile and serves as an accompaniment with dosas, idlies, rotis, chapatis, parathas and rice and can be had for all meals of the day! Hence put on your thinking hats and do send in your curry entries!!

Since I will be on vacation and will not be able to post the roundup in a month, the last day for this event would be September 25th.

Some guidelines for the event...

• Post any curry/gravy/dal/stew based entry in your blog between August 4-September 25th in your blog.
• Please limit the number of entries to 5.
• Link back to this announcement page.
• Please repost your archived entries during the event dates.
• Non-vegetarian entries are also accepted.
• Email me your entries with the following details to divyablogs[AT]gmail[DOT]com on or before September 25th:

1. Name:
2. Recipe URL:
3. Picture Attached (any size) :

Since i will be on a break, I might not be replying to your emails promptly. i will be getting back as soon as possible. I will be scheduling some recipes during my break!

Happy Cooking and Blogging till then !