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First of all I want to apologise to all dear friends who have posted such lovely comments in my blog, Thanks to all of you, I have not been able to visit and thank you in the blog, because of shortage of time, I as always late in posting my recipes for the events, even though I made them in advance, Hoping all of those dear friends would accept them to their round-ups.
My today's post is a recipe which I got from Anjana Aunty, who is bubbly lady with a lovely personality, and of course a superb cook, This happened in the 2nd week of Jan, I called my sister to wish her son for his Birthday which was way 8 days late :)), that's me!! but I have to blame my H, he is one who usually texts me all my sister's, BILs, niece, nephews, Daddy's and Mom's all kind of dates telling me to wish them, this time he forgot to do and I conveniently forgot it, the best thing was, the day I called she was having a party for his B' day and Aunty was home and she had brought her Thumbida Badanekaayi to go with Jolada Rotti, Mmm.., what a combination, don't you feel tempted, as I do prepare it two to three different ways, I wanted to know her style of cooking, I remembered that I had bought few round Brinjals just the week before. My kids love the subzi's I make out of it, She told me what all Ingredients she uses, she was not able to tell me the exact measurements I just gave it a try and it turned out very well, and we all enjoyed it with Jolada Rotti.
STUFFED SMALL BRINJALS / THUMBIDA BADANEKAAYI / BARWA BAINGAN
INGREDIENTS:
For the Curry:
16 Small Brinjals
Few Curry Leaves (2 to 3 sprigs)
1/4 Cup or 5 tbsp of Oil
1 tsp of Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
Marble size Jaggery (optional)
20 gms/size of Marble/ 5 to 6 Flakes of Tamarind
Few Coriander Leaves to Garnish (5 to 6 stalks)
2 Medium sized Onions
4 to 5 Garlic Pods
Salt as Required
For the Masala Powder :
1 Cup Coriander seeds
1 tbsp Urad dal
1-1/2 tsp Bengal gram Dal
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1-1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Poppy seeds
1/2 tsp Pepper corns
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
2 Sticks (1'' Pieces) Cinnamon sticks
4 Cloves
3 to 4 Marati Moggu
1/4 tsp Asafoetida/Hing
1-1/2 tbsp of White Till seeds
1-1/2 tbsp of Uchellu / niger seeds
60 gms / more than 1/4 cup of Dry Copra
1/4 Cup Peanuts/Ground nuts
6 - 5 Guntur -Badgi Dry Red Chillies
METHOD:
First of all soak around 20gms/size of marble/5 to 6 Flakes of Tamarind in 1 cup of hot water
In a tsp of oil add Fenugreek first, when it turns golden brown in colour, add cinnamon sticks, Marati Moggu, cloves and fry for a minute, then add Mustard seeds, pepper corns, Dry Red Chillies and cumin fry for a minute when they smell very nice, and the cumin turns golden in colour, then take all of them out in a plate, now add Channa dal fry with a drop of oil until it changes colour take it out, then another tiny bit of oil and fry Urad dal until it changes colour take it out, then add another tiny bit of oil add Coriander seeds and fry until they change colour to golden colour, Leave them on the plate until they cool down. (you can also fry the dals and coriander seeds together with the other ingredients one by one)
In the same wok fry ground nuts nicely until it changes colour, may be 5 minutes to 7 minutes, the skin starts peeling off, take it out and allow it cool.
Then fry both the Till seeds separately (White and Niger seeds) until they start popping or spluttering out, take these out on to a plate to cool
Grate the Dry Copra/ Coconut fry just for a minute and keep it aside to cool.
Rubbing in both palms remove the skin and the small nodes in the Ground nuts and Grind just the two parts of the nuts and powder and keep aside.
Once they are all cool Grind the dals first into a smooth powder then to this add the Till seeds and the Dry Coconut/Copra and make the powder.
Now your Masala powder is ready. This powder can be stored in an Air tight container. when ever you want to make this gravy, Vegetable bath, or any dry curry with any other vegetables which might go well with the masala, Gojjus or you can even use it for sambhar (omitting adding of til seeds).
Once the Masala is ready now the process is easy.
Here I did a little variation, actually I did not grinded both the coconuts into a smooth paste rather than using the Dry copra to make the masala powder as I intended to use all the powder immediately and I did not keep it for any storing.
Take the 2 Onions and Garlic pods and grind them into a smooth paste.
In a bowl take the Masala powder, Ground nut powder, Onion - Garlic paste, and Coconut paste mix all this together with 1 tbsp of salt.
Slit open the Brinjals as shown and fill up them with masala powder and keep it ready. you will be left with some masala powder paste as well.
Take a large pan/ wok heat 1/4 cup of oil to this add mustard seeds, when they splutter add turmeric powder and slide in the filled Brinjals and curry leaves into the pan and saute them carefully for 2 minutes until all the brinjals are coated with oil.
You will be left with some masala powder paste, to this add nicely squeezed Tamarind water to this remaining paste, mix well together add this to the Pan as shown in the picture add another 2 to 3 cups of water depending on how gravy you want your subzi to be and also adjust the salt, remember you have already added some to the powder paste while filling the Brinjals, Cover and cook for about 20 to 25 minutes in a low flame, just check now and then and turn them around slowly, so that they don't get squished and dry up, if it dries up add a bit of water.
But, usually it cooks well in that flame and the gravy thickens too, chop few fresh coriander leaves and Garnish and serve hot with Roti, Naan, pulkas or chapatis.
Here is an other click of my Badanekaayi Yennagai..
will write about Jolada rotti soon....
Variation: If you cannot get Tamarind you can substitute it with 2 small Tomatoes.
Do not forget to adjust salt and Red chillies to your taste, as chillies usually differ.
I am sending this to Kavita's Healing food - Egg plant event , started by Siri.
Hope you enjoy making it as we did.. Have a good day... take care... bye..... c u soon.....
I had been to my Friend's place the other day and as we were chatting away, she went get me some Tea and I just couldn't sit there doing nothing so I got up started browsing through her books in the shelf ( that is what most of us do I think when we love books right ?), and this book caught my attention as first thing it was a cookery book then I found this about South-east Asia, don't we all want to have a peek if it says so!, So did I , nothing wrong though, it's natural, is something Indian there !?, what he thinks about south-east Asian food etc.,.. well, I wouldn't buy it though to be honest, as it had lot of Non-Vegetarian dishes featured, as my friend is one, it might be useful for her. But, But, It had so beautiful photos and so very authentic about spices that is what I noticed when I went through the vegetarian dishes in it. She said she hadn't tried anything from it still and she said I could borrow her book, well, that is what I was waiting for, So.., had that wonderful cup of Tea picked the book and went back home, sat again with a cup of Tea and started gazing through the pages, and mentally thinking what vegetables I had in hand I made two recipes out of this book and they really turned out so well, I really liked the book and may be who love to cook Asian recipes I think they can give this a try as it was really nice. You might be getting frustrated by now because I haven't mentioned the name of this book :), It is Rick Stein's Far eastern Odyssey
''Bangladeshis say that their cuisine is not worth making fuss about, and most of the Indian Restaurants in the UK, which are owned and run by Bangladeshis, tend to feature the cuisine of the rest of India and Pakistan. But I found that people eat a variety of meat and rice dishes with Northern Indian and Persian influences, I suppose if you ask me for three of the most distinctive flavours of Bangladeshi cooking, I'd say Mustard, Ghee (clarified butter) and a particular type of spice mix, Panch Phoran, a combination of Mustard, Nigella, Cumin, Fennel and Fenugreek Seeds''.
So, that's it, I started into my culinary world with the recipe in hand.., as I knew what I was going to cook...
I have to say I had to tweak this recipe a little bit with some Ingredients.
And also I had to feed 5 hungry people who love chapatis and subzis, Actually this recipe says it serves 6, I wouldn't think so, as I had to make it more to feed the family of 5 , I think this recipe from the book may serve around 3 people maximum if you like your curries.
AUBERGINE CURRY WITH TOMATOES, GINGER AND FENNEL SEEDS
INGREDIENTS:
600 gms Aubergines/ Purple Indian long Variety Brinjals
150 ml vegetable oil ( I used 1/4 cup Sunflower oil)
40 gms fresh root Ginger (I used 1 and 1/2 inch)
40 gms Garlic roughly chopped (I used 5 cloves of garlic)
2 Green Cayenne Chillies finely chopped (I used chillies from my garden I do not what variety it is!)
2 tsp Fennel seeds (I used 1 tbsp and 1 tsp Fennel seeds)
1 tsp Cumin seeds (1 and 1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp freshly Ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
400 gms Chopped Tomatoes or can use from a can ( I used 600 gms)
1/2 tsp freshly ground Black pepper
5 to 6 sprigs of Coriander leaves
3 sprigs of Mint leaves
(He uses both coriander and mint leaves 1 tbsp)
I also used 2 tbsp of Tamarind juice and 1 tsp of Red chilli powder which was not in the recipe
METHOD:
Cut the top of the Aubergines/Brinjals and cut them in half lengthwise, as I had little larger ones I had to again cut each across in half and then again each piece lengthwise into 4 wedges (the recipe says toss them with a tsp of salt and set aside in colander for 10 mins), well I did not do so I just cut them into wedges and tossed them in water as we all know they turn black if you didn't do so as it reacts with oxygen when exposed, like the Apples.
Then Heat a frying pan with oil, I took out the Brinjals out of the water pat dried it on a kitchen towel they using 1 tbsp of oil I coated them, then used around 2 tbsp of oil and shallow fried few Brinjals at a time in 3 batches on a high heat, until richly browned for 3 to 4 minutes. ( I liked this Idea as he says this way it helps prevent them from absorbing too much oil, which would make the finished dish greasy), I did not use any extra oil again but used a sprinkled little salt every time I sauteed every batch.
Then I Put the Ginger, Garlic and chilli (as said in the recipe ) but I also added chopped Tomatoes into the food processor, I mean my Mixie and whizzed it into a smooth paste.
Take a big kadai/wok/frying pan and then add one tsp of Fennel seeds and cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for a few minutes,
then add the Tomato paste and leave this to fry for a 3 to 4 minutes
Then add Turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, Tamarind juice and Black pepper powder mix well, then leave it again for a few a further 8 to 10 minutes covering with a lid in simmer , so that the raw smell of the tomatoes are gone and they all get cooked well, then you can see that it is kind of reduced and thickened slightly.
Return the Aubergines into the pan and stir well to coat in the sauce, But then the recipe makes into a dry curry but I made into a Gravy by adding 1 and 1/2 cup of water and covered it with a lid and cooked them again with required quantity of salt, remembering that I had already added a little bit of salt every time I fried the Aubergines, It was so like a Restaurant dish, and was really mouthwatering.
I served them with chapatis, you can serve them with pulkas, Naans etc.., may be it might go well with rice too..
I should say it doesn't look like anything from the photo of the book, but a lovely recipes with lot of flavours..
I am sending this of to Toviewtoronto's food palette's Red event.
Beet root -Baby corn Pakodas
Tomato Bisi bele bath
Fusilli with Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Tomato Sauce
Beetroot Pulov
Red velvet cup cakes
and here are few more of my Red coloured dishes, which might go with her events and hope she likes it....., as she said she wouldn't might the archives, at least I wanted to post something new to her event.
I think I have around 6 to 7 of this stuffed Brinjal recipes!, here is another one of them it is lucky you know It is already getting posted, poor others which are still in a draft state hoping to see the screen soon. Again this one I found from this blog called A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine, which has numerous Gujarati recipes in their blog, As always I look for the vegetables I have and cook before they hit the bins and on the way was small Brinjals another day or two it would have hit the bin, and this recipe caught me, beautiful photograph, not like mine though. check out her blog for more information on Brinjals.
I made a small change as I had just around 7 small Brinjals I couldn't feed my army, I decided to Increase this Dry curry with an other acceptable vegetable potatoes, she had used only two I used around 7 to 8 of them.
Here goes the recipe....
BHARWA BAINGAN
INGREDIENTS:
6 TO 7 Small Brinjals
7 to 8 medium sized Potatoes
3 tbsp of Roasted Bengal gram flour
3 tbsp Roasted peanut powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
1/4tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 and 1/2 tbsp Chilli powder
3 tbsp grated dessicated coconut
1 tsp Finely Chopped Garlic
1 tsp Amchur powder
1 tsp Sesame seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
4 to 5 tbsp of oil
chopped coriander leaves to garnish
1 sprig of curry leaves
Salt as required
METHOD:
In a bowl mix all the powders cumin, asafoetida, coriander, turmeirc, peanut, bengal gram flour, coconut, amchur, garlic, sesame seeds mix everything together and keep aside with a little bit of salt.
Take the potatoes, peel them cut into nice big chunks and boil them in a bowl, with a pinch of salt, by the time you get the Brinjals ready the potatoes would have cooked.
Meanwhile wash the brinjals cut their heads of slit them into 4 not completely till the 3/4th of the vegetable so they stay intact, fill each one of them with ready mixture, I coated all the Brinjals with oil too... and set them aside.
Next take a wok heat 4 to 5 tbsp of oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, when they splutter and change colour add the stuffed brinjals slowly roast them and cover it with a lid add a sprig of curry leaves, Meanwhile your potatoes would be ready, drain out the liquid, then coat the left over mixture to the potatoes with a 2 tbsp of oil, and then add this with Brinjals in the wok, Now and then take out the cover and saute it carefully not to break the cooking cuties, add a one or two tsp of oil so they get roasted very well sprinkle a little bit of water while coating the potatoes, add a bit of salt (remember that you have already added salt while cooking potatoes and in the mixture fillling the Brinjals), When they get cooked well and the potatoes too get roasted well, it's well and done.
I am sending this to Flavours of Gujarat event hosted by simply sensational food.
