Baingan ka Bharta

Ingredients:

1...................Big brinjal
2...................onions chopped finely
2.................tomatoes chopped finely
2tsbp.................finely cut mix of ginger,
                          garlic and green chillies
1tsp................mustard seeds
1/2 tsp...........cumin seeds
1 tsp..................garam masala
1 tsp.................amchur(dry mango powder)
salt
oil
coriander or mint for garnish




Method :

Smear the brinjal with any oil and roast it directly on
gas flames or by keeping on tawa.
Smearing the oil will make it easy to remove the skin after roasting.
When it becomes soft put off the gas and let the brinjal cool down.
Peel off the skin and mash the pulp and keep aside.
In kadhai heat 2 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds .
After they splutter add chopped ginger, garlic, green chilly mix.
Add onions and stir fry till soft.
Add tomatoes and stir fry for five minutes.
Then add the brinjal mash, salt, amchur and garam masala and cook for 5 minutes.
Garnish with coriander or mint leaves.
Your baingan ka bharta is ready.
Serve it with rotis or parathas.

Chicken Dimsums

First of all I would like to thank Achu from tangymind  and Jagruti from  Jagruti's cooking odyssey  for giving me the award for best innovative dish for my recipe on tavsalli (cucumber-cake) in their event . Do visit their blogs for some great recipes.

Chinese cuisine though an International cuisine , has become so familiar to the Indian kitchen that we have regularly started eating as well as making it at home. Dishes like manchurian, fried rice etc are liked by all.

Nowadays there is a craze of momos and dimsums . They are very similar to our steamed dishes and are oil free and very nutritious. I am posting the recipe of Chicken dimsums today. It is a very healthy and yummy dish , simple to prepare and mildly spiced.



 Ingredients :

For the filling :

200 gm ....................chicken mince
1 ............................onion(finely chopped and  
                                sauted)
2 tsp.........................pepper powder
1 tsp.........................soy sauce
2tbsp.......................fresh coriander finely chopped
salt
sugar

for the outer covering :

2 cups ..............maida
2 tbsp................rice flour
1 tsp.................oil
salt
water




Method :

Outer covering :

Make a dough by mixing maida, rice flour, salt and enough water and oil.
The dough should not be very soft.


Filling :

Boil the chichen mince with 4 to 5 garlic flakes in pressure cooker till soft.

When cold grind it in the mixer.

Saute the chopped onions till light pint and transparent.
Mix this ground paste with onion, pepper pd, salt, sugar, soy sauce and coriander.

How to Proceed :

Roll out small puri shapes from the dough.
Put little stuffing in the middle and fold as shown .
You get a special dimsum maker to steam these dimsums.
But you can also use your pressure cooker or idli maker for the same.
Add little water at the base and steam these dimsums in a similar way like idlis or dhoklas.

Serve with szechuan sauce.

Shevayacha Sanja (Vermicelli Upma)

Upma ... One of the easiest or you can say the easiest Indian breakfast. But still liked by many and regularly prepared in every kitchen. I prepare upma at least twice a month. Rawa upma,Shevai upma, Idli upma, Dhokla upma (also known as khaman) are some upma varieties which are prepared in same way but still each dish has a unique taste of its own.

Shevai upma tastes yummy. This dish can be prepared in any oil of your choice , but I usually prepare it in coconut oil and top it with little ghee. This enhances the taste of this dish.




Ingredients :


1 bowl ....................vermicelli ( I used Bambino brand)
2 tbsp....................coconut oil
1 tsp......................mustard seeds
2 .......................green chillies ( cut)
2.......................dry red chillies ( broken to pieces)
10 to 12.................curry leaves (chopped)
1/2 tsp.................asefoetida (hing)
2 tbsp...................fresh coconut (grated)
2 tbsp.................coriander leaves ( chopped)
1 tbsp...................ghee
salt
sugar

Method :

Heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds.
When they splutter add green and red chillies, curry leaves and hing.
Add the vermicelly and stir fry till they are light pink.
Add double the quantity of water, salt and sugar and let cook with a lid covered.
When almost cooked drizzle a dollop of ghee and again cook for some time.
Garnish with coconut and coriander and serve hot.

Moola koshimbir ( Radish salad)

This is a very tasty and crunchy salad. I sometimes use raw radish in this salad and sometimes I saute the radish a bit. This reduces the otherwise strong flavour of the radish. Today I am posting the recipe of radish salad with sauted radish.


Ingredients :

1.......................radish very finely chopped
1 .......................onion very finely chopped
1/2 cup...............fresh grated coconut
2.....................green chillies cut into slits
1/2 ...................lemon
10 -12.............curry leaves
1 tsp.................mustard seeds
1/2 tsp..............asefotida (hing)
few sprigs.............fresh coriander
salt
sugar
coconut oil

Method :

Sprinkle salt of the chopped radish and keep aside for 1 hour .
The radish will leave lots of water.
Squeeze the radish so that all the water oozes out .
Saute this squeezed radish in coconut oil till it is light pink but still crunchy.
When it cools down add onion, grated coconut, chillies, salt and sugar.
Squeeze the juice of half lemon on it and mix everything well.
Heat coconut oil in a separate small vessel.
When hot add mustard seeds, when they splutter add hing and curry leaves .
Add this tempering to the salad and mix well.
Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.


Linking this to Chef  Mireille's  taste-of-tropics guest hosted by Soumya at nivedhanams