Bagara Baigan (Stuffed Eggplant)

For vegetarians and meat lovers this is a big favorite - stuffed eggplant... eggplant at its finest ;) I love this dish myself. There are a few different ways to make it...mostly driven by the state of region in India. Hyderabad has its own signature way of making, Nellore has its way of making it, and Vizag has its own way of making it. I love all ways, perhaps because I just like variety!

So, here's a Nellore style of making eggplant. Btw, a quick search on eggplant nutrition facts, revealed the following:

Eggplant is:

• Low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol
• High in Dietary Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper

The nutritional value and health benefits of eggplant makes it ideal for:

• Maintaining optimum health
• Weight loss

Ingredients:
Indian Eggplant (8-10)
1 medium sized red onion
3 green chillies
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
handful fresh coriander leaves
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder

Process:
Chop up the onions, green chillies coriander leaves
Heat up a deep saute pan.
Add about 2 tbsp oil
Add the onions and green chillies, saute until slight yellow
Add the ginger garlic paste, saute until the mixture is golden brown
Add the dry ingredients (cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, chilli powder)
Saute for another minute to allow the dry spices to get toasty (it brings out the flavors really well)
Add the dry roasted peanuts, and give it a stir - another couple of minute
Add salt to taste
Set aside from the stove and allow it to cool down
In a food processor, blend the above mixture with the coriander leaves, to a fine consistency
Not it's time to prepare the eggplant:
Cut it into 4 sections as if you are creating a flower out of it. Important thing is to not cut it all the way. The base (part which holds the stalk) should be intact, such that it's still a whole eggplant.. just with 4 "petals"
Cut all eggplants in a similar fashion
Heat some oil in a saute pan, and stir fry them such that all sides get a nice carmelization. Do not over-stir, or else the eggplant will fall apart.
Once the eggplant is nicely browned, add the mixture from the food processor.
Cook for 7-8 minutes, so that the eggplant soaks in the sauces.
While cooking, do not over-stir and mix carefully.

Serve hot with rice or roti/naan!

Masala shrimp in 4 mins

Do you have those cravings when you just need eat some spicy shrimp in 5 minutes? Very simple ;)

Ingredients
Cooked Cocktail shrimp (jumbo or large size) - use 20 pieces for this recipe
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder (or 2 tsp for extra spice)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste

Preparation
Place the shrimp if frozen in room temperature water (Do not use hot or warm water which will recook the shrimp making it hard and dry).
Heat 1 tbsp of butter or vegetable oil in a non stick pan.
Add the shrimp and immediately add the spices
Coat all shrimp evenly and them place them to cook for 2 minutes each side.

Serve with a dash of lime!

Chicken Hariyali Tikka

Mahesh and I hosted the super bowl game this sunday and I thought, why not replace the chicken wings with something a little more healthy and yet, delicious! So there.. I made this minty-coriander delight. The name 'hariyali' means green.. this is primarily a north Indian entree'.

Ingredients:
3 pounds of boneless chicken breasts
Marinade contents:
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
5 green chillies
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 cup yogurt
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Grind the coriander, green chillies and mint into a fine paste (you may use yogurt to make the grinding easy).
Mix this paste with the rest of the ingredients.
Cut the chicken into small size chunks.
Mix with the marinade.
Let it marinate overnight or at least 5-6 hours.
When ready to cook, arrange the chicken cubes into the skewers. If you have veggies (bell peppers, onions, mushrooms etc) you can alternate them with the chicken.
Cook in a conventional oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes and then broil for 5-10 minutes.
I strongly suggest cooking chicken "breast-meat" on a grill however, as the oven makes the chicken somewhat dry.

Serve hot with raita and naan!

Alu Bonda (Alu Pakora)

This is an all time favourite snack, again more seen in the south Indian areas than north, but regardless - it tastes great. It's also a great way to use up any left over potato stir fry, or pani puri stuffing or dry alu korma. The placement and decoration credit goes to Jyotsna who changed my mind from not posting this photo to posting it and decorating it :)

Ingredients:
For batter:
1 cup besan (gram flour)
pinch of salt
pinch of baking soda
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
For filling:
3 medium sized potatoes
1/2 onion chopped finely
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
2 green chillies cut in small pieces

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes until done.
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil, add the onions, green chillies and ginger.
Stir until onions turn slight golden.
Add the potatoes, cumin and coriander powder and salt to taste.
Stir for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Once done, let the mixture cool down.
On another deep frying pan, add oil and heat. A good test to check the temperature is to drop one small drop of the batter and see if it immediately floats. If the oil is not ready, it will just touch the bottom and not cause the same reaction.
Prepare the batter by mixing all ingredients mentioned above to a thick consistency.
Make small balls out of the potato mixture, dip these balls in the batter and fry.

Serve with coriander chutney or just onions and lime.

Mirapakaya Bajji (Stuffed pepper pakora)

This is a mouth-watering dish mostly prevalent in Andhra Pradesh (Vijayawada, Guntur & neighbouring areas). The very mention of this dish makes me feel nostalgic of my college days - our most loved evening snack! I am sure many of those are reading this post know what I am talking about :)
This past sunday, my husband and I went to a friend's (Raji & Krishna) place to watch the 2 playoff games on TV, and this whole cooking session became a discussion of the different ways to make the filling etc. Will try out the other suggestions and post as variations later..

Ingredients(serves 6):
8 Anaheim peppers
For batter:
1 cup besan
2 tbsp cornflour (for crisp-factor)
1 tbsp cumin+coriander powder
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
a pinch of baking soda

For the filling:
3 tbsp white til(nuvvulu) - powdered.
1 tsp amchur
1 tsp cumin+coriander powder
pinch of salt

Preparation:
Mix the contents of the batter to a thick consistency (kinda like the pancake mix). Don't thin it down too much, else it wont stick to the peppers.
Mix the contents of the filling in a small bowl.
Slit the peppers on one side like a pocket, and spoon in the filling in all the peppers.
Heat peanut oil in a frying pan.
Dip the stuffed peppers in the batter, cover all sides.
Place them one by one in the frying pan.
Don't turn to the other side until the bottom side is completely done.
Pat with paper towels to get off extra oil, once you take them out.

Serving suggestion:
Cut into bite size pieces and sprinkle some chat masala on the pieces.
Cut the red onion into small pieces, and sprinkle 1 whole lemon.
Eat the bajji pieces with a nice helping of onions & lime squeeze.
mmm...delicious!!

Cauliflower and Peas Stir Fry (Gobhi Matar Masala)

Cauliflower is a vegetable I have seen mostly popular in Northern part of India, some parts in East and West too. Though not as popular in the south, I still see most restaurants serving cauliflower based dishes.

Ingrediants (serves 3)
1 Cauliflower
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 green chillies
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
Tadka/Chonk/Popu:
2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp black mustard seeds, 5 curry leaves

Cut cauliflower into desired shapes.
Chop a medium size onion into thin slices.
In a pan, add some oil, heat it. Tip: Dont let the oil heat up too much..
Once oil is mildly hot, add the tadka materials and let them pop.
Add the onions and green chillies, stir until onions are golden brown.
Add ginger garlic paste if available, else skip this step.
Stir for a minute.
Add the cauliflower pieces, mix it up once and then onwards mix it every 2 mins. No need to continuously stir it, it will break up the cauliflower so it doesnt remain a full slower anymore.
I usually dont cover with a lid, as again I dont want too much moisture to be trapped inside which makes the cauliflower break up.
After 10 mins, add the peas.
Sprinkle turmeric, chilli powder and stir.
Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp coriander(dhaniya) powder OR for a stronger flavour, sprinkle 1 tbsp garam masal powder instead.
Salt to taste.
Mix it up, cook until cauliflower is slight browned on some sides.
Stir every 2-3 mins on medium to high heat until cooked.

Total preparation time: 25-30 minutes.

Serve hot with parathas or rice.

Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi

This is a great quick recipe that hardly needs any preparation and tastes delicious with idlis or hot rice+ghee! What more, it's a good source of fiber too. So whenever you make anything with the turai, save the chilka/skins for this chutney.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):
Beerakaya thokku from 2 large beerakaya (comes to approximately 2 cups)
1 tsp of tamarind paste (I always prefer using fresh tamarind pulp for these kinds of recipes for that extra zing, but it's really up to you and how time you have in hand)
1 tsp chana dal
4 dry red chillies
Chonk/Popu materials
1/4 cup onions
4 garlic cloves peeled and cut
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan.
Add the popu ingredients (mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves).
Add the red chillies, chana dal and garlic, stir.
Add the onions and stir until onions turn slight brown and let go of the moisture.
Add the beerakaya thokku and stir for 5 mins.
Empty contents into a plate and let them cool down.
In a blender, add the cooled contents from the pan, some water and tamarind paste.
Blend to a smooth consistency.

Serving suggestion:
Best with hot rice and ghee!