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!

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!

Turai Sabzi (Beerakaya Kura)

This is one of my favourite vegetables, very simple to make and the flavour is amazing when cooked with garlic. So for all the garlic lovers, this is a treat! Imagine hot rice and a side of this vegetable.. its just mouth watering !;)

Ingredients(serves 2-3):
2 long Turai peeled off and cut into small pieces (save the skins for beerakaya thokky pachadi - yummy!)
1/2 medium sized red onion chopped
5 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
2 green chilles
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Chonk/Popu for seasoning (Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, urad dal)

Preparation:
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of peanut oil/vegetable oil.
Add the chonk ingredients, garlic and onions.
Stir until onions are light-brown.
Mix in the Turai, turmeric powder and cumin powder.
Stir until the turai is rid of all water and is very slightly browned.

Serve with hot rice and enjoy!

Vegetable Pulao

This is one of the things I absolutely love as it's so easy to make, tastes delicious and is a meal on its own!


Ingredients (serves 4):
1 cup rice
2 bay leaves
12-15 long green beans
1 red onion sliced in long wedges
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
Pulao Masala:
4 cloves
2 cardamoms
2 small sticks of cinnamon
1 tbsp cumin
Vegetables:
Mixed vegetables( peas, lima beans, corn, carrots)
Cauliflower cut into bite size pieces (optional)
Potatoes cut into cubes (optional)


Preparation:
Heat a cooking pan on medium heat, and add the oil.
Add onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste, bay leaves, stir till onions turn brown.
Grind the pulao masala ingredients in a coffee grinder to a fine powder.
Add to the cooking pan, stir for a 1 min.
Add the vegetables mentioned above and stir till the water from the vegetables evaporates.
Wash the rice under water, drain and add to the cooking pan with the rest of the ingredients.
Stir for 3-4 minutes under medium-high heat.
Add salt, mix.

Alternative 1: In a rice cooker, add this mix from the pan, 3.5 cups water(Tip for good Pulav/Biryani is to always add less water than usual to give a dry consistency to the finished rice). Add 2 drops of Kewra water.
Cook until done.

Alternative 2: This is handy when you have left over rice. Once the vegetables & spice mix is done, mix the rice in and stir for 2-3 minutes until well mixed.

Serving suggestion:
Serve hot With yogurt raita

Fresh Coconut Chutney (Kobbari Pachhadi)

Ingrediants (serves 6):

Fresh grated Coconut (1 whole)
2 pinches of crushed fresh ginger root
ping of hing (aesofatida)
2 stems of curry leaves
3 dried red chillies (spice watchers: 1 red pepper instead)
3 fresh green chillies (spice watchers: 1 green chilli)
Chonk/Popu : 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp dry mustard seeds, 2 tsb urad dal
1/4 cups of fresh squeezed tamarind paste OR 2 tsp of tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup yoghurt

Process:
In a blender, grind the coconut, green chillies, tamarind, yoghurt, ginger to a fine paste
Pour into a serving dish
In a small saucepan, add 1 tsp of oil, add the Chonk ingrediants, hing, curry leaves, red chillies
Mix this into the blended coconut and serve with dosas or idlis!

Caution: Refrigerate after use, coconut goes stale very easily if left outside.

Chole Masala

Garbanzo chick peas Chole

Ingrediants
Tomato paste can
Chick peas can OR soaked & boiled from scratch
MDH Punjabi Chole Masala OR any other Chana/Chole masala (I prefer the former)

Preparation
grind one onion+3-4 green chillies+ginger garlic into a paste. It needn't be very fine. If you dont want to grind, you can cut into fine pieces too.
grind one tomato into a paste OR just use the canned tomato paste
In a pan, add some oil, heat it. Tip: Dont let the oil heat up too much, its bad for you.
once oil is mildly hot, add the first paste(onions mix)
Stir until golden brown, make sure this is nicely carmelized, otherwise it will taste of raw onions (Tip: it's harder to fry a paste than the chopped onions)
Add tomatoes paste once onions are fried, cook for 2 mins with lid on
Add some MDH Chole masala
Add some garam masala if available
Salt to taste
Add 1-2 tbsp red chilli powder
stir everything and mix every 2-3 mins for about 10 mins on medium-high heat
Add 1 cup water or to the desired consistency
Cover with a lid and cook for 20-25 mins
Garnish with coriander leaves once done

Broccoli Potato Sabzi (Stir Fry)

Ingrediants (serves 3)
1 Broccoli Flower
4 small potatoes or 2 big potatoes
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 broccoli, potatoes into desired shapes (cuboids)
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, its bad for you.
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 broccoli, mix it up once and then onwards mix it every 2 mins. No need to continuously stir it.
Cover with a lid
After 5 mins, add the potatoes. (Potatoes are faster to cook than broccoli)
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 potatoes are browned on some sides
Stir every 2-3 mins on medium to high heat until cooked. Make sure the potatoes are fully cooked inside by tasting one.

Spinach Dal (Palakura Pappu)

Ingrediants
A bag of baby spinach
1 red onion if small or 1/2 big red onion
3-4 garlic cloves, cut into small pieces
3 green chillies(if you have it, else skip this)
1 cup urad daal (kandi pappu)
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tomato (if you have it, else you can skip this) cut into small pieces
2 pinches of hing (aesofetida)

Preparation
boil the daal(in a pressure cooker if you have it, OR just add 4 times as much water, cover it partially with a lid, and cook it on medium heat. The latter method takes longer, so start this process early on - 45 mins. You dont have to worry about it once you set it on the stove, just make sure it's not burning at the bottom). Set aside once cooked

In a pan, add about 2 tbsp oil (To add that zing thing, add 1 tbsp pure ghee to this or you can do mix and match of oil and ghee)
once oil is mildly hot and ghee is melted, add some coriander seeds, cumin, hing, and the garlic pieces, green chillies if any, curry leaves if any
After a min or so just when the garlic is turning slight yellow, add the onions
stir fry until onions are golden brown
Add the tomato pieces, stir fry it until the tomato is softened and beginning to form a think paste with the rest of the ingrediants in the pan
Add turmeric, chilli powder, salt to taste, and stir
add the spinach, stir for 2-3 mins on medium - high heat
Add the cooked daal, boil for 15 mins on medium-high heat.

Serve:
Add finely cut coriander leaves as garnish on top before serving.