Eggplant Masala Curry

I got this big eggplant from a farm produce. I didn’t know that these eggplant stem would have thorn in it. Before Shoj could warn me about this, I did get a small poke. May be this eggplant was greeting me.

I wanted to try another recipe with this, but the end product turned out to be this curry. You know, this is how we learn from mistakes and experiments in our kitchen, until and unless we have good results. So I can take this experiment as a good result, as the curry turned out to be good.

Ingredients:

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1 large Eggplant washed and cut into cubes and put it in a bowl of salted water.

1 medium Onion chopped

2 medium Tomatoes chopped

1 sprig Curry leaves

2 tsp Sambar powder (I use the sambar powder that my mom prepare on her own)

(Note: will update this blog with mom’s sambar powder recipe)

½ tsp Turmeric powder

1 tbsp Tamarind pulp

Salt to taste

1 cup water

½ tsp Mustard seeds

¼ tsp Fenugreek seeds

¼ tsp Asafoetida

¼ tsp Garlic powder/ 2 pods of fresh garlic chopped

1 tbsp Oil

Method:

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1. In a pan add oil, when the oil is hot add mustard seeds, when they start to sputter add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and asafetida.

2. Add onions, fresh garlic/garlic powder, eggplant, salt, turmeric powder. 

3. Cover and cook until eggplant is ¾ cooked. Add the tomatoes and sambar powder stir well and cook for another 2 mins covered on medium flame.

4. Add the tamarind pulp and water and bring to boil without lid.

Make sure that all the ingredients are cooked well.

5. Serve hot with steamed rice or this recipe goes well with biriyani too.

VENTHAYA MANGAI PICKLE

This is one of the most favourite pickles for me. The season for raw mango as well as Mangoes has gone. But still I can get some Kerala raw Mangoes here which is sweet and fleshy. When I have seen them last week in a famous Indian Super market, I immediately grabbed them and the next day, I have made this venthaya mangai pickle. I prepared with 4 mangoes but it didn’t even last for a week. My family members finished it within a few days!

வெந்தய மாங்காய் ஊறுகாய்

Ingredients:

Raw mango- 2
Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder- half sp
Salt to taste
Gingelly oil- half cup
Asafetida- a small marble size
Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Procedure:

Cut the mangoes in to small cubes.
In a tsp of oil, fry the asafetida and fenugreek seeds separately to golden brown.
When cooled, grind them to a fine powder.
Heat a pan and pour the oil.
Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter add the magoes with the turmeric powder and salt and fry them on slow fire for 5 minutes.
Then add the chilli powder and cook for 5 minutes.
Then add the fried powder and cook again for a few seconds.
Now venthaya mangai pickle is ready.
This goes well with Thayir sadham and sambar sadham.

Zucchini Kadalai-Paruppu Kootu/Zucchini Chana Dal

Making Kootu/Dhal with Kadalai-paruppu/Chana Dal has a Divine flavour. Normally i make kootu/Dhal with Moong Dal, since it takes less time to cook, whereas chanadal takes a bit more time and work. Got Zucchini's @ my Local Grocery Stores, so made Kadalai-paruppu/chana dal Kootu. The Zucchini's were light green in colour, so confirmed @ Wiki whether was that Zucchini or not?? yes, it is Zucchini

Zucchini can be yellow, green or light green, and generally have a similar shape to a ridged cucumber, though a few cultivars are available that produce round or bottle-shaped fruit.In a culinary context, zucchini is treated as a vegetable, which means it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower.

Ingredients
3-4 nos. Zucchini
1 small bowl of peas
1/2 cup Chana Dal
2 nos green Chilli
1 tbsp Freshly grated coconut
1 tsp grated ginger

Salt to taste
Fresh Coriander for Garnishing

To Grind
2 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Corinader seeds
1 tsp Tuvar dal

For Tadka/Seasoning
2 tsp oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
2 tsbp urad dal
a fistful of curry leaves

Method

Soak Chana Dal Overnight or Atleast 3-4hrs prior cooking, this way it cooks fast. Peel the Zucchinis and cut them as cubes. Grind the Ingredients given under "To Grind" to a fine powder,No Need to Roast, just dry grind. In a pressure pan, Add cut zucchinis and Soaked Chana Dal (after draining the excess water), Slited Green Chillies, Coconut, Ginger, Ground Masala Powder and Salt. Pressure Cook for 3-4 Whistles. 

Once the Pressure is Down, Transfer into another bowl, Heat oil in a tadka pan, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dal, once it turns light brown, add curry leaves and pour the tadka over the dal. Yummy Dal is ready!!!! Serve With Hot Roti's/Rice

Sending this to MLLA-27 @ Susan. Also to 'ONLY' Low oil/Low Calorie Event Guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal, Event by Pari of Foodelicious