Baingan aur Mirch ka Saalan

Life has so many challenges ahead for us now. Right from Career, School for the kid,  everything is still on hold, and we are really fighting hard to play it all smoothly from the pause mode. Hope everything will get smoother. Other than that, had bloggers meet, where i got a chance of knowing all nice bloggers and now i can call them as blog-friends. every blog-friend were so sweet and nice. then my kid got holiday's, so i need not tell you all, why i was not spotted here often.

Holiday fever caught us and cooking new dishes becomes my job. As a Brinjal Fan, i was longing to prepare this Baingan aur Mirch ka Saalan. i got this recipe from Nita Mehta's Cook in Minutes. it was really made in minutes.close to quarter of an hour, if i need to mention the duration.

If you think, that this Gravy is a Spicy Dish, then you are wrong. Its Tangy and Thick Gravy. If you need it to be spicier, add some chilli powder or have a bite of green chilli's then and there while having the gravy;)
The fried soft brinjals compliment with the tanginess of the gravy, and i think thats the uniqueness of the gravy.

Recipe Source: Nita Mehta's Cook in Minutes
Ingredients:

4 Green Chilli's
5 Purple Brinjal's - sliced in round shape's (refer picture)
Tamarind paste - 2 tsp's
Chilli powder  - 1 tsp
5 tbsp Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard
1/2 Onion - finely chopped
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Thick Milk - 1/4 cup or Fres Cream - 2 tsp's

To Grind:

2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp peanuts
1 tsp grated coconut
6 flakes of garlic
1 inch of ginger
1 tsp Cumin
2 tsp's of corriander powder
a pinch of turmeric powder
Juice of half of a Lemon

 Grind the above all together into a smooth and thick paste with 2 tbsp of water.

Method:

Heat Oil in a Thick Bottomed pan, add slitted green chilli's and fry them. after frying remove it from oil.
Then add round sliced Brinjal's to the oil and fry them for 5-7 minutes till they are cooked and turn into golden colour. once the brinjals are cooked remove them from oil.

add mustard, curry leaves to the oil and let the mustard splutter. now add frinely schopped onion and fry them till they turn translucent.

Now add the grounded smooth paste and mix with the onions. add 2 cup's of water and tamarind paste and bring them to boil.

Then add the fried green chilli's and brinjals to the pan and mix well. Let the gravy simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Then remove the gravy from the flame and add 2 tsp of fresh cream or 1/4 cup of thick milk.

Serve with Rice or roti's.

Mixed Bean Soup

The Climate in chennai is Chill, with lots of Rain. For this chill climate, nothing other than soup on table makes you comfortable. As me and my son love to have soup, i find different soups from other blogs and create it at home. two days back i soaked lots of beans to prepare these mixed beans soup and then searched at many blogs and found the prepation is more similar to Indian Curry.

Most of the recipe called for some broths, you can use vegetable broth or just go with plain water, like what i made. the other ingredients mentioned in the recipe are, Chilli Powder, Corriander powder, cumin powder and little curry masala powder. Now say, does'nt it sound like Indian Curry Ingredients?

Beans to Soak:
soak 1/4 cup of each beans overnight.

Kidney Beans / Rajma
Cowpeas / Kaaramani
Brown Chickepas
Chickpeas
Mochai / Hyacinth

Ingredients:

Onions - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Garlic - 3 cloves
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch
Cloves - 2
Olive Oil - 1tbsp
Dried Parsley or Oregano - 1 tbsp
Water or Vegetable  Broth - 3 cup's

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Corriander Powder - 2tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry Masala Powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)

Method:

In a Wide Pressure Cooker, heat a tbsp of oil, add cinnamon stck, cloves, bayleaf and saute them. next add finely chopped onions and fry them, on next, add finely chopped tomatoes , crushed garlic pieces and mix along with onions and fry them.

Add chilli powder, salt to taste, corriander powder, cumin powder and curry masala powder and mix well with the onion-tomato mix.

Next add overnight soaked beans to the onion-tomato-masala mix and give a mix. add 3 cups of water and mix well. close the pressure cooker with its lid and put on its whistle and let the cooker be on high flame till it whistles 4-5 times. switch off the flame and let the pressure releases and open the cooker.

Sprinkle some Dried Parsley or oregano and serve hot.

I served the Soup with some Wheat Foccacia. It filled our tummy very much. With all the beans you get the necessay protein and energy. wheat gives the needed fibre content. It was a simple and hearty meal together.

Dinner Knots

Iam trying to make breads or work with yeast since 2008 december, thats when i bought my Microwave Convection Oven. I was not at all satisfied baking breads in convection mode. then i got my OTG, which did'nt disappoint me. I keep on trying stuffs with yeast, rather than cakes. On one of my try, these dinner knots came out so so so Perfect for me. They turned out so soft and Flaky. Now its here to be presented for you All..

Ingredients:

Active Dry Yeast - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Warm Water - 1/2 cup
Warm Milk - 1/2 cup
Olive Oil - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1 beaten
Sea Salt - 1/2 tsp
All Purpose Flour / Maida - 3 and 1/4 cup (divided)

Egg Glaze:

1 egg
1 tbsp of water
Sesame seeds for topping

Method:

Warm half a cup of milk and dillute half a cup of warm water. Mix Sugar and Yeast with the dilluted milk and mix with a spoon. try to mix as much so that the yeast and sugar gets dissolved. close it and keep aside for 5 - 10 minutes, till frothy layer is developed due the activeness of the yeast.

Now in a wide bowl, add 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, add beaten egg to the oil and keep whisking with a whisk. add sea salt and whisk vigorously. Now add the yeast mix and keep whisking.

Now add 1/2 cup of flour and whisk, keep adding the rest of flour as half cup at a time. when the whisk clogs with the dough, shift to a wooden spoon and mix. then start mixing with hands and knead the doough for atleast 5 minutes. add little olive oil in the end and knead it once.

Take a Bowl, grease it with olive oil and place the kneaded dough and cover it and rest it for 1 and half hours atleast so that the dough gets doubled in size.

Line the baking tray with baking sheets. Pinch a small portion of the raised dough and roll it like a rope about 7 inch long and 1 inch wide.Now Cross one side of the rope over the other to form a Loop. Now take a tip of  the rope that is on top and tuck it under and through the centre hole to tie loosely into a knot. One of the rope should pop up through the loop hole.

Place the knots on the greased tray, each 2 inches apart from each other and cover loosely with a plastic wrap and let it rise for 10 minutes.

Pre-Heat the oven at 190C for 10 minutes and bake the dinner knots for about 18-20 minutes. Beat a Egg with 1 tbsp of water and with the help of a brush, brush it on top of the knots. and sprinkle some sesame seeds over then keep them on oven in broil mode for 3-4 minutes to get the browning effect on top.

Then Remove from the oven and let it cool and Serve.

I served these Dinner Knots with Jam to my kid and we had it with Soup. It was all together a New Dinner Experience for us on that Day!