Verkadalai, Shengdana aka Peanut chutney (dry)

I have used peanuts in many different ways in my cooking. Peanuts play an important role as an ingredient in South Indian cooking, especially cuisines from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. After living in cities like Hyderabad and Pune, I have started to see how people use it in their cooking.


In Andhra, the "Gutti Vankai Koora" - Stuffed brinjal; or Bagara Baigan (Brinjal curry) (http://servantlesscooking.blogspot.in/2013/07/bagara-baingan-eggplant-dish-hyderabadi.html) is very similar to "Bharlele Karle" - Stuffed bitter gourd (http://servantlesscooking.blogspot.in/2013/06/bharlele-karle-stuffed-karela-bitter.html) in that all these recipes use peanuts as base ingredient. In Tamil Nadu, I have seen peanuts being used to make spicy powder that is used to eat with rice or as base ingredient to make wet chutneys that can be eaten with Idlis, Dosas (breakfast items). I discovered another new use for peanuts from my colleague, Vivek Bibave who started bringing this simple dry chutney from home made of peanuts that was so very tasty.

So, wanted to share with you two unique or different ways of making Spicy Peanut Chutney (dry)

Shengdana Chutney (Sukha)
Courtesy: Vivek Bibave's mom

1 cup Peanuts
4 Green /Red Chilli
Salt to taste

1 clove Garlic (optional)
1 Tbsp refined oil


If you have mortar and pestle at home, grind the raw peanuts, chilli, salt and garlic together to make a coarse ground powder/paste. The oil from the peanut and the water from the chilli will make it a little sticky. Heat oil in pan, and saute this paste/powder until it is no more sticky (2-5 min). The Sukha (dry) Chutney is ready to serve with hot Chapathi/Roti, or Rice.


Verkadalai Podi (Peanut powder)
Courtesy: Dakshin - Chandra Padmanabhan

1 cup peanut
1/4 cup sesame seeds
7 red chilli
1/2 tsp asafoetida
salt to taste

Dry fry the peanuts, sesame seeds, chilli and asafoetida. Grind it well in a powder. Ready to use with Rice or Dosa/Idli.

Peanut Powder Rice
2-3 Tbsp Peanut powder (as above)
1 Tbsp oil
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp black gram
1/2 tsp chana dal (yellow split pea)
1 red chilli
few curry leaves


Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, dals and when the mustard sputters, add the red chilli and curry leaves. Add the rice salt and peanut powder and mix well. Serve hot.

The Shengdana chutney is very common in Maharashtrian cooking, and raw chilli/garlic along with peanuts brings a unique taste to the recipe. You can make this without garlic and it tastes good too. A little bit more salt than usual is typical to this recipe as it is supposed to be eaten as a chutney as is or with yogurt mixed in it with chapathi.

Health tip: Peanut is the protein bank for vegetarians, a poor man's food and an excellent meat substitute for protein. It also provides necessary fat (unsaturated) to your diet.
Eating raw or less processed garlic is a very good for heart as the functional components within it are heat labile and when we fry/saute the garlic to get the flavor, we actually kill the healthy contributors.

Bagara Baingan (Indian eggplant curry)- Hyderabad delicacy

Bagara Baingan is a famous recipe from Hyderabad, where I grew up. It is very popular in weddings served with Hyderabadi Biryani (the eggplants used to float in oil/masala). My mom popularized it amongst our family and it became my signature dish in the US in parties and family gatherings. Recently on a Sunday, my brother (who lives in US) told me that good old Bagara Baingan is for lunch! Found out that Jayashree, my sis-in-law made it (not my mom who is visiting them). So, it truly has become our signature household recipe passing along to next generations. 

The main ingredient in this dish is peanut and small purple baingan (brinjal/small purple, Indian eggplant). Otherwise, it is a mishmash of spices (you name it and it is there in this recipe). The recipe is quite elaborate, but I will try to keep it simple:) I also tried to make it more heart healthy with less oil and more protein (peanuts/dals). You can use Microwave to cook the eggplant and fry them in less oil (similar to what you take for a saute) instead of deep frying them.

Bagara Baingan
Dedicated to my mom, Lakshmi Raman, who taught me how to cook it

Ingredients
1 kg small purple Baingan (Indian eggplant).
6-8 Tbsp refined oil

Preparing the Baingan (Indian eggplant)
Try to pick the smaller eggplants with green stalks (greener the stalks, the fresher the eggplant is). Eggplant is washed and dried with cloth. With a knife, you slit the bottom of the eggplant into 4 quadrants ending the cut at the stalk. You don't cut it completely, you leave it as a whole. Heat oil with 4-6 tbsp of oil and fry the eggplant in oil until completely cooked (crinkled/brown), strain the oil and keep them aside on plate.

Wet Masala
3-4 medium size tomatoes
2 onions coarsely cut
2-3 cloves garlic
2-3 green chillies
1/8 cup grated coconut (you can use fresh coconut)
2 Tbsp Tamarind paste (concentrate)


Grind the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chillies and coconut in a blender until a smooth paste.

3 cups water for cooking dish
1 small bunch of cilantro leaves for garnish
Keep the water for later when you cook the masala.

Dry Masala
1 cup peanuts - roasted
1/4 cup chana dal (yellow split pea)
1/4 cup urad dal (black gram)
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cardamom clusters (8 small seeds)


1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3-4 red chilli

Directions
Heat 1 tsp oil. I will now give you the sequence of roasting. keep them aside after they are completely roasted. The sequence is 1. Peanuts, 2. Dals, 3. Coriander+Red chilli 4. Mustard, fenugreek, cumin, sesame seeds, cloves, cinnamon, poppy seeds, cardamom, asafoetida. Let all the spices cool down and then grind them into a semi-coarse to fine powder.

Preparation of dish

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a heavy pan, and add the wet masala and turmeric, salt. Let it cook so that the green flavor is removed and the masala starts to boil. Keep a lid on top as the masala will get to sputter all over once it starts boiling. Add the 2 cups of water and let it cook in low heat until the oil oozes out of the masala (this is the sign that the masala is well cooked).

Now add the dry masala, add the extra one cup of water and let it cook well for 5 min in low heat until the dals are fully cooked and the oil comes out. Add the fried Baigan at the end and let it all cook for another 5-10 min. You can add more water or salt as needed so the masala is not dried out. You need to give it a good gravy consistency. Cook it in low heat with a lid on. Garnish on top with Coriander leaves.

It is served best with Hyderabadi Biryani, however it usually goes well with Chapathi/Roti or plain white rice. My husband and children all love it, the sign of this is that there are no left overs!

Bon Appetite!

Bharlele Karle - Stuffed Karela (Bitter gourd)

Stuffed Karela (Bitter gourd)) has always been my favorite as it was rarity at home. It is strange but true that the rarer a thing is, the more we want to own it. A simple example many of you women would agree is that we crave for stones or metal such as diamond, platinum and gold, because they are precious (rare). Would we care if it was available in plenty on the streets like a common rock?


Back to the Karela, I was taught to cut it into very fine pieces and make it into a Kar-amudu (Hot delicacy) with spicy powder. Since my times as as diabetic (gestational) and have diabetics in the family, I have grown to love this vegetable as we have found ways to eat it.  Frying it usually renders it less bitter, however that is not all that healthy!. So, I had found ways of using it baked as well. I used to stuff it with all kinds of nut powders, gram flour (Guju style) with spices and loved all stuffed recipes.


This recipe is actually a new one I have never tried and want to dedicate it to my friend, Akshaya Dubbewar from Pune who is my colleague at Rich Graviss. We used to have dedicated time off from work during lunch time where all of us would sit together, socialize, share each other's lunches and eat onto clean plates and spoons that would be washed later by hourly labor. This was a wonderful change to the US lunches I was used to where I would eat out of my box staring at the computer. This was great time to know each other, share anecdotes and build relationships. I always cherished my lunch time moments.

Being bred in US culture, I always used to bring left overs in my tiffin box all mixed together. For example, it would be a Sambhar+Rice+Vegetable - all mixed together. All my other colleagues used to bring separate containers where they would separate out the entrees and eat it restaurant style by serving onto the plates.

Let me talk a little about Akshaya who was the best in the crowd for she would bring a full course meal everyday including a salad (she never misses her salad), rice, chapathi (bread), dal (soup) and curry. And all of this was freshly made that morning!!! She would make this meal actually for her husband and pack his lunch. On Saturdays when her husband doesn't go to work, she sometimes brings her favorite potato dish - why only on Saturdays? because her husband doesn't like it, so she could bring it only on a day when he doesn't take lunch! This is not all, she manages to make breakfast for her in-laws and feed her little boy with what he would like for breakfast (may it be dosa, or any snack), get his snack box for school and then come to work!!

Compared to her, I felt I had a really easy life! My husband is tamed in US to eat left overs, adjusts with whatever I feed him (lately he is actually looking forward to my elaborate recipes - am actually spoiling him). In the US I used to make a dish that lasted for 2 days and would make Rice fresh everyday. Here in India, I atleast make a meal everyday! so, that is progress, isn't it?

Akshaya once brought me stuffed karela, the best I have ever tried and so wanted to publish it in my blog. I tried to follow her instructions the best I can. I am waiting to hear from her on what she thought about it, today at work. I loved it! I dedicate this recipe to Akshaya Dubbewar, for all the hard work she puts in everyday to feed her family (one of the many chores) and come to work with a smile!! This dish I discovered requires a lots of preparation and tons of patience.. so Kudos to Akshaya and to all your moms who multitask everyday .... you are all the best!!

Husbands if you are reading this blog, I urge you to take time to chip in the kitchen to help your better half... atleast help her out in her chores, or try to be in her shoes for a difference and you will realize what a daunting task, a cook has - everyday! 

Stuffed Karela
Ingredients:  4-6 tbsp of refined oil, 5 medium size Karela cut into 4 pieces; 2 cups peanuts; 5-6 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp cumin; 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 a lime/lemon, 1 tsp garam masala; 1 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing), red chilli powder and salt for taste, chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) for the stuffing.

Cut the Karela into medium size drums and remove the seeds from within. Fry these in oil until brown. Remove from oil and set aside.

In another pan, dry roast the peanuts and remove the skin (this is the difficult part - needs a lot of patience). Alternatively, you could buy Planters peanuts available in stores (salted and peeled). Blowing the peeled skin was the most fun, my kids would have loved it (they are at their Grandparents), but is the most painful to clean afterwards :)

Add the peeled and roasted peanuts, garlic, 1/2 tsp cumin, masala powder, red chilling powder, salt, turmeric, hing and grind it into a nice powder. Add the cilantro into this ground mix and squeeze in the lemon. Stuff the Karela drums with the powder and set aside.

Take some oil from the Karela fry, add mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp of cumin and when these pop, add the stuffed Karela and saute in low heat until all sides are brown.






Serve hot with rice. I also made Sambhar with the beans I had cooked for Chile (has some extra reserved for the Sambhar) that I will share the recipe later.  The dish was excellent!