Guthi Vankai Koora - Andhra style stuffed brinjal

It has been a while since I blogged - reasons are many - sick, travel, too many other priorities.. but none justified for long absence.. so here I am back on track to start sharing my cooking..

Today I am going to share with you a favorite Brinjal dish I learnt from my telugu friend Jyotsna. It is stuffed Brinjal with spicy mix. However I tried this out without stuffing the masala in the Brinjal.

Guthi Vankai Koora - Stuffed Brinjal

Ingredients
Brinjal - Small Indian style - 1 kg

Peanuts - 1 cup
Bengal Gram (chana dal) - 1/2 cup
Black Gram (Urad dal) - 1/2 cup
Coriander seeds - 1/4 cup
Coconut (optional) - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 4-5
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
4-5 Tbsp
MusTa tard Seeds - 1tsp
Curry leamarind paste - 2 Tbsp
Oil -ves - 6-7
Coriander leaves - to garnish

Dry Masala
Dry fry the Bengal gram, Black gram, coriander seeds, red chillies and peanuts and grind them together with salt, asafoetida. Mix the masala with 1 tbsp of tamarind paste. Keep it aside for stuffing the brinjal (Method 1) or to add in the dish (Method 2).
 
Directions
You can do this dish two different ways - stuffed masala or non-stuffed. It is the taste of the masala (groundnut based) that is key signature for this dish. The second method is easier and less time consuming and gives the same taste and flavor as in Method 1. Both deliver same taste to the dish.

Method 1
Slit the brinjal into 4 pieces without cutting the vegetable completely so it is like a opened flower. Fill in the masala inside the brinjal and tie it up with a thread. Take oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and once it sputters, you add curry leaves and turmeric, add the Brinjal (stuffed). Mix the 1 tbsp of tamarind paste in 1/2 cup of water along with salt and sprinkle the tamarind water+salt on top of the brinjal and cover the pan. Let the brinjal cook in low heat for 20 min with occasional mixing. Once the brinjal is cooked, garnish with coriander leaves and the dish is ready to serve with hot rice or chapathi.

Method 2
Slit the brinjal into 4 pieces without cutting the vegetable completely so it is like a opened flower. Shallow fry the Brinjal until well cooked and keep it aside.  Take oil in pan (1 Tbsp), add mustard seeds and once it sputters, you add curry leaves and turmeric, add the Brinjal (fried and cooked in oil), add the dry masala and the remaining tamarind paste, salt and mix well. Let the brinjal cook in low heat for 20 min with occasional mixing. Once the brinjal is cooked, garnish with coriander leaves and the dish is ready to serve with hot rice or chapathi.

Sabudana Khichidi (Sago/Javarisi/Tapioca Upma)

This last Friday was Ashada Ekadasi (one of the few Ekadasi that is very auspicious) and almost all of my colleagues and friends were observing fasting. Living with my mom, in-laws and my dad (ISKCON priest), who follow Ekadasi quite well, knew that I am allowed to eat only once in the day and end the fast with a sumptuous meal on Dwadashi (the next day). I could not eat any grains, but could eat anything from the roots, stems, fruits and vegetables. Here in Pune, many eat Sabudana (Javarisi) Khichidi (Upma) as it is from Tapioca root. My kids love this dish as well as they get it routinely in their day care. Just like any Upma, there is an art in making this.. and so here is my side of  the story on how to make this Upma.. or Khichidi..

Sabudana Khichidi

Ingredients
Soaked Sabudana - 3 cups

Peanuts - 1.5 cups
Curry leaves - 2-3
Cumin - 1 tsp
Green chilli - 4-5
Salt to taste
Refined oil or re fried butter (ghee) - 4-5 tbsp

Directions
Soak the sabudana overnight in a strainer. It is important to not soak it completely in water as the starch is lost. You have to rinse it well in water and drain all the water and let it soak in the residual water overnight or over a strainer.

Dry roast the peanuts until well roasted. In a blender add the roasted peanuts, chilli and salt and grind into a coarse powder. 

Take oil in pan and heat it. Add cumin seeds and when it sputters, add the curry leaves and the peanut mix and let it roast in low heat until golden brown for 2-3 min. Add the soaked sabudana into this mix and mix it well so every grain of sabudana is covered with peanut mix. This helps to make it less sticky. Otherwise, the entire thing will stick to each other into one big mass.

Let it roast and cook on low heat for 5-10 min until the whiteness of the sabudana is gone and you see glass transparency (that means the sabudana is cooked).

The khichidi is ready. Mine is a little more dark as I used re fried butter with its black sediment as I ran out of oil. Otherwise, once can make it light brown/white. One can also add red chilli powder instead of green chillies. The peanuts give the dish the signature taste of the Khichidi that you won't get from a regular south indian upma style of cooking.

As it is liked by everyone at home, there were no left overs and everyone enjoyed eating Upwas kha khanna (fasting food).

BTW, I observed complete fast on Ekadashi and only ate boiled potatoes, and sweet potatoes in the night for dinner after Abhishekham of our Laddoo Gopal (Lord Krishna). I ended the fast the next day with Puran Pholi (a dessert) as offering to Lord Krishna.. I will share this recipe in next blog.

 

 

Ulundu Sadam (Urad dal Rice)

Urad dal (Black gram) is used in a variety of dishes in South Indian cooking. It is used in making Idli (rice steam cakes), making all kinds of chutneys, thuvizhals (spicy paste that is eaten with rice). South Indian cooking is also famous for its flavored rice varieties.. Ulundu sadam is a unique flavored rice not very common such as tamarind, lemon or coconut rice and it is my family's favorite.

I discovered this recipe while I was in the US from an excellent South Indian recipe book, called Dakshin (Chandra Padmanabhan). Every time there was leftover rice, this was a quick spicy, flavorful snack everyone would relish.  It became my signature dish that my mom-in-law asked me to make for relatives or herself as she was very fond of the same.

Ulundu Sadam
Courtesy: Dakshin (Chandra Padmanabhan)

1 cup rice (cooked)
3 tbsp ghee or Sesame oil or refined oil
2 tbsp cashew nuts (can substitute with peanuts)
2 green chillies (this brings good flavor more than heat)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black gram seeds
1 tsp bengal gram (chana dal)
1 red chilli
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
a few curry leaves (the more, the flavorful)

salt to taste

Dry Masala
2 tbsp urad dal (blackgram)
1.5 tsp black pepper corns (this is a must - bring flavor)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp coconut powder


Directions
Grind the dry masala after dry frying the ingredients and keep it aside. In a pan, add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the nuts (cashew or peanuts) along with green chilli and keep it aside. In the same pan, heat the rest of the ghee or oil, and when hot, add the mustard, blackgram, bengal gram seeds along with red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves. When mustard seeds start to sputter and the dal seeds are brown, add the powder (dry masala), peanuts/chilli mix, and rice and mix them together.

Sesame oil adds more flavor than ghee and goes well with the sesame in the dry masala. The black peppercorns add the heat to the dish apart from the green chilli.

Serve hot with papadam..

Kanda Poha (Pune delicacy)

I used to make Kanda (onion) Poha (flattened rice or Avil) since I started cooking in Hyderabad and US the way my mom taught me for many years but never really mastered the art until I came to Pune. My daughters eat Poha regualarly as an evening snack in their daycare and love it. It was Sindhu who enthused me to learn it well, as she complained that I never make Poha which is her favorite snack! So, I was determined to learn this dish from a Pune expert- none other than my Bai (Maid Servant) :)

Since I like to be Servantless, I decided to learn it diligently from her so I can please my daughter. Anybody can make Poha as it is one of the easiest snack one can make. However, the art is in the soaking time and method of making it that makes it a signature dish for anyone.

Poha or Avil is actually a poor man's diet. In Indian mythology, Lord Krishna's friend Sudama carried a handful of Poha to his friend as gift as that is all he had. Krishna in return ate that up and the entire Universe was satiated. For Krishna, Avil is his favorite food and we offer it with Butter during Krishna jayanthi (Krishna's birthday). In Guruvayoor (Krishna) temple, you will find Lord Krishna holding his palm with Avil in his hands. So, in other words, today you will learn how to cook God's food:)

Take 300 g of thick Poha. You get thick and thin variety in any Indian store. Buy the thick flattened rice. Dice 1 onion and 2-3 green chilli (as per your heat level - the more the merrier), 100 g of peanuts, 6 tbsp of refined oil, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp mustard seeds, salt to taste, 1 half of a lemon, coriander leaves, curry leaves to garnish.

Take the Poha and rinse it well in water. Decant or remove the entire water using a strainer and keep it aside. Ensure that all water is removed, otherwise, it will absorb the water and become a paste (this is important to note).

Take oil in a pan, and add the peanuts - sautee until golden brown and remove them into separate plate. Add mustard seeds into same oil and wait until they sputter. Add curry leaves and green chillies, once they brown (within seconds) add the diced onions and sautee until golden brown. Add the salt and turmeric and the peanuts into the onions and mix well. You can add peas, cooked potatoes, tomatoes, green bell peppers if you would like into this mix for variety.

The order of addition of the above ingredients is very important for the right flavor. I used to add salt and turmeric way in the beginning with the mustard seeds even before they pop, and it doesn't bring out the right flavor and taste.

Add the poha into the above mixture of vegetables and mix well until the entire dish turns yellow. Squeeze 1/2 a lemon and garnish on top with fresh green cilantro (coriander leaves) and serve hot.

In rainy days such as these, the best combination is hot Poha and flavored Indian tea... hmmm..
Enjoy !