Baigan da bharta- brinjal bharta

Baingan ka bharta is one of my favorite vegetables. In punjab, it is made very simply, without using too many masalas, so that the roasted taste of baigan is not masked with the tastes of masala. I have seen many recipes which use corinder powder,garam masala etc. But do try it in this simple manner once, i am sure you will like it.

This vegetable tastes great with rotis or plain paranthas too. The trick to making good bharta is to have approximately the same amounts of onions, baigan and tomatoes.

 

Ingredients

1 big brinjal
1 jumbo onion or 2 medium sized onions
2 tomatoes
2 green chilies
1 tsp ginger finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
2 tbl sp green coriander
1 tsp ghee
1 tbl sp oil
Salt to taste

The best tasting bharta is the one in which the brinjal is roasted on open flame. This gives a smoky flavor to the brinjal. Roast the brinjal on open flame directly for about 10-15 mins. It should be roasted on all sides by rotating it every 2-3 mins. If you do not have gas, then you can microwave the brinjal for about 10 mins, rotating it after every 2-3 mins.

Peel the brinjal and also remove the seeds from inside.
Chop the brinjal into fine pieces. Also chop the onions, tomatoes and green chillies.
Heat oil. Add cumin seeds. Once they change color, add onions. Add a little salt to the onions and fry for about 7 mins. They should change color to light pink but should not become brown.

Add green chilies, ginger and brinjal and cook for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.
Add tomatoes, turmeric, chili powder, and salt and cook for 8-10 mins. Then add 1 sp ghee and cook for a min. garnish with green coriander.

The ghee gives it a very nice flavour and makes it moist. do not cover the bharta while cooking. It should be cooked uncovered through out. You can adjust the amount of green chilies, but the spicier it is, the better it tastes. .

Bottle gourd/doodhi/ghiya kofta curry

Bottle gourd/ doodhi is very good for health but my husband is not very fond of it. This is a typical north indian recipe which my mom ould make regularly when we were ypunger. I generally avoid it bcos the koftas are deep fried but it tastes great with rotis. I plan to try this recipe with steamed koftas.

 

 

Bottlegourd/doodhi Kofta curry
For the Kofta :
½ of small bottlegourd/doodhi/ghiya grated
2-3 tblsp chick pea flour/besan
1 green chili
1 tblsp coriander leaves chopped
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

For the curry:
1 tblsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium sized onion grated
1 tsp ginger grated
1 tsp garlic grated
2 tomatoes grated
½ tp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves chopped

For the Koftas

Peel the bottle gourd. Grate it and squeeze it to remove the water. Add all the ingredients for the koftas and make a thick batter. Add the water that you squeezed as required. The batter should be quite thick.

Heat oil. Then add spoonfuls of batter to make koftas and deep fry on medium heat. Fry till golden in color and drain on a paper.

For the gravy
Heat 1 tblsp oil. Add cumin seeds. When they change color, add the grated onion. Fry till the onion is golden brown in color.
Add the ginger garlic and fry for a minute.
Add turmeric powder, red chili and coriander powder and fry for a min.
Add the grated tomatoes and fry till the oil separates and the masala is nicely cooked.

Add a little water and salt cook for 5 more mins. Add the fried koftas, garam masala and cook for 3-4 mins. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Why does my Rasam taste bland???

I always made rasam with ready made rasam masala. I first had rasma when my colleague from office (who was from Kerela) got it in office. She would get a variety of rasama and i fell in love with them. After marriage, i tried many time to make rasam at home, but they always tasted bland. I didn't know then that using ready made masala was the reason for this. I knew but was lazy I guess.

Recently I saw a recipe for mysore rasam on http://greenjackfruit.blogspot.com and thought i should make my own rasam powder at home. The difference in taste was unbelievable.

 

 

This is the recipe i got from http://greenjackfruit.blogspot.com/2006/09/mysore-rasam.html I made some changes to it to suit our taste.

Mysore rasam

2 Tbsp toor/arhar dal, cooked
1 lemon-sized tamarind
1/2 tsp Turmeric
salt
1 tomato, finely chopped

For the tadka
Ghee or oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
curry leaves 8-10
dry red chilies 2-3
Hing a pinch


For powder:

1 tbsp tur dal
2 red chilies
5-6 peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp chana dal
1 .5 tsp coriander seeds
a pinch of Hing
a few curry leaves.

Dry roast the spices for the powder on low heat till the seeds change color and emit a nice aroma. When cool, grind to a course powder. You can increase the quantities and make more powder to store for later.

Boil diluted tamarind water with tomatoes, turmeric and salt. Add the cooked and mashed dal to it, add 2 tsp of rasam powder and boil. Simmer on low heat for 15 mins.

Heat ghee or oil in a pan, then add mustard seeds. when they crackle add curry leaves dry red chilies and hing.

Add to rasam mix well and remove from heat. Garnish with green coriander.

Serve hot with rice and sabji.

Stuffed bitter gourd/karela and Maharashtrian Aamti with goda masala

Maharashtrian Aamti
This aamti is a staple in my in-laws home. Even though they are from Goa, my hubby’s brother and bhabhi do not eat non-vegetarian food. So there is fish curry, and then there is this aamti. My MIL tries to vary the menu but this is one of the aamtis which is regularly made. Its sour, and spicy and a bit sweet.

We love stuffed karelas. This is a simpler version of the same. there is another elaborate recipe for stuffed bitter gourd on my blog.

 

Maharashtrain aamti

½ cup toor/arhar dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
8-10 curry leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp goda masala
a small piece of tamarind, soaked and pulp removed
1 inch piece of jaggery or gur
2 tsp oil
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish
2 tsp grated coconut

Wash the toor dal and pressure cook till it is done.
Add turmeric, red chilies, gur, goda masala, salt, tamarind pulp, 1/2 cup water and cook for 10-15 mins.

Heat oil. Add mustards seeds. When they crackle, add hing and curry leaves. Add this to the dal, cover and cook 5 mins on low heat. Garnish with coriander leaves and coconut. Serve hot with rice and any vegetable.
Goda masala is a blend of about 20 spices and coconut which are roasted and then ground. I get mine from my MIL. I think there is a recipe for it on Nupur's blog.

Stuffed Karela/ bitter gourd
Ingredients:

6 small tender bitter gourd/karelas
2 tsp yogurt
2-3 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp amchoor powder
½ tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 tblsp oil + ½ tblsp oil

Peel the karelas and slit them and remove all the seeds.
Apply salt and 2 tsp yogurt liberally, both inside and outside. Keep aside for at least 1 hour. Wash the karelas nicely, squeeze out all the water and keep aside.
In the meantime, prepare the stuffing.
Mix 1/2 tblsp oil with all the ground spices. If you use mustard oil, that will taste much better in this recipe.
Stuff a little stuffing in each karela.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. place the karelas in the pan and cook on low heat till brown on each side. You can cover and cook for initial 10-15 mins and then cook without a lid for the remaining time till brown.

If you like bitter gourd, do try out another stuffed karela recipe on my blog.

Aloo baingan ki sabji - potatoes and brinjal cooked with onion, tomatoes and masalas

This is a vegetable that we have regularly for lunch with rotis and curds. In most punjabi households, rice is not common. Rotis are eaten for lunch and dinner. Most punjabi vegetables are made with the same method. gobhi all, baingan aloo, matar aloo etc aste great with rotis. It tastes yummy with rice too.

 

 

Aloo Baingan
Potatoes chopped into ½ inch dice 1 cup
Brinjal chopped into ½ inch cubes 1 cup
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 clove garlic grated
½ inch piece ginger grated
½ tsp turmeric
1-2 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
Salt to tatse
Coriander to garnish
Oil 1 tblsp

Chop the potatoes and brinjal and keep in water.
Heat oil add cumin seeds. Then add chopped onions and sprinkle a little salt. Fry on medium heat till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a min.
Add turmeric powder, red chili and coriander powder and fry for a min
Add chopped tomatoes and fry till oil separates from the masala.
Add the potatoes, mix well and put ¼ cup water, cover and cook for 5 mins. Add the brinjal and cover and cook on low heat till done. There should not be too much water, only enough to cook the vegetables.
Sprinkle garam masala and green coriander.

Serve hot with rotis and dahi

bharwaan karele

Stuffed karela is a dish that even karela haters will like. Dal, chawal and stuffed karela are a whole meal by itself. It does take some time for the preparation because you have to make the stuffing and then fill the karelas and fry them. But they keep well in the fridge for upto a week and so I tend to make about 8-10 at one time and we have them everyday till they are gone. My husband is a goan but he loves these karelas as much as fish. So that's saying some thing about them. Just try them once and you will be hooked.




Ingredients

6 small sized tender karelas
1 jumbo onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp kalonji or onion seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/s tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp amchoor powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1-2 tsp Punjabi pickle masala
1 tbl sp green coriander or cilantro
1-2 tbl sp oil
Salt to taste





Peel the karelas and slit them and remove all the seeds.
Apply salt liberally both inside and outside. Keep aside for at least 1 hour.
In the meantime, prepare the stuffing.
Heat oil, add jeera and onion seeds.
Add finely chopped onion and fry till brownish in color.
Add turmeric powder, chili powder, amchoor, coriander powder, pickle masala, fennel seeds, salt and cilantro.
Fry for 1-2 mins and the stuffing is ready.
Wash the karela very well and dry them.
Stuff the above mixture in each one, filling them completely and then tie each karela with a thread so that the stuffing won’t ooze out when you fry them.
Heat oil, put the karelas in a single layer and fry on low heat uncovered, turning them every 10-15 mins, so that they brown up on all sides.
Remove the threads a serve.

My mom makes the mango pickle at home and it has fennel seeds, mustard oil, methi seeds and other spices. We take a tsp of this masala and add to the stuffing. Here in the USA I generally use either Pachranga mix pickle or Sanjeev Kapoor’s Punjabi pickle and use that masala. You can use any mango pickle or mix pickle for this. Just use the masala and do not use any pieces of mango etc in the stuffing.

Gobhi Aloo

My mom makes very delicious aloo gobhi. She deep fries the aloo and gobhi, and then prepares the masala. Our generation shies away from deep fried stuff. So I just shallow fry the aloo and gobhi. The rest of the recipe is similar to my mom’s. Enjoy.

















Ingredients
½ cauliflower cut into small florets
1 potato cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium sized onion chopped finely
1 medium sized tomato chopped finely
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp red chili powder
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tbls sp yogurt
1 tsp kasoori methi
¼ tsp garam masala
1-2 tbl sp oil
Salt to taste
Green coriander to garnish

Cut the cauliflower into florets and soak in salted warm water for 10 mins.
Heat 1 tbl sp oil. Add the cauliflower florets and shallow fry them till they are golden brown in color.
Shallow fry the potatoes till golden brown. Remove them on tissue paper to drain off excess oil.
Heat 1 tbl sp oil and add cumin seeds.
When they become brown, add onions and fry till brown.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 1 min.
Add turmeric, chili and corriender powders and fry for 30 secs.
Add tomatoes and fry till oil seperates.
Then add yogurt and mix well.
Add potatoes and salt and 1 tbl sp of water and cover and cook till potatoes are ½ way cooked.
Add the cauliflower and salt, mix well, add some more water and cover and cook till done.
Sprinkle with garam masala and green coriander.


Soaking the gobhi in warm water helps clean the florets.
Adding yogurt to the masala gives a very good color and terxture to the dish and makes it creamy.