Stuffed Brinjal (Eggplant) Curry

Yummy dish made of Brinjal.....

Ingredients

Brinjal - 250 g
Urud dhal (broken) - 2 tea spoon
Coriander seeds - 3/4 tea spoon
Red chilies - 3
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Pepper - 1/2 tea spoon
Coconut - 10 small pieces (depicted)
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 25 pieces
Tomato - 1
Cinnamon - 1 piece
Cloves - 2 pieces
Onions - 2 medium sized
Chilly powder - 1 tea spoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Tamarind - a smaller piece (Amla size)
Oil - 7 table spoon
Curry leaves - some
Coriander leaves - to garnish
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in kadai and fry Urud dhal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper , coconut. At the end add red chilies and fry

2. Remove them and allow it to cool. Take 2 onions , cut 1 1/2 onions as medium sized pieces and 1/2 onion into smaller pieces

3. Fry ginger, garlic, cinnamon , cloves , onions til onions turn light brown. Add chopped tomato and fry along.

4. Grind the fried items from step 1 without adding water.

5. Now add fried items from step 3 ,coriander powder, chilly powder, salt , turmeric powder and some water. Grind them to make a coarse paste.

6. Wash the brinjals and slice them into 8 pieces as depicted.

If you have good analytic skills, slice them evenly..  I could not... :(

7. Now stuff the coarse paste inside the brinjal, by applying evenly on side of the slices and also in the center.

After several attempts, managed to make the brinjals stand on each other :)

8. Heat 5 table spoon of oil in kadai and fry the brinjals till they turn dark brown.

9. Add remaining ground paste and mix them well.

10. Add some water and let the brinjals cook. Taste at this stage and add some salt if required.

Note: Water is not added more, just in a level sufficient for cooking the brinjal.

11. Once the brinjals are well boiled and oil oozes out of the curry, add some tamarind juice.

12. Place another kadai on the stove and add 2 table spoon of oil.

13. Add mustard seeds, once it splutters, add onions (chopped as smaller pieces) .

14. Fry until onion turns brown and add curry leaves.

15. Add this seasoning to the boiling brinjal curry.

16. Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or chapati..

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Briyani

The word 'Briyani' itself brings lot of joy and appetizing in many of us.. Here is the "Hyderabadi briyani" recipe which I make.. Before proceeding, please make a note,
1. All the ingredients are completely needed without any substitute.
2. Marination needs at least 2/12 hours, so start early... :)

Ingredients

Marination Ingredients

Grinding Items for Marination
Ginger - 3 inches (size depicted )
Garlic -  20 pieces ( 2 medium sized)
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cloves - 3
Onions - 2 medium sized ( fried in oil)

Spices list for marination
Cinnamon - 3 pieces
Cloves - 10
Shah jeera - some
Marati Moggu - 3
Cardamom - 6 pieces
Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon
Pepper - 1/2 tea spoon
Fennel seeds - 1 tea spoon

Other Items for Marination
Chicken - 1/2 kg

Green chilies - 10
Chilly powder -1 tea spoon
Coriander powder -1 tea spoon
Curd - 250 ml
Butter - 50 g
Lemon - 1

Ingredients to cook Rice


High Quality Basmati Rice - 1/2 kg (3 cups)
Marati Moggu - 1
Saffron strands - some
Turmeric power - a pinch
Bay leaf - 3-4
Cloves - 3
Pepper - some
Ghee - 3 tea spoon
Salt to taste

For Making Dum

Wheat flour / All purpose flour - 250 g or as required

For Making layers
Butter - 50 g { Worried of Calories?? use low fat and low cholesterol butter }
Ghee - 10 tea spoon
Mint leaves - 2 small bunches
Onions - 4 medium sized

Preparation

1. Wash 1/2 kg Chicken thoroughly by rubbing with turmeric powder.

2. Add pinch of turmeric powder in the chicken and keep aside.

3. Chop and fry 2 medium sized onions in oil for few minutes.

4. Grind all the items listed under "Grinding Items for Marination" into a coarse paste

5. Whip Curd thoroughly

6. Cut green chilies into longer pieces.

7. Take a pan/ wide bottomed vessel and add the ground paste, curd , green chilies, 50 g of melted butter and all the items listed under "Spices list for marination". Mix well.

8. Add Chicken, 1 spoon of chilly powder, 1 spoon of coriander powder , some salt , lemon extract and mix well.

Let this marinate for 2 1/2 hours

9. Cut 4-5 medium sized onions and fry it in oil till it is dark brown.

10. Wash and remove stems from 2 bunches of mint leaves and keep ready.

Cooking Rice
I usually start cooking process after 1 hour of completing the above preparation

1. Rinse Basmati rice thoroughly 4-5 times in water.

2. Drain the rice and fry in ghee for about a minutes. (make sure that you do not break the rice)

3. Add the items listed under "Ingredients to cook Rice" and add 1: 1.25 ratio of rice and water. Add salt by tasting the water.

4. Cook the rice 75% and remove from flame. The water should be drained at this time.Otherwise drain the excess water once the rice is 75% cooked.

5. Make dough out of wheat powder in a thick consistency - quantity as much as to cover the lid of the briyani cooking pan

Making Layers and cooking


1. Take a heavy and wide bottomed briyani cooking pan and melt 50 g of butter

2. Once melted, spread the butter all over the pan by moving the pan

3. Switch off the stove and start making layers

4. Add some marinated gravy except the chicken pieces for the bottom most layer. Add the deep fried onions and mint leaves. I do this because , there are chances of overcooking chicken pieces, if placed in the bottom most layer.

5. On top of it, add some rice and add fried onions and mint leaves, add 2 spoon of ghee

6. On top of this, add marinated chicken pieces and add mint leaves, deep fried onions

7. Add rice and repeat this by adding gravy layer and rice layer one above the other. Add mint leaves, fried onions and ghee at each layer. Fill the top most layer with marinated gravy and add some more ghee

8. Now close the pan with an appropriate lid.

9. Cover the gap between lid and pan completely around by using dough depicted as below

10. Switch on the stove and cook in high flame for 5 minutes.

11. After 5 minutes, lower the flame and cook for 20 minutes.

{ Check out often that the vapour is not coming out from the pan }


12. Yummy Hyderabadi briyani is ready.. remove from the flame and add some lemon juice, mix and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with Raita..

Here the highlight is... though we add more spices and ghee, we will not have overindulging flavor or taste....

Dhal Vada ( Paruppu Vada / Masala Vada)

Another week end / festival time recipe...

Ingredients

Channa Dhal - 150 g
Urud Dhal (unbroken) - 150 g
Fennel seeds (sombu) - 1 tea spoon
Onions - 2 medium sized
Green chilies - 3
Red chilies - 3
Ginger - 2 inch (size as per pic)
Baking soda - a pinch
Hing - a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Curry leaves and coriander leaves - some


1. Wash and Soak Channa dhal and Urud dhal for 2 hours and drain

2. Take red chilies and ginger (sized as per the picture) and chop it into fine pieces.

3. Grind red chilies, chopped ginger, dhal along with adequate salt. Grind into a coarse paste without adding water.

4. Finely chop green chilies, curry leaves and coriander leaves.

5. Chop the onions too..

6. Add this to the ground paste and add some hing, fennel seeds and pinch of baking soda. (Do not add more baking soda)

7. Apply oil in a non stick cover, make small balls and pat them in your palm to make 1/4 inch circles.

8. Heat oil in kadai and add the vadas one after the other, without over crowding.
Maintain the temperature of the oil evenly throughout the process.

If you are a new cook and find difficult to manage single handed, you can make more circles and put as batches in the oil. And sometimes when I feel too lazy , I make wider circles to finish off  quickly :)

9. Cook well by turning over both sides. Once they turn brown, drain them in a tissue paper.

10. Soft and crispy vada is ready and can be served with any chutney of your choice.

Tip: Adding equal amount of urud dhal makes this vada soft and crispy...