Stuffed Egg plant (Brinjal)

This is another interesting way of eating eggplant. There are several varieties of brinjal that you may find in the market. We will be using the small round ones for this dish. By stuffing the brinjal with a spicy mix almost like a pico de gallo/salsa fresca, but a little more spicy, It turns into a tasty delight :)

                     

 Western Variety of eggplant to be used>

Ingredients:

• 10 small sized eggplants cut  like a flower (as in pic)

For stuffing:

• 3 tomatoes - diced finely
• 2 big onions - diced finely
• 10 garlic pods - chopped
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 Tsp of chilli powder
• 1 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp of amchur (dry mango) powder 
• 1 tsp of garam masala powder
• 2 tsp of oil
• 1 tsp of ghee

Procedure:

• Apply a little salt and turmeric on the brinjals like marination and fry them well. Keep these fried brinjals aside for the stuffing later, Let them cool down as you may burn your hands while stuffing them while they are still hot.
• Pour oil into a pan and heat it up. Then add the onions and fry until golden brown.
• Then add the chopped garlic, followed by tomatoes & cook for around 5 minutes.
• Then add all the spices one by one. Remember to cook in medium flame after you add the spices.
• Once you see the oil separating from the spicy stuffing then add salt according to your taste. 
• I have added 1 tsp of sugar too, so that it is balanced and not too spicy.
• Stir it well. Lastly add garam masala and ghee and give it a nice stir.

            <The stuffing

• Let the stuffing that we just made, cool down.
• Then fill all the brinjals  by stuffing the mixture inside the slit that you made. Put in a lot of stuffing, As it tastes even better.
• If there is extra stuffing left over just use it around the brinjals as it is and serve by sprinkling some coriander/ parsley leaves on the top for extra crunch. 

~Enjoy~

Toor Dal (Pigeon Pea Lentil Soup)

What is dal? Wikipedia: Indian Lentil Soup (for my friends outside India)

This is a basic dal (lentil soup) cooked in every household of India. Mainly used for making a dish called Sambar in Southern India,  I have cooked this lentil in Gujarati way which is different from sambar. 

This dal (soup) is made from toor dal ( Pigeon pea- Split toor lentil ).

Ingredients:

• 150 grams of Toor dal 
• 2 Onions
• 1 big tomato
• 5-6 cloves of garlic 
• 1 Tsp of mustard seeds
• Curry leaves 
• Pinch of asafoetida
• 1 Tsp of Sugar
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• Salt according to your taste
• 2 tsp of sunflower oilv
• 1 tsp of ghee (to be given from top)
• Green (or) red dry chilly -3-4

Procedure:

• First soak the lentil in bowl of water for half an hour.
• Now add 2 tsp of oil in pressure cooker add add the mustard seeds.

Once it starts spluttering add d pinch go hing( asafoetida) , green chilli and curry leaves.fry it for 1 min .Now add the onions, and garlic

                   

•  After 1 min add the tomato pieces along with turmeric powder.

• Mix all properly and and add the soaked dal 

• Add salt and sugar and mix evenly.
• Now add 1 litre of water, stir.
• Close the pressure cooker and wait for 3 whistles.
• Switch off the gas and let it cool.
• Open the cooker, mix properly and add a spoon of ghee from the top. 

  Garnish with coriander leaves (optional)

Those who want their dal (lentil soup) to be spicy can take a separate frying pan & add a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) into it, and give tarka (tempering of spices) with 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 tsp of chilli powder and then spread the tempered spices (tarka) on top of the lentil soup and stir.

Cauliflower & Potato Stir fry

As an accompaniment with dal, I made this dry potato and cauliflower curry.

• Cut the potatoes and cauliflower into small pieces.
• Take a frying pan & add 1 tsp of cumin seeds & 1/2 tsp of asafoetida in 2 tsp of oil.
• After a minute add the chopped veggies and cook in a low flame
• Just add some salt and 3 tsp of homemade pepper powder. 
• To enhance the taste add a tsp of sugar. Then place the lid on the pan. It takes around half an hour to cook
• If required you can sprinkle some water from the top if you feel the vegetables are not releasing enough water.
• Open the lid, add some chopped coriander leaves from top along with a dash of lemon juice & Toss it well 

Serve hot with rice and dal ! ~Enjoy~

Note: If you feel the vegetables are not getting boiled in the stipulated time which I gave above, please add half cup of water and boil beforehand but make sure the veggies don't get smashed in the process.