Eggplant Recipe-2

Recipe for Begun methi mashla:

Ingredients


Fenugreek leaves 2 bunches
Eggplants/ brinjals 6-8small, cut into 4
Onions 3 medium
Green chillies 3-4
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder 3 teaspoons
Oil to fry
Dry mango powder (amchur) 1/2 teaspoon
Gram flour (besan) 1 cup
Soda bicarbonate a pinch
Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves a few
Ginger-garlic paste 1 1/2 tablespoons
Tomato puree 1/2 cup
Coriander powder 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder 1/2 teaspoon
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons

Method

Clean, wash and chop the fenugreek leaves. Wash and slit the eggplants into four keeping the stem intact.Peel and chop the onions. Remove stem and chop green chillies.Apply salt, 1teaspoon red chilli powder and amchur to the slit brinjals and keep aside.Heat oil in a pan, add chopped green chillies and chopped onions. Sauté. Add chopped fenugreek leaves and salt and stir-fry on low heat for 5 minutes. Keep aside.Make a batter of gram flour, salt, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder add soda bi carbonate.Heat oil in a kadhai, dip the brinjals in the batter and deep fry till golden. Drain and keep aside.In another pan heat oil. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and sauté. Add a little water so that the masalas do not stick to the bottom of the pan.Add chopped onion and sauté till translucent. Add tomato puree, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and stir. Add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, water and cook for a while. Add salt and chopped coriander leaves and let the gravy simmer for some time.In a plate, put the methi mixture in the centre, arrange the fried eggplants all around and pour the gravy on top. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Recipes with Egg plant for Shayema.......

Hope Shayema will no more be mad at me if I upload my photos...

Eggplant Curry recipe follows;

Ingredients


Eggplants/ brinjals 10-12 small
Yogurt 1 1/2 cups
Gram flour (besan) 3/4 cups
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon
Ginger-garlic paste 1 1/2 tablespoons
Fenugreek leaves/ methi leaves/ spinach leaves, chopped 2 bunches
Onions, chopped 2 medium
Oil 1 tablespoon
Fennel seeds (gua mushuri) 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin seeds 1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds (methi dana) 1/4 teaspoon
Onion seeds (kalojeera) 1/4 teaspoon
Whole dry red chillies 4
Curry leaves 5-6
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped
a few sprigs

Method

In a bowl mix yogurt, two tablespoons of gram flour, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, half the ginger-garlic paste and two cups of water. Keep aside.In another bowl mix chopped fenugreek leaves, remaining ginger-garlic paste, chopped onion, remaining gram flour and salt. Mix and make pakoras. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep fry the pakoras till golden. Drain onto an absorbent paper and keep aside.Deep-fry the eggplants in the same oil. Drain onto an absorbent paper and keep aside.In a pan heat one tablespoon of oil, add fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and onion seeds. When the seeds start crackling, add the whole red chillies and curry leaves.Add the yogurt mixture and stir. Cook till the kadhi thickens, stirring constantly.Add the methi pakoras and fried brinjals and bring the kadhi to a boil again. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

This is the 5th recipe I promised for this week-chicken malai kabab

This is a delicious little treat. You can use it as appetizer or to accompany the naan as a main dish. I like it as finger food with dhone pata (cilantro) chutney.

Ingredients & method:

Chicken breast piece cut into angle into 1 inch thick strips-2-3 breast pieces.

2 tsp white pepper powder. Use black pepper powder if you do not have the white,

1 tsp of meat tenderizer,

1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste, ( squeeze out all the water and use dry portion of the paste)

Marinate the chicken piece in it and keep in the refrigerator for 30 mins.

Now, make another paste with, 2tbsp of cream cheese, ( I used Philadelphia cheese, light/less fat version), 2 tbsp full of sour cream, 1 tsp of corn flour, salt per taste, and crushed green chilies and cilantro leaves. mix the chicken pieces in the mixture and mix so that it is coated very well.

Again, cover and let it sit for an hour at least, preferably in the refrigerator.

When chicken is marinated enough, mix 1 tbsp of oil. Now pierce them in a bamboo skewer and place over a baking tray. Put the tray in a preheated oven (preheat the oven at a highest possible temperature), cook for 10 mins or until the chicken gets little browned. Now, turn it and cook another side until it looks well done.

Sprinkle some chaat masala/ lemon juice and enjoy with cilantro chutney and naan!

Have you ever thought of making NAAN @ home?.......yes you can!

I Never thought I could make naan at home. I tried after watching a video recipe. It turned out so good and easy. I was amazed. Now making a naan at home is as easy as making ruti/chapati.

Here is the recipe:

All purpose flour-2 cups.

Salt-1 tsp,

Sugar 1 tsp,

Baking powder-1/4th tsp,

Yogurt-2 & 1/2 tbsp,

Oil-2 tbsp+1 tbsp.

Ghee/butter/chili flakes/chopped garlic, etc-per taste.

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder. Usually naan recipe calls for yeast but my husband can't stand the smell, so I do not use it. It worked well with baking powder.

Now mix the oil and yogurt, mix well, the dough will become crumbly at this point.

Now mix warm water to make a soft and very sticky dough. It will stick to your hand, unlike chapati ot parantha dough.

Now cover and let it sit for a while.

In the mean time, preheat your oven to highest temperature and in the broiler mode and place your oven rack to the highest place possible, as near as to the burner.

Now add 1 tbsp full of oil and knead the dough. at this point because of the oil, the dough will stop sticking. if it still stick, add some more flour. Be care full not to make the dough tough.

Divide the dough in 6 portions. It will still have little stickiness but manageable consistency.

Let the balls set again for 15 mints. Cover with a cloth while it sits.

Now, either flatten it by pressing with the hand like a pizza dough or roll out with a rolling pan, dusting frequently with flour. When rolled out just pull by holding one end to give it a tear drop shape.

Take a lightly greased baking tray, place 1 to 2 naan, sprinkle chopped garlic to make garlic naan, or chili flakes to make chili naan or the list goes on. Simple naan also taste great.

Put it in the oven. If the oven is preheated properly it will take 2 mins for one side, you will know by the look of brown spot appearing.

Turn and put another side for 30 more seconds.

Take out and brush with butter.

Serve hot!

Narikel kora die Murgi-Chicken with coconut........believe me and try it:

I usually do not like cooking with coconut, but now a days I have tried so many dish with coconut and every recipe tasted great. I always thought cooking with coconut will ruin the spiciness of the dish. But, i was wrong. The following recipe is a living proof. Try it, and if you think like me it will change your thinking too.
The picture did not come out great but taste is a real winner.
Recipe as follows:

Chicken, 1 inch pieces 1 kilogram Lemon juice 2 tablespoons Salt to taste Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon Oil 3 tablespoons Cinnamon 1 inch stick Cloves 4-5 Bay leaf 1 Curry leaves 10 Onions, chopped 2 medium Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece Garlic, chopped 5-6 Tomatoes, chopped 3 medium Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon Coconut, scraped 1 cup Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons FOR THE MASALA Cinnamon 1 inch stick Cloves 3 Green cardamoms 3 Black peppercorns 5-6 Cumin seeds 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds 1 tablespoon Fenugreek seeds (methi dana) 1/2 teaspoon Poppy seeds (khuskhus/posto) 1 teaspoon ,red chillies 6-7, depending on the quality of your red chili you can increase or decrease the amount.

Method:
Marinate chicken with lemon juice, salt and turmeric powder for half an hour. For masala powder dry roast one inch cinnamon, three cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, poppy seeds, Kashmiri and Madras red chillies. Cool and grind to a powder. Heat oil in a kadai. Add remaining cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf. Sauté for half a minute. Add curry leaves and onions and continue to sauté. Add ginger and garlic. Sauté for five minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Stir and mix well. Add turmeric powder and freshly ground masala powder. Add scraped coconut and stir for two to three minutes. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix. Add chicken and mix. Sauté for a while. Add a little water and bring it to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for ten to fifteen minutes. Serve hot.

A thrilling recipe with tongue twister taste.

We go to Hong Kong market for our monthly shopping, specially for fresh fish and fresh veggies. I like the fact that you get the freshest fish and they clean and cut it in front of you. This week me and my husband decided to buy fresh blue shell crab they were selling just for 1.99 a pound. They were so lively and fresh. We have always loved crab but never bought fresh one because I thought cleaning will be tough. But, I should warn you beforehand, if your husband likes to help you cooking in the weekend, then only you try buying it live, otherwise you can buy already cleaned crab in the freezer section, or if you think you are a brave lady........"geaux you". I think the crab tasted best, I have ever tasted crab, because of it's freshness. It was a lot of fun too. As, you have to make them unconscious by hitting on their head. some got unconscious very easily, some did not. One crab was so full of life, that my husband broke it's shell by hitting on it's head but it did not get unconscious.........it seemed little brutal to me. so I left.

I also tried to make one crab unconscious & as soon as I hit one crab it grabbed my knife with it's claw and turned 360 degree around and started starring at me. Trust me ...........I'm not exaggerating. I was so scared, I was screaming and ran of to the bathroom and closed the door. My husband had a issue now to make fun of it. So, he made jokes all day.................as usual. But whole thing was a fun with good and tasty new dish.

Here is a link on how to clean crab.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crSMzlPFXyc

Here is the recipe,

Ingredients:

Crabs 6 large Coconut, scraped 1/2 Garlic 8 cloves Whole dry red chillies 8 Cumin seeds 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon Oil 1 tablespoon Onion , sliced 1 large Tamarind pulp 1 tablespoon Salt to taste Garam masala powder 1 teaspoon.

Method:

Clean crabs and keep them aside, only the body and claws are used (the crab claws can be lightly cracked and the body cut into half, to facilitate eating). Grind scraped coconut with garlic, red chillies, cumin seeds and turmeric powder to a fine paste. Heat oil on medium heat and sauté onion for two minutes. Add ground masala and sauté for a minute. Add tamarind pulp, (tamarind is optional, I cooked with and without, did not make any difference). salt to taste, crabs and one cup of water. Cover and simmer on low heat for fifteen minutes. Add little more water if necessary and cook till done. Sprinkle with garam masala powder and serve hot.

Bengali style fish curry.

This has been long time since I posted a recipe. It does not mean that I did not do cooking in the mean time. I did, but was being lazy to post the recipes. So, I promised myself, this week I am going to post at least five recipes.

I bought a big Rui mach this month. I tried a lot of fish recipes with this one. Almost all of them tasted great. The fish also tasted unbelievably fresh.

Let me start with the latest recipe I tried with the fish. this is a very simple yet very tasty recipe, as all my recipes are. If any recipe requires a lot of labour I prefer staying out of it. If you are like me, you are going to like the recipe.

Ingredients are as follows:

Rohu fish/rui mach, 1/2 inch slices 8
Lemon juice 2 tablespoons
Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Mustard oil 4 tablespoons
Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon
Onion seeds (kalojeera) 1 teaspoon
Whole dry red chillies 4
Bay leaf 1
Ginger paste 2 teaspoons
Garlic paste 2 teaspoons
Onions, chopped 3 medium
Mustard paste 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder 2 teaspoons
Green chillies, slit 4
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons

Method

Marinate fish fillets with lemon juice, half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and salt. Set aside for thirty minutes.Heat two tablespoons of mustard oil in a pan and shallow fry fish pieces on both sides until slightly browned. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside. Heat remaining oil in the same pan, add mustard seeds, onion seeds, whole red chillies and bay leaf, cook for a few minutes till seeds crackle. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and cook again for a moment. Add chopped onions and cook until slightly brown in colour. Add mustard paste, red chilli powder, coriander powder and remaining turmeric powder. Stir and cook masala until oil starts separating. Add two cups of water and salt, bring to a boil and then add shallow fried fish. Add slit green chillies and cook on a low heat until fish is cooked and oil starts floating on top. Remove and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.



Enjoy! Healthy eating.