Badanekayi Phodi or Brinjal Fry

Usually on Sunday's, mom and I cook something elaborate or something special because I'm at home and she wants me to enjoy my Sunday with good food. Today, it's a gloomy day outside and we just don't feel like cooking something big and elaborate. I was craving for Anna-Saaru, so mum decided to make nice Ginger Saaru and I decided to make Badanekayi Phodi.

So all you need is :

1. Brinjal - 250 gms ( nice and firm, with a beautiful purple)
2. Red Chilli powder, Turmeric and Amchoor -  1tsp each
3. Rice flour -  2 Tbsp
4. Coconut oil for shallow frying
5. Salt to taste.

Method :
1. Cut the Brinjal into medium thick slices. Lay them over in plate. Sprinkle Turmeric, Red Chilli powder, Amchoor salt and rub on each slice.
2. Marinade for 5-6 mins.
3. Heat  tawa, shallow fry these slices in coconut oil. Fry till they are nice golden brown and crisp.
4. Serve hot as an accompaniment with rice and Saru or eat it just like that.

Note : 1. You can use regular vegetable oil if not coconut oil.
2. While buying Brinjal, make sure the Brinjal is nice and firm and light in weight.
3. These.can be made in just 10-15 mins. So make it just before serving, otherwise they will turn soggy.

Shezwan Chutney.

Shezwan chutney or Shezwan Sauce is used with many indianised Chinese dishes like Shezwan Fried rice, shezwan noodles etc. It is served with a popular Street food item, Momos too. I always wondered what all goes into making this beautiful spicy and sweet sauce. Did a a little experiment and Voila!! It tastes better than what we get in he store out of a jar. So simple and quick.

All you need :

1. Dry red chilli : 15-20 ( Soaked in hot water for at least 30 mins)
2. Garlic : 10-15 cloves
3. Soy sauce : 1 Tbsp
4. Vinegar : 1/2 Tbsp
5. Tomato Ketchup : 1 1/2 Tbsp
6. Sugar : 1 tsp
7. Salt : a pinch
8. Oil : 1/2 cup.

Method :

1. Soak the red chilli in hot water for at least 30 mins. You can remove the seed before soaking. But I like to keep the seeds intact.
2. After 30 mins, cut the Chilli in small pieces. In a food grinder, add Chilli and garlic. Blitz it into a paste. You have kept the seeds intact, then you will get a slightly coarse paste. But that's OK.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the paste and cook it till the raw smell of garlic reduces. Once the oil and paste starts to separate, add some sauce, Tomato ketchup, sugar, salt.  Mix well and cook for 2-3 mins. Take it off the gas.
4. After its come to room temperature, transfer it to an air tight jar. Top it off with some more oil, this help to increase the shelf life of the Shezwan sauce.

Serve it with hot hot spicy Momos.

Mavina Hannu Rasayana or Hashala.

Mavina Hannu Rasayan. A typical South Canera dish which is nice and spicy with a strong pungent flavour of Mustard. Eaten with nice and steamy rice or just as it is.

All you need:

Ingredients :

Mangoes - 10 ( small size, fully ripe )
Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Dry Red Chillie - 4-5
Green Chilli - 3-4
Mustard - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Salt as per taste
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp ( for tempering)
Hing- 1/2 pinch

Method :

1. Except the mangoes, grind all the above ingredients into a fine paste.
2. Meanwhile, take 6 mangoes and remove the pulp in a bowl, remove the skin of rest of the mangoes and add them as it is.
3. Now add the blended mixture to the Mango Pulp and mix well. Now in a small tempering katori, heat oil and add mustard seed, as they crackle add it over the Mango Mixture.

Serve at room temperature with hot piping rice.

Vegetarian Shami Kebabs

As the holy month of Ramadan is about to begin, I thought of savoring some amazing delicacies during this month and also share it with you. This recipe that I am sharing today, is a popular Non-Vegetarian side dish, Shami Kebab. Popularly made using minced beef or chicken, I thought of giving this Kebab a Vegetarian twist. Yes!! Vegetarian Shami Kebab it is. In fact, its so yummy and so much like any meat kebab, my Dad actually thought I used minced mutton to make these.
Very easy to prepare and very delicious.

All you need is :

Ingredients :

1. Soya Chunks : 100 gms ( Boiled and drained)
2. Onion : 1 cup ( Finely chopped)
3. Garlic : 2-3 cloves ( crushed)
4. Green chilli : 3-4
5. Mint leaves : 2 Tbsp
6. Coriander leave : 1 Tbsp
7. Vinegar : 1 Tbsp
8. Garam Masala : 2 Tbsp
9. Corn flour : 1Tbsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Red chilli powder : 1 tsp
Oil for shallow frying.

Method :

1. Boil and drain the soya chunks. Make sure to squeeze out all the water. Keep some water aside.
2. In a blender, put all the soya chunks, finely chopped Onion, Garlic, Green Chilli, Chopped Mint leaves + Coriander Leaves, Vinegar, Red chilli powder & Salt. make a fine paste of the above mixture, add water is necessary.
3. Transfer all the blended mixture into a plate, mix it with your hand and add corn flour as a binder.
4. Meanwhile, heat your tawa, and make small kebabs of the mixture.
5. Shallow fry the kebabs till they are nice ad golden brown on both sides.
6. Serve with finely sliced Vinegar Onions, Mint leaves and Mint Chutney

Rose Phirni or Firni

Phirni or Firni is a traditional Indian dessert, made using rice flour, milk and sugar. It is generally served in an earthenware and served chilled. The recipe I am sharing is of Rose Phirni. Here is what you need :

Ingredients :
500 ml milk
1.5 tbsp rice flour.
125 gms sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
few drops of Rose essence
Red color ( optional)

Method :

1. Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan. Once the milk starts to boil, take 2 tbsp hot milk in a mixing bowl and mix the rice flour. Combine both and the mixture should be smooth and lump free.
2. Now add this mixture to the milk. Cook until milk thickens. Keep stirring. Now add sugar, cardamom powder, rose essence. Add the colour if required.
3. Simmer for 2 mins more then switch off the gas.
4. Pour the mixture over the serving bowls. Keep in the refrigerator and let it cool for at least one hour. Serve chilled.

Egg Biryani

On weekends we usually cook non-vegetarian food for me and dad only. So, today I thought of making Egg Biryani. Beautiful and delicious it was for sure. Each separate grain of rice had the best flavours I could give. Luscious eggs just made the best partner. Here is a recipe for you to enjoy your Weekend.

Ingredients :

Rice : 1 cup
Eggs : 4
Onions : 2 ( fried julienned)
Onions : 2 (for the masala)
Tomato : 2, chopped

Green Chillies : 1 , slit into half

Ginger- Garlic paste : 1 Tbsp

Turmeric : 1/2 tsp

Red Chilli Powder : 1/2 tsp

Cardamom, Cloves : 1 tsp

Garam Masala : 2 Tbsp

Biryani Masala : 2 Tbsp

Ghee : 4 Tbsp

Coriander & Mint : A fistful

Salt as per required.

saffron : 1 tsp. ( soaked in milk)

Food color :  Red ( optional)

Pre- Preparation

1. Soak the rice for at least 1 hour, before starting. After that, boil 1 litre of water on the gas, add the cardamom and cloves . Once it starts boiling, add the soaked rice and cook it for 10 mins. Once it has half cooked, drain the rice and lay it over a wide plate to cool down. This also allows te rice to stay separate. In one bowl, take some rice, add little bit of red food coloring and mix well. Pour the saffron Milk mixture in rest of the rice and keep it aside.

2. Meanwhile, hard boil 4 eggs. and keep them aside after peeling the shell.

3. Thinly slice the onion and keep it under the sun for at least 1 hour before deep frying them. As they are done drying, deep fry till nice and golden brown and lay them over a kitchen tissue to remove excess oil.

Method :

1. In a heavy bottom pot, heat ghee, add the chopped onions , ginger garlic paste , tomatoes and green chillies. Fry them nicely, till the fat slowly separates from the masala. 

2. Add garam masala  and biryani masala. Mix well, add the turmeric & red chilli powder. Now add the eggs. (Do NOT cut the eggs now, cut them while serving)keep them whole. Mix gently and let the eggs soak in the masala. Add half of the Mint and Coriander.

3. Remove the eggs from the pot. Now, make the first layer of rice. Now gently put the eggs. Now cover it up with the remaining. Add a dollop of ghee, add the rest of the Mint & Coriander . Cover the pot with foil, and cook for 10 min on low flame.

3. After 10 mins, open the foil, serve the Biryani on a big plate, garnish with lots of Mint & Coriander and lots of fried onions. Serve piping hot with chilled Onion or Boondi Raita, or you can even give it a twist by serving this Biryani with lovely Roated Beetroot & Garlic Raita ( Link : http://mykitchencronicles.blogspot.in/2015/01/roasted-beetroot-garlic-raita.html )

Pickled Vegetables

I love the Pickling process. It is easy and earns out good quality Pickle, that is a great accompaniment to anything that we cook. Including our desi dishes. This season seems to be perfect for Pickling. And so I am taking the advantage by making some carrot cucumber and onion Pickle.

Ingredients :
1 cup each of your favorite vegetable. (I love Carrots, Cucumbers and Onions.) you can use Reddish, Cauli, Broccoli, Beetroot etc.
1 Tbsp of Fresh or dried spices/Herbs ( I used Pepper and Star Anise)
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-3 Green Chilli
1 cup of your favorite Vinegar. I like using Apple Cider. So I used 1/2 cup of Apple Cider and 1/2 cup of White Vinegar.
1 cup of Filtered Water
1 Tbsp of salt
1 Tbsp of Sugar.

Method :

1.Cut the vegetables into desired shape. Rinse in under a tap of cold water and the  pat dry them with a kitchen towel. Make sure they are completely dried.
2. In a sauce pan, add all of the water and the vinegar, salt and sugar and let it simmer till the sugar dissolves. As the sugar dissolves, keep this vinegar mixture to cool down thoroughly.
3. Meanwhile, in a sterilized jar, put all the vegetables, spices and herb, and garlic, chillies and try to push it down. It might seem that there is no space for the brine. But don't worry you'll will get enough space for the brine.
4. As the vinegar mixture cools down, portable it into the jar till all the vegetables are submerged. Don't worry even if the bride is filled till the rim of the jar.
5. Put the lid on, make sure it is tight, and flip it upside down so that the brine spreads completely in the jar.
6. Keep this jar in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks to get better tasting Pickle. 3 weeks will give best results.
7. Add this pickle into your Salad, Sandwiches or as a side dish with your roast Chicken or eat it as it is.