Stuffed Brinjals

Stuffed eggplant or stuffed brinjals is a favorite of many. For this you need small size tender brinjals.

On my usual Thursday vegetable shopping spree, I came across pretty purple tiny eggplants at Indian store.  I made this Karameethu on next day itself.

Ingredients:

 Tender small brinjals -20 no

Salt to taste

Stuffing powder

For stuffing powder 

Coriander seeds                1/4 cup

Bengal gram / Chenna dal – 6tbsp

Urad dal                         – 4 tsp.

Black Pepper                   1 tsps

Cumin Seeds                   1 tsp

Dry Coconut                    1/2 cup

Red Chillies                   - 20 no (according to spice level)

Salt                              to taste

Oil                               1 tbsp

Curry leaves                 a few

Asafetida                    ¼ tsp

Seasonings:       

Oil                            4 tbsp

Curry leaves             1 stem

Mustard seeds           ½ tsp

Preparation:

• Wash and dry the brinjals. Keep aside. Prepare the stuffing first.
• Roast all stuffing ingredients in oil. Grind them coarsely in a mixer. Now stuffing powder is ready.
• Cut the brinjals into 4 pieces (not fully-leave little stem part.)
• Simply stuff the slit brinjals with spice powders.
•  Arrange them in a microwave steamer and steam for about 6 minutes.

• Remove it from microwave and. Keep aside.
• Heat the oil in a cast iron pan, fry all seasonings.
• Place the stuffed eggplants and cover the pan with a tight lid. Sprinkle salt.
• Cover and cook the eggplants in a low flame for about 10 - 15minutes.
•  After 10 minutes, remove the lid . Again cook it for 5 more minutes.
• Throughout the15 mins, turn the eggplants every 3 or 4 minutes so all the sides get evenly cooked.
• Do this carefully without breaking the brinjals.
• When the brinjals are well cooked and soft to touch.  Switch off the stove.
• Garnish with chopped curry leaves.
• Serve hot with rice, Sathuamuthu, Kozhambu.

Tip:  

• Use low to medium heat; not high. High heat spoils the taste.
•  You can store the left over stuffing powder in an air tight container for future use.

stuffed Brinjals

Paruppu Vadai (Lentils Vadai)/ Split chickpea fritters

Paruppu vadai is a south Indian specialty snack that is prepared on every single occasion. This is a snack which I always enjoy with tea. In olden days people prepare this using Ural. Nowadays it is prepared quickly using the mixie/blender/food processer. Making a good vadai is all about the consistency of the batter. When you make this vadai, remember this key point, batter should not be very loose dough. When you deep fry very loose dough, you won’t get the rough crunch that is key to this dish. There are a lot of variations in preparing these vadai. It depends on the proportion of dals used.   If you want make Masala vadai, you can add Sombu, Cinnamon powder in this Batter. My version of vadai, here you go…

Ingredients: 

Toor dal                               - 1 cups

Chenna dal                           - 1 cup

Urdh dhal                              – 1 cup

Dry Red chillis -                      10 – 12 (depending on how hot you want)

Asafetida powder                  – ½ tsp.

Grated ginger                       – 1 tsp

Crushed Black pepper            – ¼ tsp

Chopped curry leaves              – 2 tbsp.

Chopped Coriander leaves/Cilantro

Salt                                     to taste

Oil                                      for deep frying

Method: 

• Soak all dals together in water for 3 hours. Once soaked, the lentils should break easily if you pinch them. Wash them in water, and drain.
• In a food processor, add the red chillis, Asafetida powder, and salt, ginger and curry leaves. Grind for a second.
• Now add the dals and grind this in a blender adding very little water so it is roughly blended.
• The dal should be partially ground. (i.e., half the dal is should be just broken and the remaining dal remains whole.)
• Add chopped coriander leaves/cilantro and mix dal well.
• The thick batter should be formed into silver dollar sized patties, rounded on top and bottom, and should hold their shape in your palm. Deep fry both sides until it turns golden brown.
• Eat it with Sāmbhar and chutney, Tea and anyone will be happy.

Meyer Lemon Pickle

Meyer Lemon

For more than a century, the Meyer lemon was known mostly for its looks. In its native China, it was primarily a decorative houseplant. It considered to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange. The fruit is very tender, extremely juicy, and its peel is much thinner than a regular lemon. The higher sugar content lends to the unique, rich flavor. 

Meyer Lemons are entirely edible, skin and all, which has a lovely, perfume a long with its expected acidity. The fruit itself is a lot less tart than a regular lemon

I've heard so much about Meyer lemons in food blog land but tasted them for the first time when I found them being sold in Costco. I have to say, I can see what the hype is about- this lemon has a remarkable taste, very aromatic and lemony without the harshness.  I made this pickle first time in my life, it came out very well. I gave to my friends, they also liked it.   Try this and give me your feedback.

Ingredients:

Meyer Lemons                                12 no

Sea salt                                          ¼ cup Or to taste

 Powdered Jaggery / Brown sugar     3 tbsp.

Red chili powder (rich colored)          1/ 4 cup

Ginger                                             ½ ‘’ length

Lemon juice                                     3 Tbsp.

Mustard seeds                                  1 Tsp.

Dry fried and powdered fenugreek     1 tbsp.

Asafetida                                         ½ Tsp.

Large glass jar                                   1 no

Method:

• Wash and chop the lemons with the full peels into small pieces, discarding seeds, but catching all the juice. Add salt and turmeric powder in it and keep aside for one day.
• Peel the ginger, cut it into very small pieces.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When mustard seed start crackling ginger , hing, red chili powder. Switch off the stove.
• Add to the lemon pieces . Add  lemon juice , jaggery powder or brown sugar in it. Mix well . 
• Let it cook on low flame for 5 minutes.
• Take off the heat, cool and save in a bottle.

Tomato Carrot Soup

Soups are always considered to be healthy dish which should be included in our daily diet . If the soup is prepared at home from fresh tomatoes and carrots which are rich in vitamin A & C then it becomes more nutritious. Good warm and cold, this bright tasting soup can be made ahead and frozen. Of course you can use fresh tomatoes instead of canned.  Very simple and delicious soup.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes                                       - 4 no (Blanched and Peeled)

 Medium size Carrots                          – 2 no (Peeled and grated)

Red Pumpkin                                    - 1 cup

Chopped Jalapenos                             – 1 1/2 tbsp.

Grated Ginger                                    – 1tsp.

Sugar                                                – 1tsp

Salt and Black Pepper                          to taste

Mixed dried herbs (optional) a pinch

Bay leaf                                            – 1 no

Corn flour                                        – 1 tsp

Butter                                               – 1 tsp

Cream                                              – 1 tbsp

Water –                                           ½ - 1 cup

Coriander leaves                                 for decoration

Method:

•  Wash tomatoes, blanched and  Peeled (immerse the tomatoes in boiling water for 5 minutes, remove and plunge into cold water. Peel).Peel the carrots and grated.
• Chop the peeled tomatoes. Heat the butter in a heavy bottomed pan; add the bay leaf and ginger
• Add the grated carrots, chopped pumpkin, Jalapenos and tomatoes and sauté for about 3-4 minutes.
• Add a little water and cook them.
• Now put all the vegetable into a blender and blend properly and the strain it through a strainer so as to remove the tomato seed. The soup mixture is now ready to cook.
• Heat butter in a pan and add the soup mixture. And a ½ cup of water. Add sliced ½ tbsp. of Jalapeno, pepper powder, Sugar and salt if required.
• Reduce flame and simmer covered for about 5 to 8 minutes.
•  Now mix a tsp. Corn flour in 1/2 cup of water and add that to the soup. Stir continuously until the soup becomes little thick and the volume is reduced.
• Serve in a Soup Bowl and Garnish with Fresh Cream and coriander leaves.

Tom Kha Gai -- Thai Coconut Soup

This soup is northern Thailand specialty, called tom kha gai. I'm a huge fan of coconut(Thanks to Kerala) & Thai food(thanks to moving to US). The first time I tasted  vegetarian Tom Kha Gai, at Thai Restaurant served it to me in a large mug.  Paddy asked me Do you like it.? “I love it! It’s like heaven on my tongue.” Ever since then, I’ve been an addict to this soup. So I want to try this soup at home. It really came out well. This recipe is adapted from http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/But I create my own version. The end result was exactly what I was hoping for. It was the comforting and familiar Thai restaurant taste. 

Ingredients

Homemade Vegetable stock -                           2cup

 Lite coconut milk                                           1 cup

Minced galangal                                              2 tsp.

Fresh Lemongrass   -                                       3 tbsp.

 Kaffir Lime Leaves – 2/Grated lime zest            1 tsp.

Lime juice                                                      1 tbsps.

 Thai Frozen stir fry vegetables                         1 cup

Chopped Thai chilies                                        2 no

Thai red chillis paste                                        1-2 tbsp. (depending on desired hotness)

1 red bell pepper, sliced into matchstick-sized strips (reserve some for garnish)

Peanut Butter                                            -      1 tbsp. (optional)

Fired or fresh tofu                                             ½ cup

Sugar                                                               1 tbsp.

Soy sauce                                                         1 tsp.

Salt                                                                 to taste.

Coriander leaves                                                1 stem

Preparation: 

• Put the stock into a pot and bring to a boil. Toss the Galangal, lemongrass, sugar, and lime leaves in. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the coconut milk, chilies, soy sauce, chili paste and simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Now add the vegetables and fried or fresh tofu, salt and peanut butter. Stirring well to combine
• Simmer for about 10 more minutes.
• Turn off the heat, add lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Test for saltiness and sourness.
• You should get the earthy flavor of Galangal, noticeable amount of saltiness, sweetness from the coconut milk, and a fair bit of lime flavor, with a hint of chillis in the background.
• Garnished with red pepper strips and grated lime peel, with extra lime on the side.

 Note:

• Galangal has no real substitute. Ginger does a poor job. In this soup especially, the whole point is the Galangal flavor, so ginger simply won't do. (Tom Kha means "boiled Galangal".).
• I buy lots of lemongrass and Galangal ahead, then chop and freeze in pre-sorted Ziploc bags for future use.  They keep quite well.

Tom Kha Gai Soup

Hot and Sour Vegetable Soup

This is one of my favorite Chinese soup.  This soup is prepared a million ways depending on the region of China. Made of simple ingredients, this soup does not take a lot of your time, and is great for people suffering from cold. 

To Make a delicious  soup:

1. Always use vegetable stock. Do not use water to make hot and sour soup. You can make a vegetable stock from scratch or buy ready-made ones.

2. Use natural vinegar. Do not use cheap vinegars. Rice vinegar is preferred, especially dark ones. Best to add vinegar it last.

3. Thickening is an art.   Adjust the amount of corn-starch mixture needed.

4. Cut ingredients into similar sizes.

Sambal chili Sauce

My version is heavy on the spicy heat.

Ingredients

Carrots chopped                                 3 tbsp.

Cabbage shredded                              3 tbsp.

Chopped capsicum                              2 tbsp.

Chopped French Beans                        2 tbsp.

Freshly grated ginger                          2 tbsp.

Soft tofu –                                         ¼ cup (optional)

Snow peas (sliced)                             8-10

Fresh red chillies (sliced)                    4 nos.

Home made Vegetable stock              4 cup

 Sesame Oil                                       1 tbsp.

White Black Pepper                            ½ tsp.

Rice Vinegar                                       1 tbsp.

Chili sauce (Samba Chili sauce)           1 tsp.

Corn flour /Corn starch                       2 tbsp.

MSG (Ajinomoto )                               ¼ tsp  (OPTIONAL)

Sugar                                                  1 tsp

Salt                                                     to taste

Fresh coriander leaves                        1 Tbsp.

Method

• Dissolve corn flour in quarter cup of water and set aside.
• Heat oil in a wok, add snow peas and green chilies. Sauté for some time.
• Now add vegetable stock in it. Add chili sauce, soy sauce,  sugar, salt, ginger and pepper powder and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Now add all vegetables in it and cook for a minute on medium heat. 
• Now add MSG and  vinegar , bring the mixture to a boil.
•  Add Dissolved corn starch to the soup stirring constantly till it becomes thick.
• Cook again for a  minute then remove from flame.
• Add the cubed tofu  and boil for minute. 
• Pour the soup into the serving bowl.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Note:

•  In this recipe I used  Sambal Oelek (ground chili sauce ),  because this chili sauce  is made of chilies with no other additives such as garlic or spices for a simple taste.

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Since  a store - bought broth containes onion, garlic and leeks, my preference is to make it at home.Homemade vegetable broth is easy to make and so much healthier and more flavorful than anything that you can buy in a supermarket. A basic and flavorful vegetable broth recipe to make vegetarian soups, vegetarian gravy, or just to add flavor to a variety of vegetarian recipes. 

Ingredients:

Chopped Carrot               – 1 no

chopped Celery               – 1 stalks

chopped Potato                 – 2 no

chopped Cauliflower        – ½ cup

chopped Zucchini             1 no

 Chopped Any greens       – 1 cup

Bay Leaves                       3 no

 Chopped Capsicum          – 1 no

Mushrooms   (optional)       ¼ cup

Water                                6 cups

Dash salt and pepper

Method:

• Put all ingredients in a large pot and bring to boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
• Strain out the vegetables and remove the bay leaves.
• Broth is ready to use as a base for soups, gravies.