Masala Stuffed baby aubergines in gravy.

Masala stuffed baby aubergines in gravy – Whole baby aubergines stuffed with a spicy mixture, steamed and cooked in tomato gravy.
For Gravy:

3 medium ripe tomatoes ( chopped and blended smooth
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 tablespoon tomato puree
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
3 tablespoons water

For stuffing:

2 tablespoons peanuts coarsely ground.
1 tablespoon chick pea flour (besan)
1 teaspoon ground cumin powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 table spoon sunflower oil


Method:

1. Wash the aubergines and dry them.
2. Make a slit a long the length of the aubergine on one side only. Do not remove the stalk
3. Mix all the ingredients listed in the stuffing list above. It should make a crumbly mixture.
4. Lightly fill the cavity of the each aubergine with this stuffing mixture. (If there is any left over keep aside and can be added to gravy later)
5. Place the stuffed aubergines in a steamer and steam for 20 mins until tender (alternatively can be cooked in microwave in a covered dish for about 8-10 mins till tender.
6. While aubergines are steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a shallow pan, when hot add the mustard seeds.
7. Add the blended tomatoes and tomato puree and sauté.
8. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. At this stage you can also add any remaining stuffing you may have and 3-4 tablespoons of water to make thick gravy.(adjust as needed)
9. Cook the gravy till spices infuse in to the tomatoes and the gravy starts to leave oil.
10. Remove the aubergines from the steamer and place over the tomato gravy side by side. Do not stir otherwise aubergines will break.
11. Gently spoon over some of the gravy over the aubergines.
12. Cover the pan and heat through the aubergines on low heat about 5-8 mins.
13. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve with Khichdi, Kadhi and Rotla (recipes for khichdi and rotla to follow soon.)



You may like :
Bainghan ka bartha

Chana Dhal ( split chickpea dhal)

Chana ( split chickea)dhal-A warm and hearty dhal, thick and chunky cooked in an array of aromatic spices. An ideal accompaniment to crispy finger parthas and rice.
Ingredients:

2 cups chana dhal (split chickpeas)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
4 green chillies finely chopped
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tomatoes peeled chopped and pureed
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
2 red dried chillies
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon fresh coriander for garnish

Method:

1.Wash and soak the chana dhal in water over night.
2. Drain the dhal and cook with 2 pints water in a large vessel on stove top.(approx 25 mins) Dhal should be cooked but still holding shape not mushy
3. In a pan heat the oil when hot add the mustard seeds and red chillies.
4. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds taking care not to burn it.
5.Add the pureed tomatoes, ginger and chopped chillies.
6.Add the salt, turmeric and chilli powder and cook till spices and tomatoes blended and tomatoes start to leave oil.
7. Add the cooked dhal to the spice mixture and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
8. With the back of a ladle gently press the dhal to break some of it up to give thickness to dhal. Add a little more water if needed.
9.Adjust seasoning if required.Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve with Crunchy finger parathas and rice.

Serving suggestion: Break up the Crunchy parathas on a plate and pour over hot piping dhal. Eat immediately with onion and tomato salad.




You may like:
Gujarati style tuver dhal.

  

Crunchy finger Paratha

Crunchy finger Paratha-As strange as the name may sound that’s exactly what these crispy crunchy paratha are. They are made from with wholemeal wheat flour, savoury in taste and delicious broken into fingers and enjoyed with dhal or just as a snack with tea and pickles.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon salt
Water to make dough.
Sun flower oil for frying

Method:

1. In a bowl add the flour, salt and the oil.
2. Using the tips of your fingers gently rub the oil into the flour to make a bread crumb type mixture.
3. Add a little water and make stiff dough. Cover and leave for 30 mins.
4. After half an hour knead the dough and divide into 12 balls
5. Roll out each paratha about 5 inches in diameter
6. Starting about 1cm from top edge of paratha cut a vertical slit down the paratha leaving 1 cm edge at the bottom edge too. Cut 3 more slits. When you pick the paratha up it should still be in one piece. Repeat for rest of dough .

7. Heat the oil and fry paratha on medium heat till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and store in air tight container.

NB-These paratha should be crunchy and crispy.

Serve with dhal or pickles.

You may like:

Aloo paratha

Heaven on a dessert plate~Tiramisu- DK Challenge February 2010

DARING BAKER CHALLENGE FEBRUARY, 2010 ~ Heaven on a Dessert Plate!

Tiramisu- A creamy and rich dessert made up of layers of sponge fingers, zabaglione and cream. It can be is flavoured with marsala wine or espresso coffee.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking.

They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

The complete recipe for the Tiramisu can be found here:

Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home

Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I tried the egg less version for the lady finger biscuits and substituted the alcohol with coffee

EGGLESS LADYFINGERS (Source: Adapted from Recipezaar)

This recipe makes about 4 long biscuits (3" long and 3/4" wide).

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons/ 55gms sugar
1 teaspoon/ 5ml vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups/ 340gms unsalted butter
2 cups/ 250gms all purpose flour
1/2 cup/ 40gms coarsely ground almonds
powdered sugar

Blend all the ingredients well and adding the coarsely ground nuts last. Scrape the batter into a piping bag with a 3/4" plain tip and pipe into fingers about 3" long at 1" intervals onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake them in a 300 degree F (150 C) oven for 30 to 45 minutes till they start turning slightly brown at the edges.

Take them out of the oven and cool on tray for about 5 minutes and then move the biscuits to a cooling rack. When slightly cool, roll them in powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container till required.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The assembling of the tiramisu involved dipping the sponge fingers in coffee and layering them in a dish with the Zabaglione and cream mixture.I found that if the biscuits were over soaked they collapsed very easily so utmost care was needed at this stage.The making of the mascarpone and the zabaglione was straightford although a lot of eggs were required in the recipe.

I assembled my tiramisu in a square glass dish and once it has chilled cut it into miniature bitesize pieces and placed them in cake cases. I think the presentation would have worked far better if I had layered the ingredients in a wine glass.The dessert tasted lovely but to make all the stages from scratch it took over a week to get every ingredient prepared and ready.

You may like:

Nanaima Bars-DK challenge January 2010.

Spinach Dhokla

Spinach Dhoklas-A variation of dhoklas, steamed chopped spinach in a chickpeas (Besan)batter seasoned with ginger and chillies and spices.Served sauted with a tadka sprinkling of sesame seeds, coriander and chillies.

Ingredients:

8oz besan (chick pea flour)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
16 oz spinach leaves coarsely chopped and washed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ajwain seeds
1 teaspoon chilli powder
4 green chillies finely chopped
1 tablespoon oil
4 tablespoons tamarind pulp
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons eno salts
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup water

For tarka:

1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
2 dried red chillies
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon mustard seeds

Method:

1. Oil a thali and set aside
2. In a bowl sieve the besan
3. Add the ginger, green chillies, salt, ajwain, turmeric, chilli powder, tamarind pulp, sugar, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 cup water.
4. Mix to form a thick batter
5. Add the spinach leaves and eno salts and mix thoroughly.
6. Transfer the mixture to the oiled thali and place in a steamer.
7. Steam until firm but springy to touch.
8. Remove from steamer and allow to cool.

9. Cut into 3 long blocks and then cut each block into 1 cm wide slices.

For tarka:

1. In a wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil, add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, red dried chillies and bay leaf.

2. Add the sliced spinach dhokla and stir fry/saute till they start to crisp up and brown slightly.

Transfer the spinach dhokla to serving dish serve with tea and coriander chutney.

You may like:
 Semolina dhokla