Eggplant With Coconut And Fennel Seeds

          Another curry with eggplants/brinjals/aubergines, well I cook this vegetable quite often, not only because everybody at home likes it but also because it doesn't take much time to slice or chop it. I have used sliced baby eggplants and cooked them with ground coconut and fennel seeds, it tasted very good, a nice side dish to both rotis and rice..

Need to Have

• Small Brinjals - 10 small sliced
• Fresh Green Peas - 1/2 cup
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Or Black Gram Dal - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

To Grind 

• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Onion - 1 small
• Dried Red Chilly - 1

Method
          Grind coarsely the ingredients given under 'to grind'. Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds start spluttering add the sliced brinjals, peas, turmeric powder and salt. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, till the brinjals are cooked but not mushy.

          Remove the lid and add the ground masala, mix and keep sauteing for another five minutes or so till the raw smell goes and you get a nice aroma. Lastly add the curry leaves, saute for another minute, remove and serve warm with rice and dal or even with rotis.

Note
The red chilly I used was very spicy, so I stopped with one, add more or less depending on the spice level.
Do not add water while grinding the masala and don't make it into a fine paste.
While mixing and sauteing, take care not to break the brinjals.

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Ash Gourd (Winter Melon) Curry

          Winter Melon or Ash Gourd or White Pumpkin is a vegetable widely used in Indian cooking and that too most commonly in yogurt and coconut based dishes, like moru kuzhambu ( buttermilk gravy). For a change I wanted to try out a curry with it and without the usual curd and coconut. Since this vegetable gives out a lot of water when cooked I had to add a ground paste of cashews and onion to get a thick curry. The end result was very satisfying,  the curry tasted great with rotis, also check out this moru kuzhambu with this vegetable..

Need To Have

• Ash Gourd - 2 cups chopped
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10 

To Grind

• Onion - 1 small
• Tomato - 1 medium
• Cashews - 5

Method

          Grind all the ingredients given under 'to grind' into a fine paste. Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering add the asafoetida, the ground paste, turmeric and chilly powders. Keep sauteing till the raw smell disappears ( about 5 to 7 minutes), if it turns dry, sprinkle some water and saute.

          Now add the chopped ash gourd pieces and 1/2 cup water and salt, cover and cook till the vegetable is cooked. Remove the lid and allow the gravy to thicken. Finally add the curry leaves and remove, this goes very well with rotis, think it should also go well with pilafs too.

Note
I had frozen the chopped ash gourd pieces.
Don't add too much water, otherwise the curry will be very watery.
Pusinikkai is the Tamil name for ash gourd.

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Almond Chocolate Burfi (Fudge)

          Happy Diwali ! I had a small break from blogging, not an intended one, but was a little tired from my US trip. Well, now back to routine, I made this burfi two days back and made it two layered with a chocolate layer on the top. This is a very easy one, especially if you have the already peeled and sliced almonds in hand, saves the time of soaking and peeling the almonds and the whole cooking process is under 30 minutes..

Need To Have

• Sliced Almonds - 4 cups when powdered
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Cocoa Powder - 3 teaspoons
• Ghee - 2 teaspoons

Method

          Powder the sliced almonds in a blender, I had roughly 4 cups (loosely packed) of almond powder. Take the sugar and 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil and mix till the sugar dissolves completely, switch off the stove and add the almond powder and mix well. Take half of it and keep it aside.

          Put the remaining half back on the stove and keep mixing. When it starts coming together like a thick mass and you can see the sugar starting to dry a little, mix in the two teaspoon of ghee. Immediately transfer to a plate greased with some ghee, and spread it smoothly.

          Now take the second half and add the 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder, mix well and keep stirring on the stove, still it forms a thick mass. Now spread this on top of the first white layer and smooth out evenly and press some sliced almonds on top. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then make slices and leave it undisturbed for at least half an hour, then slowly remove the slices.

Note
If using whole almonds, first soak them in hot water for about half an hour, then peel them. Grind them with as little water or milk, add the sugar and mix, rest of the procedure is the same as the above.
Do not make the mixture too dry, otherwise the burfi will become too hard.
Ghee is clarified butter, readily available in Indian stores, though you can make your own at home.
I didn't measure the almonds before grinding, and it's better to measure the powder and add the sugar accordingly.
When you remove the slices, if they break, leave for some more time to dry and then remove the slices.

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Simple Okra Curry

          As I have mentioned many times, okra (lady's finger) is one other family favorite, and whenever I buy it, most of the times it is this simple curry that I make with it. This is a very basic curry that goes well as a side dish to both rotis and rice with some dal..

Need To Have

• Okra - 2 cups, 1/2" pieces
• Sambar Powder - 3 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Urad Or Black Gram Dal - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and the mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering add the asafoetida followed by the cut okra.

          Mix, cover and cook the okra in low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes, mixing 3 or 4 times in between. Then remove the lid, add the salt, turmeric and sambar powders, mix and keep sauteing it for about 7 to 10 minutes till it looks nicely fried. Finally add the curry leaves, mix for a minute and serve it warm with rice and dal.

Note
Initially when covering and cooking the okra, the sticky substance from the okra will start sticking to the pan,  do not worry, that's how the okra looses the stickiness, also do not add salt at this stage.
You can also add a tablespoon of curd at this stage, to make the stickiness go away.
Sambar powder is available in Indian stores, though many of us South Indians do have homemade ones.
You can replace sambar powder with red chilli powder, but use 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon depending on its spiciness.
While mixing lift the okra from the bottom and put on the top, repeat, do it gently otherwise the pieces will break and the whole dish will become mushy.
For a slight variation, can add one chopped tomato at the end, cover for 2 minutes and cook so the tomatoes wilt slightly, this goes well with rotis.

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Cabbage & Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) Curry

          Usually when I make paneer dishes at home, it's mostly palak paneer ( spinach with Indian cottage cheese). This time I didn't have spinach in hand and so I tried this Cabbage & Paneer stir fry, I used homemade paneer but the store bought one also tastes good, I also added some capsicum and kasoori methi ( dried fenugreek leaves) to add a little more flavor to the dish. It turned out to be very delicious and flavorful and a great combination with both rotis and rice..

Need To Have

• Cabbage - 2 cups shredded
• Capsicum - 1 sliced
• Tomatoes - 2 sliced
• Paneer Cubes - 1 cup
• Grated Ginger - 1 tablespoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 3/4th teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/4 teaspoon
• Kasoori Methi - 2 tablespoons crushed
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, once it starts sizzling, add the cabbage and the capsicum, saute for a minute, then add the tomato pieces, saute for another minute.

          Now add the grated ginger, turmeric and chilly powders and salt, keep sauteing it for about 5 minutes. When dry, add the paneer pieces, mix well, lastly add the garam masala and the kasoori methi and give one final mix. Serve it warm with either rotis or rice, or even use it as a filling for sandwiches.

Note
Do not overcook the cabbage and capsicum, they should retain a slight crunch.
When mixing in the paneer, be careful not to break them.
Both kasoori methi and garam masala are available in Indian grocery stores ( this info is for my Non-Indian friends).

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Eggless Butter Cake

          It's the end of the month and time to reveal our Eggless Baking challenge for the month of October, and the challenge we had was Butter Cake. The cake as such was easy to bake, very delicious, rich and buttery (true to the name) and the recipe is adapted from Reader's Digest. The recipe calls for a 7" spring form pan, since I had only a 5" pan, I halved the recipe. I've replaced the eggs with milk and lemon juice, try it, once in a while we can have such rich desserts..

Need To Have 

• All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup
• Butter - 1/4 cup + 1 and 1/4 tablespoon
• Caster Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Warm Milk - 3/4 cup
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
• Golden Raisins - 1/4 cup
• Light Brown Sugar - 1 tablespoon
• Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Method

          Sift the flour and the baking powder. Beat the caster sugar and the 1/4 cup butter till creamy. To this add the milk and beat well.

          Then fold in the flour, keeping a little to dust the raisins, so that they do not sink to the bottom once the cake is baked. Finally add the raisins and the lemon juice and mix well.

          Pour this in the greased pan and bake for 20 minutes till done. Take the remaining butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, beat well and spread over the cake as soon as you remove it from the oven, still in the pan. Let it sink in for about 5 to 10 minutes, then remove carefully. Slice and serve while it's still warm.

Note
The original recipe used 3 eggs and 1 tablespoon of milk or 1 and a 1/2 eggs and 1/2 tablespoon of milk for the amount of flour I have used, I have halved the recipe.
The original recipe used 1 and 2/3 cups of flour, I halved it to 1/2 and 1/3 cups.
The cake was very moist but little dense, so I would increase the lemon juice to 2 tablespoons the next time.
If you don't have caster sugar, just powder the regular granulated sugar.
The baking time varied a lot, I had to bake for 40 mins, might be my pan was deeper than broader.

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Homemade Paneer

          Though I have made over 150 posts, there is not a single post about a basic recipe like our sambar and masala powders or making a good idli batter, so today I thought I'll make some posts in between other dishes about them. I feel a food blog is not complete with these basic recipes and to start with, today's post is about making paneer ( Indian cottage cheese ) at home. It's very easy and it comes out very well, you'll stop buying it from the store..

Need To Have

• Milk - 1 ltr or 1000ml
• Lemon Juice - from 1 to 2 lemons

Method

          Heat the milk, when it comes to a boil add the lemon juice just enough to curdle the milk. When you can see the milk solids and whey water separately, switch off. Drain it using a not too thick, not too thin cotton cloth. Press the extra water out with a pair of kitchen tongs. 

          Tie the cloth into a knot and hang it from a faucet for about an hour to drain the remaining water. Open the cloth and knead the milk solids for about 5 minutes, then shape it up with your hand and wrap it with the cloth. 

Now place something heavy on top of it and leave it undisturbed for about 6 to 8 hours. Then remove it and dice them into small cubes (1/2" side) and can freeze it till you use it in a curry.

Note
You can use any milk, usually I use the 2% or full fat milk, the less fatty the milk, there'll be more whey water and less milk solids. Don't use fat free milk.
You can use the whey water to make dough for rotis or bread, or also to curdle the milk for making the next batch of paneer, you can refrigerate it for about a week.
If you are using the paneer for a spicy gravy where the lemon smell is not going to be a problem you can do it the above way, if you are using it to make sweet dishes where the lemon flavor would be problem, then wash the paneer, wrapped up in the cloth before hanging it from the faucet to drain.
If the cubes don't retain their shape when added to a gravy, then the weight you placed on it was not heavy enough, place like a heavy pot of water or something about 10 to 15 pounds.

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