Baingan ka Bartha / Eggplant Chutney

Eggplant Chutney / Baingan Ka Bhartha!!! Hmmm just by thinking of it, my mouth is watering already! I have always enjoyed my MIL’s preparation of Bhartha, but never ventured into preparing this dish until last year, when I discovered the North Karnataka version!! We had a friend visiting us from there for few days. When she saw the fresh Eggplants, she volunteered to prepare it in North Karnataka Style. I can never forget the taste even after nearly a year. The secret behind that taste is, she actually pounded each ingredient meticulously by hand and kept it raw, except the roasted eggplant.  I have tried this recipe several times now and never got the same taste!! That is because I don’t take the pains in pounding each ingredient, and always look for shortcuts to reduce the time it takes to cook :P.  But I encourage you to pound each ingredient, if you want the authentic taste, it is worth all the effort!!

Eggplant / Baingan ka Bhartha

Preperation Time: 30 minutes

Serves 6-7 persons

 

Ingredients:

Eggplant – 2 large and roasted

Whole Jeera/Cumin 1 ½ tbsp

Red Chili powder 2 tbsp

Garlic peeled – 15-20 pods

Tamarind – small size of a lemon

Coriander/Cilantro – ½ bunch

Curry leaves 10-15

Jaggery / sugar 1 tablespoon

Onions chopped finely – 1 large

Oil -1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

1.   Apply 1 tsp oil on Eggplant/Baingan and roast it on direct flame on the stove cook top, till the skin turns charred and eggplant turns soft. Once done, peel the charred skin and mash them roughly.

2.   Chop onions, washed Coriander and curry leaves

3.   In a grinding stone, first pound jeera/cumin, add garlic, coriander and curry leaves and pound coarsely.

4.   Add red chili powder, tamarind and pound again, add jiggery /sugar and salt, pound until the spices mix thoroughly. By this time you can smell the aroma of freshly pounded spices.

5.   If the grinding stone is large enough you can add the roasted eggplant and mash roughly until eggplant juices and spice mixes well or you can give it light whip by using your hand or blender.

6.   Heat a pan and add oil. Season it with mustard seed if you like, mix the blended eggplant mixture into it, add chopped onions and mix well.

7.   Serve the spicy and aromatic Eggplant Bhartha with Rice/Roti/Bread.

Since this dish doesn’t require much of cooking, it gives a raw/pungent smell and taste. If you do not like the rawness you can cook it for 5 minutes on low flame to tone down the pungent taste.  When I don’t have much time in hand, I just put all the ingredients in a mixer and grind it coarsely and add the roasted eggplant and give it a whip and follow step 6 directly for convenience. It tastes as good as the original one. J  It keeps well for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator!

Points to Ponder:

Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.     Proverbs 12:24 (NIV Bible)

South Indian Rasam Recipe/ Spicy Rasam Recipe

Hot and spicy Rasam with Rice is always a go to food when we are struck with a bad cold for most of the South Indians.  Whenever I try to prepare Rasam at home, it has never turned out all that great, because I am too stingy when it comes to the quantity of ingredients that goes into it.  More than being stingy, I tend to think too much as to  what if it becomes too spicy, or too sour or too salty etc.,  Rather I should say, I tend to become extra careful since I have a toddler to feed, and each member of the family has their own mind when it comes to food.  But on the other hand, if my mom cooks anything, only two things will be on her mind.  First one is, the food has to be HEALTHY and the other factor is, it has to be TASTY.  She doesn’t compromise on any of these things.  She made this Rasam on one of those days, when the weather was quite chill and we all needed something to warm up our bodies! We were left asking for more and completely satisfied after the meal and even my little one welcomed the change and enjoyed though it was spicy. J

There are many ways to prepare this comfort food, and what I am posting below is my Mom’s version.  The measurements given below is approximate as she follows only eye measurement J  so, the taste may vary according to the measurements you use.  Here goes my mom’s second recipe on this blog…….

Hot & Spicy Rasam

Preperation Time : 20 minutes

Serves : 4-5 people

Ingredients:

Black pepper 2 tsp.

Whole Jeera/Cumin seeds 1 ½   tbsp

Garlic 10 cloves

Tamarind – a size of a small lemon

Coriander few springs

For tempering:

Curry leaves 15-20

Mustard seeds 1 tsp.

Turmeric powder ½ tsp

Red chili powder ½ tsp

Oil or Ghee 1 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Method:

1.      Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes or microwave it in ½ cup of water for 1 minute, once cool squeeze and make a paste.

2.      Grind Black pepper, Jeera, Garlic, and coriander into a course paste.  You can also add few curry leaves while grinding. It gives a nice flavour!

3.      Heat a deep pan/pot and add oil/ghee. Once it becomes hot, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add curry leaves, turmeric powder. Add red chili powder only if you like it extra spicy. Stir quickly and add the ground spices and sauté for a minute.

4.      Now add tamarind paste, salt and water, bring it to a boil. You can keep it thick by adding only 2 cup of water. You can add about 3-4 cups water

5.      Serve hot with Rice and Papad.

Treat yourself with this comfort food when you are battling with that contagious cold! It will do some good to your body and soul!! The goodness of Cumin, Garlic and Black pepper are the right ingredients to keep the cold at bay!

Points to Ponder:

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.      

                                                                                                                       Isaiah 55:2. (NIV Bible)

If you take this verse literally, it sure makes some sense. But, here, Isaiah speaks about reading the word of God, which provides nourishment to our souls just as bread nourishes our bodies, instead of wasting our money and labour on worldly things which does not satisfy us!

Aloo Palak & Matar Korma

This is one of my mom’s spontaneous recipes which turned out quite delicious.  As I said earlier, she is an enthusiastic and spontaneous cook at any time. She just sees what is available at that moment and dishes out some drool worthy food that only an experienced mother can prepare.  Since, my Mom is staying with us to care for our baby, I am enjoying her tasty food every day.  Many a times it will be a surprise for me after returning from work.  From the time I have started this blog, I am taking every opportunity to record such good recipes and photographs so that I can post them on this blog.  I can’t believe the number of dishes that I have captured in a short span of one month.  I am yet to find time to post all of them J    

I am looking forward to capture as many dishes as possible that Mom cooks before she goes back home! Here goes my mom’s first recipe on this blog...

Aloo Palak & Matar Korma/Sabji

Preperation Time:20-30 minutes

Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients:

Aloo/Potatoes  - 3-4 medium sized

Matar/Green Peas fresh or frozen – 1 cup

Palak/Spinach – 1 bunch

Chili Powder – 1 tsp.

Dhaniya Powder – 2 tsp.

Garam Masala Powder ½ tsp.

Turmeric powder ¼  tsp.

Cumin Powder – ½ tsp.

Ginger/Garlic paste – 2 tsp.

Onions – 2 chopped

Tomatoes – 2 pureed

Coriander/Cilantro few springs.

Oil 2 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Method:

1.   Wash the peas, peel and wash potatoes ( don’t peel if its clean. My mom never peels the potatoes or most of the veggies, because the skin has more nutrition than the insides) and chop them into small cubes and cook them with a little salt until soft and done. Save the stock to add  in step 4 if you need more gravy. 

2.   Chop onions and spinach roughly.

3.   Heat oil in a large kadai and add onions and sauté till translucent. Add palak and sauté till the raw smell goes away. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté. Add turmeric, red chili, dhaniya & cumin/Jeera  powder and fry for few second.

4.   Add precooked peas and potatoes and cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes. Finally add tomato puree and veg. stock, garam masala and salt to taste and cook for 8-10 minutes or till the raw smell of masala and tomato disappears. 

5.   Garnish with Coriander/Cilantro and serve hot with Roti/Rice/Bread.

Points to Ponder:

"A mother understands what a child does not say."      
                                                                               - Jewish proverb