Mughlai Baingan

By now,my regular readers would have understood my love for eggplants.Usually i don’t leave out any new eggplant recipes that comes  my way.

This recipe is from an old edition of Vanitha magazine ,its a simple dish that goes with roti/rice.

Ingredients:-

Brinjals along with its stem – 1/4 kg
Asafoetida(Kaayam) – 1/2 tsp
Tomato medium sized chopped fine- 2
Paprika/Kashmiri Chilly powder(Piriyan mulaku podi)-1/2 tsp
Dry ginger powder (Chukku podi)- 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds ground(Perum jeerakam podichathu)-1/2 tsp
Water – 1/2 cup
Salt – to taste
Oil – as needed

Method:-

Make 3-4 vertical slits around the brinjals and shallow fry it until they are 75% cooked.Turn over to brown it evenly.Drain into a tissue paper,and keep them aside.

Heat oil(use the same oil used for frying brinjals) in another pan,add asafoetida and chopped tomatoes,fry it well.Now add paprika,dry ginger powder and ground fennel seeds,fry it for a while and add water.When it starts to boil,add in the fried brinjals and salt.Simmer it until brinjals are well cooked and gravy turns thick.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/rice.

Olan

Olan, a traditional Kerala Sadya dish is a typical Malayalee preparation which is enriched with coconut milk.This is again a simple dish where red grams,ash gourd and pumpkin are cooked together in a thin coconut milk gravy and seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves. And it has a unique, pleasing and inviting aroma which itself make you crave for the dish.

Here’s my favorite recipe for Olan…

Ingredients:-

Red Gram dal(Vanpayar) – 2- 3 tbsp
Ash gourd (Kumbalanga) diced – 1 cup
Pumpkin (Mathanga/Mathan) diced – 1 cup
Green chillies slit – 3 or 4
Thin coconut milk – 1 cup
Thick coconut milk – 1/4 cup
Curry leaves (Kariveppila)- a sprig
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

Method:-

Pressure cook red gram dal until it is soft ,but not losing its shape.Keep it aside.Into a deep pan add ashgourd dices,pumpkin dices,slit green chillies,salt and 1/4 cup of water.Cover it and cook until the vegetables turn soft.Add more water if needed.When it is done,add in the cooked red gram dal,stir and add thin coconut milk.Allow it to boil,and when the gravy thickens ,add thick coconut milk.Again bring it to a boil,stirring occasionally.Remove it from the stove,season with coconut oil and a sprig of curry leaves.Mix well,cover it with a lid and allow it to stand for 1/2 an hour before serving.This will help the dish to absorb the flavour of curry leaves and coconut oil.Serve with rice.

Check out Olan recipes from fellow bloggers:

Ginger and Mango

Sugar and Spices

ChaiPani

Jugalbandi

Malabar Spices

Indian Potpourri

Chilly Chicken

Finally i’m back with my next post,sorry for this long uninformed absence,this time the blame is on my in-laws.I got busy with them,taking them around places,eating good food and sharing gossips.Soon i’ll be posting some of the special dishes from my mother-in-law.But for now enjoy this spicy chicken favorite from Sumi’s Kitchen Wonders.Chilly Chicken is the most popular dish in Indo-Chinese cuisine.This is a spicy dish which can be savored as an appetizer,it tastes great with fried rice and noodles as well.This recipe from Sumitha has a very unique taste with the hot Sambal Oelek in it,and i must say this is definitely a keeper.Thank you dear Sumi for this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients:-

Boneless skinless chicken cut into small cubes – 1 lb
Vegetable oil – to shallow fry chicken pieces

To prepare the marinade:
Egg – 1
Cornflour – 2 tsp
Dark Soya Sauce – 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste

To prepare Chilly Sauce:
Onion diced – 1 big
Green bell pepper diced – 1
Ginger chopped – 1 tbsp
Garlic chopped – 1 tbsp
Green chillies chopped – 3
Sambal Oelek – 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup – 1 tbsp
Hot and Sweet Sauce – 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Dark Soya Sauce – 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder – 1 tsp
Sesame seed oil – 2 tsp

Method:-

Prepare a marinade by mixing the ingredients together.Add the chicken pieces into it and marinate it for an hour,preferably in a refrigerator.Heat vegetable oil in a pan and shallow fry the chicken pieces until they are brown in color.Drain and keep it aside.

Heat 2 tsp sesame seed oil in another pan,add chopped ginger and garlic,fry till they turn brown.Add chopped green chillies,onion and bell pepper,saute until onion turn transparent.Now stir in red chilly powder,sambal oelek,tomato sauce,hot and sweet sauce,soya sauce and salt,mix together.Add fried chicken pieces,mix well and serve hot.

If you like it to be a gravy,add 1 tbsp cornflour mix in 1/2 cup water into the chicken,simmer it for 4-5 mts and serve.

Check out these also:

V.K.N’s Chilly Chicken

Vee’s Chilly Chicken Dry

Asha’s Chilly Chicken

Meena’s Chilli Chicken

Mocha’s Chilly Chicken