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Quick Spicy Brinjal Fry/ Kathirikkai Varuval

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BrinjalRoast-7Quick, flavorful, light and perfect vegan accompaniment for rice or roti!

When I was a kid, I was never fond of brinjal like many of them. I had these weird thoughts that they look gross 😀 which is not true at all. I later realized it is one the versatile easy vegetables to cook with and also taste great! So, try to make this vegetable for your kids and try to implant into their minds that 😉 it is tasty, I say this because I still see people don’t like to have this vegetable for the same reason. Brinjal is rich in iron, fibre and vitamins.  Brinjal is one of the low calorie vegetable when it comes with antioxidants, magnesium but it takes a lot of oil.

My dad made this for me this time when I went to India. He made it one afternoon with some tomato rasam when my mom and I went to doctor and informed him that we will be late. And that night I had this 😀 and I totally loved it. So I asked him to make it again another day and I clicked the pictures the same day. My dad is a great cook 😉 just like my mom. In India, I have never seen Men cook as much as women. I know and agree the fact that there are lots of male chefs compared to women. But when it is compared to home cooking, it is so weird that men don’t cook much and I have seen and heard that most men don’t cook whole of their life. How weird is that? Just because they are born as male, doesn’t make them any better ;)! Back to topic, I am proud and happy that my dad is not one among the crowd J He always helps my mom in cooking and he is always there for everything!

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He used the small brinjals for this recipe and I would totally recommend that instead of eggplant for the recipe. But I have made this with eggplant also and it does taste good except that the taste of the vegetable is different. This is one of the quickest recipes to make on a weekend as a side for Indian breads like roti, paratha or for plain rice and or for garlic dal/ tomato rasam/Buttermilk rasam /sambar !

My Other favorite Brinjal recipes. Masala Stuffed Baby Eggplants/Ennai Kathirikkai,Roasted eggplant mozzarella pasta and Honey garlic EGgplant.



5.0 from 8 reviews
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Quick Spicy Brinjal Fry/ Kathirikkai Varuval
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
 
Ingredients
  • • • Small Eggplant/ Kathirikkai – 10
  • • • Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
  • • • Urad dal /black gram – 2 tsp
  • • • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • • • Sugar – a pinch
  • • • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • • • Onions – 1 medium, sliced
  • • • Salt – 1 tbsp
  • • • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • • • Red chilly Powder – 1 tsp
  • • • Sambar powder – 1 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Remove the ends of the eggplant and slice them and soak them in water till you cook.
  2. Heat a wide pan with oil and add mustard seeds. When it crackles, add the urad dal and when it gets lightly golden brown, add the curry leaves.
  3. Add sliced onions, pinch of sugar, little salt, sauté till they become nicely golden in colour.
  4. Now add the eggplants to it. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powdfer, sambar powder, required salt and add 2 tbsp of water. Mix it well and cover it for 7-8 minutes.
  5. After 7-8 minutes, open the pan, the water would have evaporated and now mix and turn brinjal so that all sides gets roasted. Cook it uncovered in medium heat till both sides get evenly roasted.
  6. Switch it off and serve with some hot rice and dal.
Notes
1. Use a wide pan as it helps to turn the eggplants.
2. Reduce the amount of spicyness if you want by avoiding the chilli powder.
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 This roast is perfect for rice and tomato rasam/Buttermilk rasam/dal/sambar !

BrinjalRoast-5

Carrot Ginger Raita

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This is a unique combo and that Sauteed ginger in yogurt gives great flavor. It has cooling and soothing taste and it is perfect side dish for any biryani recipes like vegetable biryani or lamb biryani. And the ginger us perfect for health.There are countless varieties of raita – Onion raita,cucumber raita,tomato raita, carrot raita, fried onion raita, mint raita, spinach raita and pomegranate raita and so on. Raitas are always a good way to include yogurt in your everyday meal. I like to even have plain yogurt but for many i understand it is really hard. So this is the best way. I know many might think the ginger flavor is overpowering but it is not and lends a fresh aroma to the raita. I always make raita, chill and serve. 
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I have never tried this combo of carrot and ginger. But when i tried this, i was in pure love.
Other raita recipes if you would like to have a look 🙂 – Garlic raita or cucumber carrot raita. 
Vegan Note: You can use soy yogurt instead.
 
 
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Carrot Ginger Raita
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1.5 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Oil – 2 tsp
  • Carrot – 1 cup, grated finely
  • Ground cumin – ½ tsp
  • Salt – 1 tsp
  • Ginger - 2 inch, minced finely
  • Red chilli flakes – ¼ tsp, garnish
  • Fresh cilantro – 1 tbsp, finely Chopped
  • Yogurt - 1.5 cups
Instructions
  1. Take a small pan; add the oil and ginger and roast till golden.
  2. , In the same pan, add the grated carrot and minced garlic and salt and sauté well. And keep aside.
  3. Combine the yogurt with the sauted carrot ginger and cumin powder. Mix well.
  4. Garnish with red chilli flakes and coriander leaves.
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Raitas are best to have plain or with pulao,veg biryani or shrimp biryani or with parotta or paratha.
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30 Minute Spicy Brinjal/Eggplant Fry

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Brinjalfry-6Extremely easy vegan eggplant recipe!

It is perfect for rice or roti. I love this recipe because you don’t have to chop anything much other than eggplant. And it is very quick to make this. I made this on a weekend where I wanted to make something quick. Usually on weekends I would have all patience to cook big lunch, but that weekend I wanted to make something quick and tasty for my spinach dal. I tried this and it turned out so roasted and beautiful. Anybody would love to make quick lunch or dinner, if they are given an option. So, these days I am trying to make a lot of quick recipes. This recipe is good only for the smell tender eggplants. You can surely use the big eggplant, but I am not sure how it will turn out. This recipe taste good for the small eggplants because of the cutting style and the roasting style.

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Brinjal is one of the low calorie vegtable when it comes with antioxidants, magnesium but it takes a lot of oil. So add as much of oil you want and do not add more, so make it with the same amount of oil and roast it. I never used to eat the brinjal when I was a kid, now I just love them. I have few more eggplant recipes if you would like to have a look – Masala Stuffed Baby Eggplants/Ennai Kathirikkai,Roasted eggplant mozzarella pasta and Honey garlic EGgplant.

 This roast is perfect for rice and tomato rasam/Buttermilk rasam/dal/sambar !

Brinjalfry-2

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30 Minute Spicy Brinjal/Eggplant Fry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10 small
 
Ingredients
  • • Small Eggplant/ Kathirikkai – 12
  • • Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
  • • Urad dal /black gram – 2 tsp
  • • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • • Salt – 1 tbsp
  • • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • •


    [To grind:]
  • • Red chilly – 3
  • • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • • Garlic – 4
  • • Fennel seeds – 2 tsp
  • • Chilli powder – 2 tsp
  • • Sambar powder – 1 tsp
Instructions
  1. Blend the ingredients under “to grind” smoothly.
  2. Remove the ends of the eggplant and cut into half lengthwise. Put a slit in the middle of the eggplant and soak them in water till you cook. Slitting helps in masalas to get in.
  3. Heat a wide pan with oil and add mustard seeds. When it crackle, add the urad dal and when it gets lightly golden brown, add the curry leaves.
  4. Now add the eggplants to it. Add the ground paste,turmeric powder,salt and add 2 tbsp of water. Mix it well and cover it for 7-8 minutes.
  5. After 7-8 minutes, open the pan, the water would have evaporated and now turn the brinjal the other side and cook it uncovered in medium heat till both sides get evenly roasted.
  6. Switch it off and serve with some hot rice and dal.
Notes
1. Use a wide pan as it helps to turn the eggplants.
2. Reduce the amount of spicyness if you want by avoiding the chilli/sambar powder.
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 Taste great with rice and tomato rasam/Buttermilk rasam/dal/sambar !

Brinjalfry-5

Beans Masala Stir Fry

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BeansStirFryFinalThis crunchy 30 minute beans stir fry is simple and flavor-packed.

Green beans are very healthy and one can make quick dishes with them. You can also add them in pulavs, biryani, salads, Chinese recipes, kurma and also some beans rice. Green beans are very healthy I should say. They give good antioxidant support and cardiovascular benefits. If possible, purchase green beans at a store or farmer’s market that sells them loose so that you can sort through them to choose the beans of best quality. They should have a firm texture and “snap” when broken. Purchase them if they have vibrant green color and smooth feel and also free from brown spots.

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I always tend to cook potato, okra, brinjal. I somehow don’t make beans, carrot or cabbage much. But when I make them, I cook them special by entertaining myself with some alteration each time to make it tasty and inviting for me to eat. It’s not I don’t like them, it’s just I am sooper lazy to chop carrots and beans. That’s the reason for this masala beans. It tasted really good and very out of ordinary. 🙂

This is a steamed vegetable dish made with coconut. This is called poriyal in tamil. Generally at home we make poriyal with French beans, cauliflower, caroor, cabbage, cluster beans and so on. I have already posted carrot poriyal. Whenever I add lots of spices like this, I add a bit of sugar. But this recipe already has a subtle sweet taste coming from beans, onions and coconut. I make this one, normal coconut (thoran) recipe with this beans and also one nice punjabi aloo beans curry. I will surely share that one day. Its one drooling beans recipe I have in mind to share for quite a long time. I have chopped them little long, you can chop anyways. But this looks attractive 😉 what do you think? 😉

5.0 from 3 reviews
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Beans Masala Stir Fry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Mustard – 1 tsp
  • Urad dal – 2 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • French Beans – 2 cup
  • Onion – ½ cup
  • Turmeric – ⅛ tsp
  • Salt – as needed
  • Oil – 1 tbsp

    To grind:
  • Shallots – 5
  • Garlic – 4
  • Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
  • Coconut – 3 tbsp
  • Red chillies – 5
  • urad dal- 2 tsp
  • Black pepper whole – 2 tsp
  • Jeera – 1 tsp
  • Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Cut the beans diagonally to 1 inch piece. And keep it aside.
  2. Dry roast the ingredients under the “to grind” table. And Grind the ingredients , without adding water.
  3. Heat oil in kadai and add mustard, urad dal and then add curry leaves and onion, fry till onion turns out golden brown.
  4. Then add the beans, salt and turmeric and fry in medium flame for 2 minutes.
  5. Now add enough water to the beans to get cooked.Mix well and cook cover with a lid in a medium flame, till the beans gets cooked.
  6. Add the ground masala powder and add two tbsp of water. Keep turning in between to avoid burning.
  7. After beans get cooked, fry till water evaporates completely and curry should be dry.
Notes
If desired, add coconut oil at the end.
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Serve this with rasam and rice or roti.

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Matar Paneer/ Paneer Peas Masala

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PaneerMatarMasalafinal1

Pan fried paneer with peas and spices in rich cashewnut gravy.

This healthy and delicious vegetarian curry can be on your plate in less than half an hour. Popular recipe amongst the north Indian recipes prepared with paneer and peas. Anything with paneer is a definite win. The texture of paneer is similar to greek feta which is prepared in a similar manner. I used the frozen peas instead of boiling some. I have seen that it’s a part of most restaurants menu. Goes well with steamed rice, Pulao, naan or roti. Paneer can be replaced with tofu also. Don’t add lots of cashews to make it rich, it will spoil the originality of the taste. I cut my paneer in this manner, but you can always cut in the way you fancy.

paneerMatarMasala2Final

I am getting busy these days at work, so when I am back home, I am so tired that I just cook something quick and I could not click any pictures. And also I have to tell you, its getting dark so I don’t feel like clicking pictures without natural light. So, this whole week it was more like quick cooking after diwali. I just made simple very comforting home food.

Yesterday the weekend started and I finally got some chance to click pictures with natural light. So, here it is. I made matar paneer and butter naan. I will post the recipe of butter naan soon. I have similar paneer recipes like malai methi paneer and paneer makhanwala.

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Matar Paneer/ Paneer Peas Masala
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • For the gravy:
  • Onion – 1 cup, Chopped
  • Tomato – 1 cup, Chopped
  • Green Chilli – 1 , chopped finely
  • Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp
  • Cashews - 7 whole
  • Turmeric – 1 tsp
  • Oil – 1tbsp
  • Salt - As needed
    [other]
  • Unsalted Butter - 2 Tbsp
  • Paneer - 250gms
  • Chilli Powder - 1 Tbsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
  • Cumin Powder – 1 tbsp
  • Kasturi Methi - 1 tbsp
  • Sugar - ½ tsp
  • Water – ½ cup
  • Cream - 2 Tbsp

  • [Garnish]
  • Coriander – 1 tbsp, chopped finely
Instructions
  1. Take 1 tbsp of butter in a pan, place the paneer cubes and fry for a minute in each side till they become crispy golden. Keep it aside. (Optional step)
  2. Take 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, add the cashews and fry till it is golden brown. Add the chopped onions and green chillies and sauté till they become transculent. Now add the tomatoes, garlic ginger paste and salt.
  3. Cook for about 10 minutes on a medium flame till everything gets cooked. Allow this to cool.
  4. Then add everything in a blender. Blend them into a smooth paste with not even small pieces of cashews on it.
  5. Heat butter in the same pan. Add the jeera, blended paste and stir well.
  6. Add chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. (If you want rich color, you can add kashmiri chilli powder. I used normal one)
  7. Stir well &sauté the masala on a medium flame till and add the water and mix well. It has to be sauted really well till butter ooze out.
  8. Add washed boiled peas, dry methi leaves, cream,sugar, water and boil for five minutes and switch off.
  9. Garnish with chopped coriander or paneer, ginger or cream.
Notes
1. Frying the paneer is an optional step.
2. Its better to close the vessel with a lid when we add the blended gravy as it may spilt up some outside as it boils
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PaneerMatarMasalaFinal3

Mirchi Ka Salan / Green Chilli Curry

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Mirchikasalan1fnameIt’s a popular dish made with fried chillies, peanut, sesame seeds and coconut. The curry goes well with biryani.  Mirchi ka salan is similar to bhagara baigan except that you add chillies instead of eggplant and you add yogurt to it. The mirchis used are longer ones; they are called finger hots here. You can even use banana peppers or any kind of green chillies for this preparation. I guess the only curry I know with chilly is the mirchi ka salan. They are made from healthy ingredients – sesame seeds, peanuts, yogurt and coconut. These ingredients help to tone down the heat of the green chillies in the curry.

I came to know about this dish when I stayed in Hyderabad for few months. This dish really stood out to me, I say that because it’s been 6 years but I still remember this dish very much with other beautiful memories. It goes really well with hyderabadi biryani. Its light spiced, creamy and tangy. It looks really simple and normal dish but it is bursting with flavors. Baigan ka salan is also good with biryani. I will post the recipe soon. This goes well with jeera rice, roti,naan or phulka.

This dish involves a lot more of ingredients than an average dish. But its worth doing and tasting it. Making a Mirchi ka Salan is not the quickest thing you can do and it does involve a lot more ingredients than the average dish. But trust me when I say it’s worth it. I have made many a times and it has never failed. The very first time when I heard this dish, I was like” should I go with it”. Back then I was hungry so I just ordered it. But it was VERY TASTY not just because I was hungry ;). It tasted palatable every time I had it.

Vegan note: replace yogurt with coconut milk.

4.0 from 1 reviews
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MIRCHI KA SALAN/ GREEN CHILLI CURRY
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian, Hyderabad
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • To roast & grind:
  • Peanuts –2 tbsp
  • Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
  • Coconut – 1 tbsp
    For gravy:
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Red chillies – 2 broken roughly
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Fenugreek – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 6-8 leaves
  • Hing - a pinch
  • Onions – 1 large, sliced, 1 cup
  • Salt – as needed
  • Turmeric – 1 tsp
  • Ginger garlic paste – ½ tbsp
  • Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
  • Cumin powder – 1 tsp
  • Mint – 1 tbsp, chopped finely
  • Coriander – 1 tbsp, chopped finely
  • Yogurt – ½ cup beaten
  • Green Chillies - 8- 10
Instructions
  1. Slit the green chillies in the middle and remove the seeds. When they are dry add them to oil and fry till they look little lighter shade.
  2. Dry roasts the peanuts in a medium flame. When the peanuts are roasted, add the sesame seeds. When the sesame seeds are golden brown, Add coconut. Keep an eye on this. It gets brunt easily. Add this mixture to the blender and blend it with some water to a fine paste.
  3. , Now add the oil in the pan and when the oil is hot, add the whole red chillies, and then add mustard seeds. And when the mustard seeds crackle, add fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds.
  4. Now add the curry leaves, onions, hing and little salt. Cook the onions till they are golden brown, Add turmeric and ginger garlic paste and cook to remove the raw smell.
  5. Add the blended mixture, cumin powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder to the mixture. Fry for two minute and add some water to it. Cook for fifteen minutes. Stir in between till the oil oozes out nicely. Add the chopped mint and coriander leaves. Boil for two minutes.
  6. add the beaten yogurt and simmer for another ten minutes. When it oozes out oil again add the fried green chillies and jaggery to the gravy and let it cook for 5 mins so that the juices of the gravy het absorbed by the chilies.
Notes
1. Roast the peanuts in medium flame as it gets roasted quickly.
2. You can also add tamarind juice in this recipe.
3. Any kind of chillies , seeds removed is good.
.
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This goes well with jeera rice, roti,naan or phulka.

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