Badanekai Yennegai

Couple of months back me and the husband went to a friend's kid's birthday party and on the way we stopped at Artesia for grocery shopping. Since we have limited options for Indian grocery in the city that we live. I spotted jowar flour in the store and wanted to try jolada rotti. And what goes well with jolada rotti than badnekai(brinjal) yennegai. It is 'world' famous in Karnataka and one of my favorite dishes as well. This is the first time I tried my hands at yennegai as my mother-in-law has always made yummy yennegai. Here is her version.


Small Round Brinjal/Eggplant - 4
Oil - 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Make vertical slits on the egg plant retaining the stalk. Make sure that the egg plant does not break and it remains whole. Set aside.

For the masala paste:
Onion(medium size) - 1 coarsely chopped
Garlic - 1 pod peeled
Ginger - 11/2" piece
Clove - 4-5
Cinnamon stick - 1''
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp/to taste
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Tomato - 1
Cilantro - few sprigs
Grated coconut/dry coconut powder - 1 cup

Grind all the above ingredients to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the egg plant fry till the color changes on both the sides. Add the masala paste, salt and required amount of water and pressure cook. Garnish with cilantro.

PS: You need to be careful while frying eggplants as the oil tends to splutter.

Gobi Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian needs no introduction. The ever popular dish is a favorite among young and old and back home in India the best gobi manchurians that you get to taste are made right on the street stall. Last year when me and my husband were in India visiting our parents, we did get a chance to relish this amazing dish.
A couple of years ago, I was newly married and wanted to impress my husband with my culinary skills. After going over a million recipes online and a couple of cook books for gobi manchurian, armed with a new wok and all the ingredients, I was ready to test the water. Here's my gobi manchurian recipe and let me say, it sure is true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach :D


Whole Gobi/Cauliflower - cut into bite size florets. Do not cut them too small or it will break easily while frying
Milk - 2 tsp

Bring water to boil in a large vessel and add milk. Add the florets and let it boil for 5 minutes. Do not over cook gobi as it will become very soft and difficult to handle. Drain and dry the florets. Set aside.

For the Sauce:
Sliced onion - 1
Bell Pepper/Capsicum, sliced - 1
Chopped Garlic - 2 tbsp
Green onion, finely chopped - 1 bunch
Tomato ketchup - 4 tbsp/ according to taste
Chilly paste - 4 tbsp/ according to taste
Soy Sauce - 4 tbsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Heat oil in a wok and fry garlic a minute, add onion, bell pepper and fry till you get a nice aroma. Mix in tomato, chilly and soy sauce. Switch off the stove and add green onion to make sure the green onion remains crispy. Set aside.

For the paste:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1tsp or to taste
Salt - to taste
Water
Oil for frying

Make a paste of all purpose flour, corn flour, ginger garlic paste, red chilly powder and salt. Dip the florets in the paste and deep fry in oil. Set aside.

Heat the sauce for a couple of minutes and then add the fried cauliflower florets. And voila gobi manchurian is ready. Garnish with a few sprigs cilantro(totally optional).

Corn Salad

Ingredients
Frozen Corn - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Cucumber - 1/2 chopped
Green Chillies - 1-2
Cilantro for garnishing
Lime juice - 2 tbsp
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method
Wash corn in lukewarm water and drain.
Mix all the ingredients and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Seemebadnekai/Chayote palya

Ingredients
Seemebadnekai - 4
Onion(chopped) - 1
Green chillies - 4-5
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cilantro - 2-3 sprigs

Method
Peel and cut seemebadnekai into desired size.
In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. After they splutter, add channa dal and fry till they turn golden brown.
Add chopped onion and fry till onions turns golden brown. Add green chillies, salt and turmeric powder and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add semebadnekai and cook covered till done on medium/low heat. Add a little water if necessary.
Garnish with cilantro.

Heser bele/Moong dal paysa

Ingredients
Moong dal - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Water - 11/2 cups
Grated Coconut/coconut milk - 1 cup/can
Cardamom - 2-3
Ghee - 2tbsp
Raisins, Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup

Method
In a pan, heat ghee and fry raisin and cashew till it turns golden brown. Strain the dry fruits and keep aside.
In the same pan, roast moong dal till it becomes slightly brown in color.
Add water and pressure cook till done.
If you use grated coconut, blend coconut and cardamom in a mixer to a smooth paste. Do not add a lot of water while blending. And add this to the cooked dal and bring it to boil.
Otherwise, just empty the can of coconut milk into cooked dal and add cardamom.
Now add jaggery and boil it for 5-10 minutes. Keep stirring to make sure lumps are not formed at the bottom of the pan.
You can alter the consistency by adding milk.
Add the fried raisins and cashew nut.

Mosranna/curd rice

Ingredients
Cooked Rice - 1 cup
Yogurt - 11/2 cup
Grapes - 1/4 cup (Optional)
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 1-2
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2-3
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cilantro - 2-3 sprigs

Method
Mix rice and yogurt with salt. Now add grapes, ginger and green chillies.
For seasoning, heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, after they splutter, add urad dal and red chillies and fry till the dal turns golden brown.
Garnish with cilantro.

Tomato chutney

Ingredients
Tomatoes - 2
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Coriander - 1/2 a bunch
Tamarind concentrate - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Red chilly - 1
Oil - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method
Grind coconut, tomatoes, coriander, green chillies and tamarind. add salt to this and mix well.
Seasoning:
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. After they splutter, add urad dal, red chilly and fry till the dal turns golden brown. And mix it with chutney.