Aubergine/Brinjal Tamarind Gothsu

I made this Aubergine/Badanekaayi/Brinjal gravy with pesarattu and it was quite a good combo, I had this Big Aubergine with me, actually I bought it to make chutney as my FIL likes it. But I did not get a chance to make it, before it gets spoilt I wanted to use it and then I thought of making this gujju or gravy with green gram dal dosa or pesarattu.  I never thought it might be a good combo but it did go well!, here is how I did it...

AUBERGINE/BRINJAL TAMARIND GOTHSU

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized Aubergine
• 1 onion
• 2 small tomatoes
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp chenna dal
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1 gooseberry sized Tamarind
• salt as requried
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp chilli powder

METHOD:

1. Take Big single Aubergine and apply oil completely on it and roast it directly on the stove rotating it occasionally so that it gets cooked on all the sides nicely, you can smell the burnt smell of the aubergine, ( I prick knife in three or four places just to make sure brinjal is completely cooked).
2. Take a wok heat oil, then add mustard seeds once they splutter add chenna dal and urad dal and fry for few minutes till the colour changes.
3. Then add finely chopped onions and fry for few minutes then add the chopped tomatoes and fry for few minutes
4. Then squeeze juice from the tamarind and pour it into the wok and allow it boil for few minutes
5. Meanwhile remove the husk from the aubergines which are roasted, take off all the husk then mash the aubergine and add it into the tamarind juice then add coriander, cumin & chilli powder and curry leaves and cook for few more minutes.
6. until all the raw smells sizes and the gravy gets little thickened.
7. serve it with chapatis, dosas, pooris or idlis or even with rice.

PS: if the gravy doesn't get thickened add a tbsp of rice flour dissolved in little water, another variation add a small bit of jaggery for a little sweet and sour taste.

Eggless Strawberries Cake

I really did it!, I never ever thought I could bake a cake without using egg!, Madhuram's Eggless Baking always inspired me.  whenever i browsed through her blog I always thought she is a really queen of eggless baking, she is daring to bake so many things without eggs, I too wanted to try my hand but I was so scared, I thought what if it didn't turn out well !, But today I just made my mind I must try out you know why? I had some strawberries left and wanted to use in baking a cake, something different, I started searching for a recipe I did get some strawberry cakes but they were not used sandwiching or for decoration but I wanted to use it inside the cake so I basically used a basic recipe from about.com and changed a little and Lo! here I am with this recipe of baking a strawberries cake!

I had asked madhu to check out my blog and see if I have done it well!, or do I need to change anything in making it a better cake!, Now I am asking all the bloggers who have tried out their hand in baking cakes without eggs should sincerely give your suggestions and advice if I have done any mistake and needs some change in it.  I will be so thankful to you all.

well, coming back to the cake, everybody in the house liked it, my friend who doesn't like anything sweet said it was really good!, my daughter took it to the school and her friends too liked it!, She was saying mum your cake was quite delicious said my friends!. Here are some photos, I just couldn't resist posting some more of them which are still down below!

EGGLESS STRAWBERRIES CAKE

Ingredients:

• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1/4 cup soya milk
• 1 cup fresh strawberries pulp
• 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 4
2. Take a bowl and mix together flour, sugar, baking soda & baking powder and keep aside
3. Then in another bowl slowly incorporate coconut oil & vanilla
4. In another container dissolve vinegar & water and mix well then mix this with oil & vanilla.
5. To the above mix add the vanilla essence & strawberries pulp and mix well.
6. I took around 10 to 12 strawberries and ran it in a mixie until they were nicely mashed and became a smooth pulp.
7. Then mix the soya milk
8. I used coconut oil remembering that madhu used it in her eggless baking, and I had some extra virgin coconut oil with me! I thought let me use this.
9. Then mix all of them together and whisk for 2 minutes
10. Into this mix add the already mixed flour slowly so that their are no lumps are formed  in it, until all the flour is completely mixed.
11. When the batter is well mixed it be smooth & I do not know how to explain! :)
12. Pour this creamy mixture into a Greased cake tin and bake it at 180 degrees/ Gas mark 4 in the middle rack.
13. Allow it to Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes, Check if the cake is cooked by inserting a knife or any method you use into the cake, if it comes out clean with no cake sticking to it then the cake is well done.
14. Take the tin out and leave it for few minutes then take the cake out from the tin and cool it on a wire rack.
15. Decorate the cake by using frosting, or any method you want it look beautiful which I have not done!

Here are some more photos of my soft and nice eggless strawberries cake.

:)I am so happy I really did it...., I now want to try some cake so that I can send it to madhu's low fat vegan cup cakes!, hope i still have time!

Tinda/Kovakkai Dry Curry

I made this curry very long back when I was in India, my husband wanted me to try this andit actually came out well, as I remember but forgot how I did it?  after that I had never thought of buying, not everybody would like in the house, particularly people who are not used to it!, and would never try anything new!, so that's it I never thought of making it,  after coming to UK i had not thought of buying it, and the other day I bought this vegetable just thought let me try again!, and to my surprise I saw Raks kitchen had posted a dry curry out of this!, Of course, I know the photos from her blog are always mind blowing, they were just making you drool over them!, well, As she was saying not Mom or MIL never used this! ditto nobody used it in both of my houses,  In the same way In our houses nobody used Bottle Gourd either, Only I have started using them, and I do not why? my photo isn't so good as hers is, but the curry tasted very nice, I did it in a different way, but I have some more again and want to try her method .

TINDA/KAVAKKAI DRY CURRY

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Kg Round Tindas I used
• 2 medium sized onions
• 2 Tomatoes
• 2 pod Garlic
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp chenna dal
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Wash and clean the tindas and cut them into cubes, I used small round ones to make this dry cubes
2. chop onion, garlic & tomatoes
3. Take a wok, heat oil and add mustard seeds once they splutter temper the seasoning with the dal, turmeric and curry leaves.
4. once they change colour add the chopped onions & garlic and fry them well until they turn transparent
5. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry them until them get cooked then add the chopped Tindas
6. Mix well and allow it get cooked well by closing the lid
7. No need to add water just sprinkle salt over them and leave them may be a tbsp of water
8. Once they are well cooked add chilli powder, coriander & cumin powder and mix well and leave for few more minutes, no need to close the lid now.
9. Once they get well coated and mixed well with the subji it is ready to serve now.
10. Serve it as a side dish or an accompaniment with chappatis

Elephant Yam/Senaikilangu/Karunaikilangu Dry curry

I wanted to try yam dry curry in a different way not the usual way of making a simple curry with my palyada (dry curry powder recipe) podi, It was not a planned one actually!, I had soaked some Rajma (red kidney beans) yesterday planning to make some burgers or patties! but, I ended up using them in my dry curry!. 

ELEPHANT YAM/SENAIKILANGU/KARUNAIKILANGU DRY CURRY

Ingredients:

• 250 to 300 gms Elephant Yam
• 1/2 cup Red Kidney Beans
• 2 sprig curry leaves
• 3 to 4 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp chenna dal
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Tamarind extract
• 1 big onion
• 2 pod garlic
• 3 to 4 red chillies
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/4tsp Aniseed/sombu
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds

METHOD:

1. Scrape out the skin out of the yam and cut them into cubes and cook them in enough water with salt until soft.
2. Take a wok heat a little oil fry red chllies, pepper , cumin & coriander seeds and aniseeds keep it aside until it is cool and powder them.
3. Meanwhile cook the Rajma or red kidney beans which has been soaked day before until soft, drain out the water, when it is cool run it in the mixie into a powder and keep aside
4. Take a wok heat the 4 tbsp of oil and then add all the seasonings mustard seeds, dals & curry leaves 
5. After they change colour add the chopped garlic & onions fry them until transparent then add the cooked drained yam into it and mix well
6. Then add the 2 tbsp of tamarind extract mix well and add the masala powder 
7. Then add the powdered rajma to it and mix well and salt as required.
8. Leave it in the wok for few more minutes so that all the masala is absorbed by the yam and they all combine well together.
9. Serve it with hot rice as a side dish or mix it with rice & eat or with chapatis.  

PS: Actually my children loved it with chapatis more, they even ate it next day!

vegetable puff using puff pastry

Hi, I just saw this veggie puff in Edible Garden i wrote to her that i was also going to post my version of vegetable puff using puff pastry, Actually this was the first baking I did when I came to UK, then I was not even blogging, I used the filo pastry  and puff pastry and cooked vegetable puffs and spring rolls, as somebody was saying in her blog God knows who created them bless them!, we can make our own puffs! just like get in the Bakeries in India!, well, I have to say this the photos of her puffs are very beautiful and mouth watering than mine!, and I made quite Big puffs so that they will not ask me to do it again!, But, I was wrong my kids asked me for some more and I did divide it between them! (To tell you the truth I am really lazy to cook).

VEGETABLE PUFFS USING PUFF PASTRY

I used this JUS-ROL PUFF PASTRY BLOCKS  to make these Gorgeous puffs.....

Ingredients:

• Jus-Rol puff pastry Blocks (as shown above)
• 2 carrots
• 5 to 6 beans
• 1/2 cup of green peas
• 1 small beetroot
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tbsp of chopped coriander & curry leaves 
• salt as required

METHOD:

1. The puff pastry blocks are quite big and have 2 of 500gm each, follow the instructions just as written in the cover of the blocks, you need to take them out from the freezer the night itself and keep it in the fridge.
2. Then you have to take it out from the fridge and keep it out side 2 to 3 hours before you are going to use them.
3. On a floured surface roll them out into square big block and cut them into any desired shape you want it.
4. As I keep doing this often I was little lazy to do it like Nags!, I made them quite big!
5. Mean while when they are thawing you can prepare the subji or the vegetable dry curry for the filling and leave it cool, before using it for the filling
6. As Nag says you can use whatever you want for the filling any vegetables you fancy or whatever masala you adore!
7. I used the above ingredients to make the vegetable dry curry, cooked all the vegetables then added the tempering and masalas and cooked them into a dry curry with coriander and curry leaves for garnishing and it really smelled good.
8. cut out the puff pastry blocks into small squares put in 2 to 3 tbsp of the filling by allowing the sides to be free for pasting them together like a kadabu with the help of little water and glaze it with milk.
9. Put it in the oven on Gas mark 6 for about 25 to 30 minutes or until you see the top of the puff turns golden brown in colour and says that it is done!
10. Take it on a platter and just savour the taste by indulging yourself in the nice & spicy beauty of it!.  You will just love it!

Paruppu Adai Dosa

Of course everybody knows about Adai's they are so good to taste, but I wouldn't prefer to eat it more than 2 to 3 as it upsets my stomach!  Too many dals in it!

When I think of Adai I think of my MIL, the adais she prepared were absolutely gorgeous to eat.  she was preparing it just like Tamilnadu style i think, but what my mother prepared were good too, the taste was same but mom was too health conscious otherwise my dad would never touch it!, My MIL never grinded the adai into a very smooth batter it was more coarse and she would pour it just palm size and quite thick like an aapam. My mom used to grind it into a very smooth paste just like the dosa consistency and she would spread into very thin dosas like a paper dosa!.

PARUPPU ADAI

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Raw Rice
• 1 fistful of urad dal
• 1 fistful of moong dal
• 1/2 cup of chenna dal
• 1/2 cup of Tuvar dal
• salt as required

METHOD:

1. Soak all the Rice & dals for 4 to 5 hours this dosa doesn't need any fermentation, grind them to a smooth consistency and a little bit of asafoetida and mix well.
2. On a nice hot tawa spread the dosas little bit over the size of palm and cook them on both the sides 
3. Eat it with dosai molaga podi/chutney podi with lot of ghee 

VARIATIONS:

• The above is just a basic method like my mom makes and my photos are just like what my mom made.
  
• The way my MIL made was she used to grind Dosa in a coarse consistency, she also used to soak 7 to 8 red chillies  with rice & dals and grind them together with a bit of asafoetida.
• After they were ground she used to add 1/2 cup of fresh grated coconut, 1/2 bunch of nicely chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves, curry leaves.
• If some more of the batter is left over the next day she used to add onions too!
• And she used to prepare lovely thick fat adais and we used enjoy eating it with Desi ghee! it was one of her favourite tiffin varieties.

This dosa what my MIL made did not need anything to with just as it was a great dosa.

Snake Gourd seed Dosa

This recipe I got from my sister's book, She also doesn't remember where she got it from!, must be from my friends i think she said!, anyways I thought it was quite an interesting recipe and I also got a chance of making this and everybody at home enjoyed it, so, here it comes in my post...

SNAKE GOURD SEED DOSA 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup scraped out snake gourd tender seeds and pulp 
• 1 cup Raw Rice
• 2 flakes of tamarind
• salt as required
• 2 to 3 red chillies
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 sprig of coriander 
• a pinch of asafoetida

METHOD:

1. Scrape out of the tender seeds and tendrils from the pith of the snake gourd if it is a cup then take the same quantity of rice.
2. Soak rice for half an hour and grind them all together then chop the curry leaves and coriander leaves mix it all together.
3. pour small dosas as shown in picture on the hot tawa and serve it with chutney or podi.

Whole Green gram dal Dosa or Pesarattu

When I was going through Harini's blog she had posted an article about Sukham Ayuh and she was saying about the whole green gram dosas, I had commented to her that I always cooked whole moong dal dosas, but I had posted them still, This time when I made them I remembered to take some pictures and decided to post in the blog.

In that Harini talks about the goodness of the whole green gram dosas and how good it is!, I usually made it when some body was really not feeling well, I had heard from mom that these dosas are easily digestible and as we all know green gram brings down the heat from your body.

In my In-laws house my MIL used to cook paitham paruppu (green gram/moong dal) most of the time, I started using different vegetables in them, she also used them in the dry curries with vegetables like beans, carrot, cabbage, beetroot etc.,

well let me come back to the recipe...

WHOLE GREEN GRAM DOSA OR PESARATTU

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Raw rice
• 1 cup whole green gram
• salt as required

METHOD:

1. Soak rice and green gram dal for 5 to 6 hours and grind it, It usually doesn't grind itself into a very smooth consistency like the ordinary dosas.
2. These dosas need no fermentation and you can make dosas immediately
3. You can spread these dosas nice & big pour oil flip over and cook on both the sides and serve it chutney/podi or anything you wish like.

VARIATION:

• You can grind the above ingredients by adding  onions, a piece of ginger, green chillies, a tsp of cumin seeds, and 6 to 7 sprigs of coriander leaves and make dosas out of it.
• Or you can chop onions, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves & curry leaves finely and spread it over the dosa just as we do in onion dosas.
• Sometimes when I am do not have stock of whole green grams I use husked green gram instead and the taste is just the same, that time i use 2 cups of husked green gram instead.