Plant based food Archives - Page 3 of 4

Stuffed Green Masala Brinjal

What is the difference between Stuffed Green Masala Brinjal and Stuffed brinjal/eggplant/aubergines (Bharva baigan)? Brinjals come in so many varieties and all over the world it is cooked with so many variations that we can just keep experimenting with this vegetable. Stuffed Green Masala Brinjal is cooked with the ingredients of gravy spices but in a slightly different way.

A few months back I had gone to meet my dear friend Veena with my daughter Apoorva. Veena is a wonderful cook and no matter how much she is busy, she never lets me go without having food. So during this visit also we were greeted with elaborate lunch. Among all the dishes that were laid out in front of us, there was one dish which was new for me. Veena told that it is green brinjal and Apoorva couldn’t believe that brinjal could be so good to eat!

I see green brinjals regularly in the market but never thought of trying them. Probably I was content with the variety of purple brinjals. But now after tasting Veena’s dish, I was determined to try them. I noted down the recipe from Veena and now green brinjals are a regular weekly basis vegetable in my kitchen.

Original recipe had fresh coconut and tamarind juice in the gravy masala. I replaced coconut with fresh coriander leaves and dry mango powder instead of tamarind juice. Feel free to use any of these as per your taste.

I have a few more varieties of brinjal dishes in the blog. If you are interested can check them also…

Stuffed brinjal/eggplant/aubergines (Bharva baigan)

Baigan ka bharta (roasted balloon eggplant/brinjal cooked with spices)

Ingredients:

1 onion, 2 tomatoes, 6-7 spicy green chillies, tiny pieces of ginger and green coriander leaves

Spices:

4 tbsp coriander powder, 2 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp clove powder, 2 tsp cinnamon powder,1 tsp dry mango powder or tamarind juice and salt as per your taste.

7-8 tbsp oil

Process:

Wash and dry brinjals and keep them separate.

Chop onions finely and grate tomatoes, red chillies and ginger.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed or non stick pan and add chopped onion, ginger and green chilies. Sauté them on medium heat till onions are transparent.

Chop coriander leaves very fine.

Add chopped tomatoes, coriander leaves and all spices, other than dry mango powder.

Let it cook till tomatoes are cooked and add dry mango powder.

Switch the gas off and let it cool down completely. Later, grind everything in paste consistency.

Cut brinjals vertically as shown in the picture below.

Fill in ground masala paste in all brinjals and keep them in a pan. Pour rest of the oil and remaining masala on all brinjals. Cover them and let them cook on sim heat.

Keep on turning them upside-down in between for even cooking.

When brinjals become tender and are cooked completely from all sides, switch off the gas and serve these delicious green stuffed masala brinjals with rice or chapatis.

September 29, 2019September 8, 2020

Deeksha Pathak25 Comments

Stuffed brinjal/eggplant/aubergines (Bharva baigan)

During my childhood, I had seen that most kids used to hate brinjals. On the other hand, I had always liked them and my mother cooks them wonderfully! Brinjal is a very simple vegetable and this quality gives us an opportunity to cook it in many different ways. Stuffed Brinjals/Eggplant/Aubergines and Baigan ka bharta (roasted balloon eggplant/brinjal cooked with spices) are two varieties which I have already posted in the blog. This new recipe of stuffed brinjal or Bharva Banigan is done with thin vertical purple brinjals. I had always liked this variety of brinjals and when my mother used to chop them for dinner, I used to eat one or two pieces raw. Sounds crazy, but I always had this habit of eating a few vegetables raw whenever my mother would be chopping them (there are cows, and then there is me!!).

In my previous stuffed brinjal recipe I had used only spices for stuffing, but here along with spices I have also used onions. Try this recipe – you are sure going to love it.

Ingredients:

Brinjals, finely chopped onion and green chillies, grated ginger

spices; salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, dry mango powder, coarsely ground fennel seeds, asafoetida and oil.

Process:

Wash brinjals and keep them separate.

Finely chop onions and green chillies and grate ginger. You can add garlic too.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add onion, chilly and ginger mix and saute it till onions are transparent.

Reduce heat to sim and add all spices and saute everything for 5 minutes . If required add 1 tbsp oil more, but not more than that.

Cut brinjal vertically and slightly deep with the help of knife and fill in ready onion massala.

Heat 4 tbsp oil in a non stick or heavy bottomed pan and keep all stuffed brinjals in it and cover that. Keep the heat on sim and if available, use extra small burner, so that brinjals can be cooked nicely on sim heat.

In between, keep turning them upside down for even cooking till brinjals are soft from all sides. I like the outer skin of brinjal little bit crisp so I cook them bit more .

Serve these delicious stuffed brinjals as a side dish with rice or roti and enjoy your meal!!

September 29, 2019October 2, 2019

Deeksha Pathak53 Comments

Aalu ki tikiya(potato patties stuffed with spicy peas)

Winter season brings a lot more memories from my parent’s house related to food. We are 4 siblings and we all were great foodies. Dinner used to be the main meal of the day because whole family used to be together at the end of the day and we used to have it in the kitchen itself because kitchen had wonderful aroma of hot food preparation and all the warmth of cooking.

Other than regular food, menu for winter dinner used to be hot dosa, different varieties of cheela, stuffed parathas or plain parathas and aaloo ki tikiya.

Aaloo ki tikiya is a type of patty prepared with boiled potatoes and stuffed with spicy boiled peas. It is roasted on heavy tava brushed up with oil. Aalu ki tikiya is a very popular North Indian street snack during winter. It is served with sweet chutney and spicy coriander chutney. If you want to have it as a full meal, serve chole also along with chutney.

When we shifted to Bangalore around 15 years ago we were staying in a rented house. There I had prepared Aaloo ki tikiya for my daughter’s third birthday party. I guess it was a gathering of 15-16 people. Well, among them nine people were from our house owner’s family. They all were staying together as a joint family with two married sons, their kids and parents. Guests loved aaloo ki tikiya so much that for next birthday party there was a demand to prepare them again!!

Well, the reason I prepared aaloo ki tikiya this time was completely different. I wanted to use this tikiya as a filling for veg burger. So I prepared small and thinner tikiya. If you want to prepare them as only snack, prepare slightly bigger in size and don’t flatten them so much.

You must have seen how they are sold in food corners in the market. One big flat heavy bottomed tava completely covered with big sized tikiyas around it and the moment you order, street-food magician😊 will drag one from the edge of tawa and roast it in the middle of tawa till it gets beautiful brown crisp and you will be having a plate of hot crisp and soft tikiya with sweet and spicy chutney and chopped onions… Oh well…. I can visualize the scene!!!

Aren’t you tempted enough to give a try? I am sure you are!! Just have some patience while roasting them on tawa. It is done on sim heat. Some prefer to fry them because frying makes the work fast. But personally I never really like the taste of fried ones and I don’t want to consume so much of oil when there is a better option.

Choice is yours, whatever the way you want to go ahead with!!

In the list of ingredients I have not mentioned the quantity because you actually don’t need. Add all spices as per your taste buds. I prefer little bit spicy – your choice might be less or very mild …. so add all spices whichever the way you want!!

Ingredients :

Boiled potatoes
Boiled peas
Finely chopped green coriander leaves
Finely chopped green chillies
Finely chopped onions

Salt, dry mango powder(amchoor), dry chilli powder, garam masala, asafoetida (hing) and oil for brushing up.

Process :

Boil potatoes and keep them on a sieve so that excess water get drained out.

Now boil peas and after boiling keep them also in sieve so that excess water gets drained out. Watery peas and potatoes would create problem in preparing tikiya, so take care of this point.

Peel boiled potatoes and grate them in a vessel.

Yes, you heard it right! We don’t mash them because in mashed potatoes there are tiny little chunks of potatoes. We need fine thick paste kind of consistency, so we have to grate them.

Grease your palms and vessel with little bit of oil and slightly knead these grated potatoes and collect them in the shape of a dough.

In another vessel keep boiled peas along with all spices, chopped chillies and coriander leaves. Slightly mash peas with your fingers while mixing everything together. Filling is ready.

Grease your hands with oil and take a small portion of potato dough and give it a round shape like ball. Finish potato dough by preparing round shaped balls.

Now keep one potato ball in your palm, give a cup like shape to your palm and slowly by tapping from all the sides create some space for the filling.

Fill-in peas filling in there and slowly and carefully close it back and roll it again between your palms in ball shape. If potatoes are sticking, grease palms with oil. Fill – in all potato balls in the same way.

Heat heavy bottomed flat tava on medium heat and grease it with oil. Once tava is hot enough, keep all tikiya (peas filled potato balls) on it and reduce heat on sim.

Brush up the upper part of tikiya with oil and spread very little quantity of oil around all tikiya.

With the help of slight sharp edged flat spatula turn all tikiya upside down and once again brush up with oil. Now you can increase the heat on medium to sim.

Roast tikiya nicely from both the sides till they become nice brown and crisp. Serve with sweet chutney and spicy coriander chutney.

What do you think about this popular Indian snack? Have you ever tried it before this way or in a different way .. would love to hear from you all in the comments section 😊😊

February 26, 2019

Deeksha Pathak67 Comments

Aaloo ki sookhi sabzi

Aaloo ki sookhi sabzi (dry potato sabzi) is everyone’s favourite! Potatoes are cooked in many ways all over the world and liked by all age groups. In my fridge, the vegetable basket can be empty in 3-4 days but potatoes, never ever…..

I use potatoes to prepare Aalu ki tikiya(potato patties stuffed with spicy peas) dry veggie or veggie with gravy and aaloo ka halva, some snacks and Aaloo ka Paratha (paratha with spicy potato stuffing)

Last weekend my daughter had a get-together in our house with a few of her friends. Preparing lunch for teenagers is a challenge as they are very fussy about their likes and dislikes. So, to be on the safer side I decided to prepare this dish “aaloo ki sookhi sabzi” as I thought that no can says no to potatoes.

We can prepare this sabzi with raw potatoes or with boiled ones. I decided to prepare with boiled potatoes. It’s a very easy and hassle-free dish.

Ingredients :

Potatoes, green chilies, green coriander leaves, rai, cumin seeds, asafoetida, oil, salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, dry mango powder or lemon juice.

Process :

Wash nicely and boil potatoes. After boiling keep them in a strainer and let them cool down.

When potatoes have cooled enough to touch, peel them.

In a heavy-bottomed pan heat oil and crackle rai, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Mash potatoes in small and big chunks and put them into the pan. Add finely chopped green chilies, salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, coriander powder and dry mango powder or lemon juice.

Keep the heat on the sim and mix everything, cover it and let it cook on sim heat for 1/2 an hour. In between keep on turning them upside down. You may wonder what is the need for cooking so long when we had already boiled these earlier. Additional cooking makes potatoes absorb the flavours of all spices and makes them crispy. Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves and serve.

June 21, 2018January 23, 2021

Deeksha Pathak11 Comments

Stuffed Capsicum (bharva shimla mirch)

Stuffed vegetables like Stuffed Capsicum (bharva shimla mirch) add charm to your dinning table! Though preparation takes slightly longer time, but the end result is really really good. Stuffed Capsicum (bharva shimla mirch) can be done with boiled potatoes, paneer, roasted gram flour or simply with some spices of your choice.

From my childhood, I had always liked boiled potatoes filled stuffed capsicum a lot. I have experienced that the taste of capsicum is not much appreciated by everyone, but if you serve it in stuffed form, people really like it. After our marriage, in Chennai Manish and I had invited some of his colleagues at home and I had cooked stuffed capsicum and I remember that everyone liked it a lot!
In Bangalore also my dear friend Padmaja had called me once to her house to cook stuffed capsicum, so that she can see the entire process.

Not exaggerating, but my mother-in-law also very much likes stuffed capsicum prepared by me. Once I packed for her when they were going back to Jaipur from Bangalore and got rave reviews.

So now you have enough reasons to give stuffed capsicum a try……

There is one more post in the blog in the category of stuffed vegetables, you can take a look at Stuffed chillies

Ingredients :

Green Capsicum

Potatoes

Finely chopped green chillies

Oil

Spices: salt, red chilli powder, dry mango powder(amchoor), garam masala, asafoetida(hing) and turmeric powder.

Process :

Boil potatoes in pressure cooker. Never let potatoes become over boiled where they get a big crack in between – this way water seeps in and they become soggy.

Keep boiled potatoes in a strainer so that all water seeps out.

Peel potatoes and once they cool down, add all spices, mash them and mix everything together.

Heat a pan and add 1-2 spoons of oil and add ready mix of boiled potatoes. Keep on turning them upside-down from time to time to avoid potatoes sticking to the pan. Don’t add too much oil here as we just have to roast them lightly for 10 minutes.

Potatoes will stick to the pan as we have added only couple of spoons of oil. To avoid this use small pan support – it’s very helpful in slow cooking.

Once they are done, let them cool down.

Wash and dry capsicum. Always buy vertically shaped small sized capsicum for preparing stuffed capsicum. With vertical shape, it’s easy to deseed them.

To remove seeds, make a vertical cut.

Fill in the prepared potato filling. Don’t stuff too much filling, otherwise while cooking it will start seeping out.

Heat the pan and add 4-5 spoons of oil, spreading all over the pan. Next, place all the stuffed capsicums and cover the pan.

Stuffed capsicum should be cooked on sim heat, so you can use small pan support again.

Keep on turning them upside-down till they are tender from all sides and done.

Serve with roti, plain paratha or rice.

April 22, 2018September 5, 2020

Deeksha Pathak9 Comments

Gwar ki fali (cluster beans)

Whenever I see tender Gwar ki fali (cluster beans) in a vegetable shop , I just buy them. Among all the varieties of beans, Gwar ki fali ( cluster beans) are my favorite. At my parents house we had a lot of empty space to grow vegetables, and we never had a gardener. My parents and I used to take care of every thing, right from preparing the soil for seeds till plucking out ready vegetables. Both of my sisters were not very interested in all this. If sometimes they were forced by my father to do something, then they could not escape.

It’s so wonderful to see those tiny saplings coming out of seeds🌿🌿 and watch them growing everyday and waiting anxiously for the flowers to bloom and then in cluster, beans will start growing gradually. When you pluck those fresh beans, you can feel the wonderful fragrance of freshness around your self. Amongst all vegetables, I like the beautiful flower of ladyfinger the most. If you don’t believe me, try to sow a few seeds of ladyfinger in a pot and you will surely agree with me!

My mother used to prepare gwar ki fali in two ways. One is the normal way of preparing sabzi with potatoes and the other way is by boiling them first and then prepare it like sabzi. The boiling method is slightly more time consuming, but I like it more than the normal version.

During the month of “saawan”(monsoon) there is a tradition in North India to keep fast every Monday. My sister’s and I are not deeply religious people, but because everyone around us including my mother used to fast, so we also started just to be part of the tradition. In the evening, my mother would serve these cluster beans with boiling method, along with plain curd or raita and hot plain parathas. I still have that photogenic memory of having this meal along with my sisters in the evening, and whenever my mother used to give hot paratha to my youngest sister Neetu, she used to get very irritated, because she hates eating hot food. Her choice is always warm food.

When we shifted to Bangalore few years back, it was very difficult to find tender and raw gwar ki fali. But now, I can get them from my nearby vegetable shop. Try this boiling method once, I hope you will sure like it!!

Ingredients :

Cluster beans (gwar ki fali) 300 grams
Carom seeds(ajwain) 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder (dhania powder) 1+1/2 tsp

Red chili powder( lal mirch powder) 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder (haldi powder) 1/14 tsp
Salt (namak) as per your taste
Mango powder (amchoor) /lemon juice (neebu ka ras) 1 tsp
Oil 4 tbsp
Water for boiling 1 cup

Process:

Wash nicely Gwar ki fali.

Boil fali in pressure cooker. Don’t boil for long otherwise they will be messy. In one whistle they will be done. Can be boiled in open pan, but it takes a little longer time.

Once cooker cools down, transfer boiled beans into a sieve, so that all water drains out.

Once beans are cooled, remove both the ends very carefully. You will be getting long threads from both the ends.

Heat oil in a pan. I prefer mustard oil here also like I preferred for Colorful veggies(kids special). Crackle ajwain (carom seeds) and turn the flame to sim. Add coriander powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder and immediately add 2-3tbsp water.

Stir it and when water evaporates, add beans. Sprinkle salt and mix everything.

Keep the flame on sim and cover the pan.

Turn beans upside down two to three times in between. Don’t add water. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes on sim flame so that beans can absorb all the flavours of spices. Once ready, sprinkle lemon juice or amchoor powder, mix well and serve it with paratha, roti or rice.