Category: side dish for roti

Baingan Mutter Makhini

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mymy k

I can not believe that my small break has (again) turned into a major vacation from my blog. Given the fact that I do this at least once in two years, I won’t say I am surprised by this behavior now.

With the overdose of information from social media, I find that I need a break more frequently than before. Now my everyday food is mostly from simpler sources like books and recipes from friends. I will be back to the blogging scenario, but right now I am taking it slow.

While we are on the topic of recipe from books, this one is also from Raghavan Iyer’s 660 curries. It’s a book that I really like and this recipe was also a success like the other ones I tried. It’s similar in some ways to baingan Bharta but with fresh cream and cashews involved :-). Read on for the recipe and stepwise pictures.

baingan_mutter_makhani2

Ingredients:

  • 1 big eggplant
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen green peas
  • 1/2 cup coriander leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 3 tablespoons ghee
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced
  • 1/4 cup cashews or blanched almonds
  • 2 tablespoons raisins
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2″ long piece of ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 tomato chopped finely
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • salt as needed

Method:

Rub one teaspoon of oil all over the eggplant. Poke holes all over it using a fork and microwave it for about 8 minutes until its cooked. Take out keep aside until its cool enough to handle.

Peel the eggplants and discard the stem. Mash using a fork or roughly chop using a knife. Add this into a bowl and mix in 2 cups (fresh or frozen) peas, 1/2 cup coriander leaves, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and salt. Set this aside while we prepare the gravy.

In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of ghee or oil. Add one medium sliced onion, 1/4 cup blanched almonds (or cashews), 2 tablespoons raisins, 4 crushed garlic cloves, 2″ piece of chopped ginger. Cover and let this cook until the onion is caramelized, about 8-10 minutes. Add one chopped medium tomato half way through and let it also cook without mixing it in too much.

Once the mix is cooked through, let it cool a bit and grind into a paste, adding a little water if needed.

Clean the skillet and heat it now with one tablespoon of ghee. Add the eggplant and peas mixture and let it cook uncovered until all the moisture has been absorbed. Stir in between to prevent browning. This might take about 10 minutes. Add the onion paste to the cooked eggplant.

Add half cup of cream to the mixer jar to dislodge any remaining onion paste stuck to the jar. Pour the cream to the curry. Mix everything and cook for another 5 minutes, taste testing and adjusting the seasonings if needed. Serve with some ghee on top if preferred.

baingan_mutter_makhani

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Dahi Elaichi Rajma – Red kidney beans with cardamom and yogurt

6 Comments

dahi_rajma3

This is a curry that is coming straight out of the book 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. When I first took this huge book out of the library, I was disappointed at the lack of pictures. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that the recipes are excellent. I have tried 3-4 recipes from the book and some of them more than once. This easy to make rajma curry has been prepared many times now and I am still surprised at the unique flavor combination of kidney beans with yogurt and cardamom.

Instead of tomatoes, the yogurt brings in the tartness and the cardamom brings in that beautiful, yet light masala flavor. I don’t like using whole cardamom pods so I use only ground cardamom. I wouldn’t use sour yogurt for this recipe as the sourness might overwhelm everything else. Cooking the water off the yogurt is an important part according to the author. This step increases the sharpness of yogurt by letting only the curd pellets remain and be a part of the curry. I am yet to try this with other variety of beans, but I think it would taste equally fabulous.

This is my submission to Cooking from Cookbook Challenge event. Do check out the link to learn more about the event and see who else is participating.

dahi_rajma2

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons ghee/oil
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder or 4 cardamom pods
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)
  • 2 cups red kidney beans, cooked
  • salt as needed
  • coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

 

Heat 2 tablespoons ghee and saute one chopped or sliced small red onion. If you are using whole cardamom pods, you have to add it in along with the onions. If its ground cardamom, you can add after onion is sauteed. Once the onion turns pink, add one cup of yogurt.

 

Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom (I used powder instead of whole pods) and let it cook stirring in between. The water will evaporate leaving yogurt pellets, in about 10 minutes or so.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of garam masala and salt as needed. Add 1.5 cups of water, red kidney beans and bring it to a boil. You can add more water, may be 1/2 cup at a time, if the curry seems to be dry.

Add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or red chili powder, if needed. Taste test and adjust seasonings and let the curry cook for about 5-10 minutes on a medium flame. Mash the rajma (red kidney beans) slightly with the back of the ladle if you want it to be little more thicker. Serve with rice or roti.

dahi_rajma1

This is my submission to Cooking from Cookbook Challenge event. Do check out the link to learn more about the event and see who else is participating.

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