Samosa Chaat

JFI : Baingan Aloo Badi

The one thing that I love about eggpants is that it adapts to everything ... sometimes it blends with the other ingredients and spices and sometimes, it is a contrast to the very same. This is one of my family's favorite eggplant dish. Simple ingredients, and packed with flavor. The softness of the eggplant complements the robust flavor of the potato, radish and dill and the crisp "Badi". Try this once, and you will keep coming back for more.
This is my second contribution for JFI for July whose theme is Eggplant.
1 eggplant, cut into 1" cubes
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup, cubed daikon radish or 3 small red radish, cubed
1 tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1" ginger
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
A handful of Badi
1 tbsp mustard paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 tsp Panch Phoran
1 tsp each cumin and coriander powder
1/2 tsp each turmeric and red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Oil
Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Grind the garlic and ginger coarsely. Fill a large bowl with cold water and soak the eggplant cubes in it.
Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a wok and fry the Badi's till golden. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add a little oil. When the oil heats add Hing, Panch Phoran and ginger-garlic paste. Cook for a minute and then add the potato. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the cubed eggplants, mix well. Cook for 5 minutes and then add turmeric powder + salt + red chilli powder + cumin powder + coriander powder. Mix well, cover and cook for about 7 - 10 minutes. Add 1 cup water + Radish + Tomato. Cover and cook till done. Add mustard paste + dill + Badi and simmer for a minute or two. Garnish with chopped coriander / cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice. Enjoy !!

Poha

Both K and I were tired of having the same old cereal and milk for breakfast everyday, so just to jazz things up I made Poha. Simple filling this is a universal delight. I learnt to make poha from my aunt L when I lived with them in Mumbai for a year.
Poha or Chuda Upma as we call it at home it made of flattened rice (easily found in your local Indian grocery store). In Bihar, everyday breakfast comprises of soaked, drained Chuda with yogurt, banana and sugar or gud (jaggery). Makes for a wholesome and filling breakfast.

2 cups poha

A pinch of hing(asafoetida)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

2 whole dry chillies, broken into two

1 medium potato, peeled and cubed into small pieces

1 cup peas (I use frozen ones)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt to taste

Oil

To Garnish : 1 tbsp each of chopped green chilli and coriander leaves

Wash the poha, drain the water completely and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add the hing and mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to crackle, add the curry leaves, red chillies, potato, peas and turmeric powder. Mix well, cover and cook till potato is almost done.

Now add the poha and salt and mix well. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Garnish with chopped chillies and coriander leaves and serve hot. Enjoy!

Aloo Do Pyaza

This is my father's signature recipe and a family favorite. A generous dose of garlic enhances the flavor of this potato curry. Try this recipe and I assure you, you will not be disapointed. Served with Rice or Puri, this makes for a wonderful meal.
1 lb potatoes, boiled and quartered (I used white potatoes and kept the skin)
10 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 onions, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp ghee
3 green cardamom
3 whole cloves
1" cinnamon stick
Chopped coriander leaves, to garnish
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil
Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic for about a minute and then add the chopped onions. When onion turns pink, add the potato +turmeric powder + chilli powder + salt. Cook on low heat till the onion begins to brown, stirring occasionally. Add 3 cups water + chopped tomato, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, with a mortar and pestle, coarsely grind green cardamom + cloves + cinnamon stick.
Heat ghee in a small pan. Add the cumin seeds and when they begin to crackle, add the coarsely ground spices. Mix well and add to the potato curry. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes more. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Puri / Paratha or steamed rice. Enjoy!

Lal Chana - Red Garbanzo Curry

Both K and I like Garbanzo. As a student, many a meal was made using the combination of Rice, Spinach and Garbanzo beans. For variety we used to switch between the white, green and reddish brown garbanzo. Hummus, Garbanzo curry, as a snack ... there was no end to how we used this versatile bean.
One of my favorite garbanzo curry is the way Ma makes it. Today, I am going to share her recipe with you.

1 cup dried garbanzo, soaked overnight in warm water
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 onions - 1 onion sliced fine; 1 onion chopped fine
2 garlic pods, chopped
1" ginger, grated
2 Bay leaves
1 black cardamom
1" stick cinnamon
2 cloves
2 green cardamoms
1 potato, cubed (I used Red potato)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
To garnish : 2 green chillies, sliced lengthwise & chopped coriander leaves
Oil
In a pressure cooker, put garbanzo beans, chopped tomato, chopped onion, garlic, ginger, bay leaf, cardamoms, cinnamon stick, cloves, cubed potato, 1 tbsp oil, 3 cups water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Remove from heat and cool.
Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds begin to sizzle, add the sliced onion and cook till the onion turns brown. Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt and cook till the masala is cooked. Keep sprinkling water occasionally so that the masal does not stick to the pan. Add this masala to the garbanzo curry and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes, till all the flavors have blended. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and green chillies and serve hot with Rice / Paratha / Roti. Enjoy !!!

JFI:Aloo Parwal Bhujiya - Potato-Indian Gourd Stir Fry

Parwal or Potol(as it is called in Orissa) was the constant vegetable during the hot summer months back home. This tiny little green gourd ( similar looking to the Tinda ) along with Opo Squash was what you got in abundance and my mother constantly had to improvise in cooking methods to get us to eat this vegetable.
When I saw Trupti post a recipe with this vegetable, I walked down nostalgia lane. Imagine my delight when I found a packet of Parwal in the frozen food aisle of the Indian grocery store. I called up Ma and got this recipe from her. This is my entry for JFI-Potato.
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into long slices
1 packet frozen Parwal
1 small red onion, sliced fine
1 dry red chilli, broken into two
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Chopped coriander leaves, for garnish (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil
Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle, add the sliced onions. When the onion turns pink, add the potatoes. Cook till the potatoes are half done. Now add the Parwal, turmeric powder, coriander powder and dry red chilli. Mix well and on low heat cook till the potatoes and parwal is cooked, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste, mix well, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti/ Paratha. Enjoy !

Roast Mahi-Mahi with Potatoes and Tomatoes : Hout Bi Batata Wa Tamatem

Among the many gifts that Santa Claus :) gave me this year, one was this wonderful cookbook "Arabesque" by Claudia Roden.
This cookbook gives a little history of the food of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. It was interesting to find so many spices and vegetables that are used in the Indian sub-continent. If you enjoy Mediterranean food and want to try some simple yet delightful dishes, I highly recommend this book.
Baked potatoes and tomatoes along with the succulent Mahi Mahi make it a hearty dish and the garlic and coriander add that extra zing. I made a couple of modifications to the recipe in terms of quantity, but have stayed true to all the ingredients mentioned. I have the pleasure of presenting to you "Roast Mahi-Mahi with Potatoes & Tomatoes".

2 Mahi Mahi fillets ( you can use Cod, Bream, Haddock, Turbot)
Salt
For the Marinade (Chermoula)
1/2 cup chopped coriander
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 medium sized potatoes
3 medium tomatoes
Olive oil to drizzle

Slash the skin of the fish, a couple of places across the thickest part. Sprinkle salt and keep aside. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and marinate the fish in half of the marinade for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven. Clean the potatoes. Peel the skin (optional) and cut into 1/4" discs. Clean the tomatoes and cut into 1/3" discs. Brush the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil and place the potato and tomato slices. Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle salt. Mix well. Put the dish in the oven and cook on 475 F for 50 minutes or till the potatoes are tender. While cooking, turn them over once so that the potato slices are evenly cooked.
Take the dish out and place the fish fillets on top of the potato and tomato, skin side up. Bake for 10-12 minutes till the fish is cooked through. Just before serving, pour the remaining marinade over the fish. Enjoy !!

Our dinner : Pupusa with Mahi-Mahi

Stuffed Tomato

I was excited when Pooja announced that the "Vegetable for the Week" was the Tomato. So many dishes came to mind that I had some difficulty trying to decide which to make. In the end, I settled upon this simple, yet delightful creation. This dish was among the first couple of recipes that I learnt from Ma when I began cooking.

2 firm Tomatoes (I used beefsteak tomatoes)
1 large potato, boiled and mashed
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp amchoor (dried Mango Powder)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
Olive oil to drizzle
1 tsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Cut the tomatoes about 1" from the top and reserve the cap. Remove the pulp of the tomato and keep aside in a bowl.
Add the potato to it and mix well. Now add all the ingredients except bread crumbs and olive oil and mix well.
Preheat the oven. Take a generous amount of the potato mixture and fill the tomato shells with it. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on it and then put the tomato cap. Drizzle some olive oil on the tomatoes and bake at 450 F for about 20 minutes. Serve hot as a side dish. Enjoy !

Jhatpat Aloo

This is a simple yet tasty dish. This is my contribution for Pooja's Vegetable of the week.

3 potatoes, microwave till done.
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
Chopped coriander leaves, for garnish (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil

Peel the skin of the potatoes and cut into bite sized pieces.
Heat oil in a pan. add the cumin seeds. When they sizzle, add the chopped onion and green chilli. Cook till the onion begins to turn brown. Add the potatoes, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt. Mix well and cook for about 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.