Baked eggplant curry

This vegetable, to the best of my knowledge has neither bitten anybody, nor has it chased someone into a ditch. So I will never understand as to why some folks in a “certain” household run the other way when egg plants are served for dinner !

Keeping that matter aside, this baked eggplant recipe is my favorite. This is a curry baked in the oven.

Baked eggplant curry

Recipe


Indian eggplants/small Italian eggplants - 6-12 nos

Chilly powder – 1tsp

Paprika – 1 ½ tsp

Finely chopped ginger – 1 ½ tbsp.

Sliced pearl onions – ¼ cup

Curry leaves – 10 nos

Coconut milk – 1 cup

Oil – 1 ½ tbsp.

Salt – 2 tbsp + to taste

Using a knife make 3-4 deep slanting horizontal cuts on one side of the the eggplant keeping the vegetable intact. Soak the prepared eggplants in salted water ( 2 tbsp water + 4 cups water, scale up according to need) for at least 30 minutes. Drain, and gently squish to get rid off excess water and pat dry on paper towels. Heat oven to 450C. Take a ceramic casserole dish and smear with 11/2 tbsp oil. Neatly arrange eggplants with the cut side facing up without overlapping, bake for 20 minutes or until the skin starts to wrinkle.While the eggplants are baking, mix the rest of the ingredients with some salt to taste in a bowl and mix well by gently pressing down with a ladle or a wooden spoon. To this mixture add 1 ½ cups of water, stir to combine and keep aside. When the eggplants look ready, pour the coconut milk mixture evenly over the egg plants. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or till the gravy is thick and bubbly. Serve with rice. 

Leave a Comment Indian, Kerala, Vegetarian

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FALOODA!

The name says it all ! This is the stuff dreams are made of, if you happen to dream any dreams comprised of exemplary desserts. In non-exaggerating terms Falooda is a splendid dessert both visually and taste wise, an astounding blend of textures and colors ! There !! You just can't  describe it in ordinary terms, I tried.

There are many ways to make this dessert, but Tukmaria ( sweet basil/sabja) seeds and corn flour noodles are the ingredients which makes this parfait a FALOODA !

You know this already, but Tukmaria ( sweet basil) seeds are not Chia seeds even though the looks are deceptively similar, read why one is not the other here

Recipe

Falooda noodles cooked, rinsed in cold water, and drained - 2 cups tossed with 1 tbsp. rose syrup. You can substitute the falooda noodles with thin vermicelli

Rose syrup (I use Dabur brand ) - 2 tbsp.

Dry tukmaria( sweet basil) seeds - 3/4 cup Soak in 4 + cups of water for 30 minutes, drain, rinse with more cold water, drain and refrigerator

Strawberry Jell-O cut into small pieces - 3 cups (Make Jell-O according to packaging instructions, but with half the amount of liquid suggested, so that you will have a sturdier Jell-O to chop into fine pieces. ( Optional)

Very finely chopped mangoes, pineapples, bananas etc.- 3 cups

Finely chopped assorted toasted nuts ( pistachios, cashew nuts and almonds) - 1/2 cup to garnish

Kulfi cream

4 cups milk

½ tsp. crushed Cardamom

5 pistachios

1 ½ slice white bread with edges removed

½ cup sugar

Pour milk over bread, keep for 10 minutes. Grind the soaked bread milk mixture with rest of the ingredients in a blender till the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into a thick bottomed saucepan and add sugar. In low heat, cook with constant stirring till the mixture thickens. Chill for at least 1 hr.

Rose cream whipped topping

( This is my quick fix ice cream substitute, but if you have ice cream in stock use it by all means)

Whipping cream - 2 cups

Gelatin - 1 tbsp.

Rose syrup - 1 tsp.

Cardamom powder - ¼ tsp.

Confectionery sugar - ¾ cup

Add 4 tbsp. boiling water to gelatin, stir well till the mixture is clear. Allow it to cool down to room temperature with occasional stirring. Mix all the ingredients and the melted gelatin and immediately start whisking and keep whisking till stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a freezer container and freeze at least for 3 hrs. or overnight

Assembling the Falooda

This I promise, is the best part. Take a tall Sundae glass and spoon/scoop in the prepped components in the following order. I usually eyeball the quantity and try to divide the stuff equally between the glasses that I am using . So depending on the size of the serving cup used the quantities listed here will make 12-24 servings

Noodles

Soaked Tukmaria seeds

Kulfi cream

Chopped Jell-O

Mixed fruit

Kulfi cream

Chopped nuts

Rose cream whipped topping

Now drizzle with rose syrup and top with more crushed nuts.

1 comment Desserts, Indian, Vegetarian

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A simple salad

This is the closest to a real time post in this blog in a while photo-wise. Many of the other pictures you saw here recently are ancient artifacts; I am as surprised as anyone else when I discover them.

 

But for today, since it was a sunny sprightly summer kind of day, allow me to introduce you to our dinner, or more precisely to my favorite salsa-ish salad dressed with “Almost burned chili pepper lemonette”, served just barely three hours ago with a baked piece of fish.

Chopped salad with “Almost burned chili pepper lemonette”

The lemonette


Red chili flakes – 1 tsp.

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp.

Lemon juice – 3 tbsp.

Heat a frying pan. When the pan is hot, add the red chili flakes and dry roast till the flakes are deep brown (and not black :) ). Immediately transfer to a bowl. Add coconut oil and lemon juice and whisk together for 1-2 minutes. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

Chopped salad

Cucumber finely chopped – 2 cups

Tomatoes finely chopped – 1 cup

Semi ripe mangoes finely chopped – 1 cup

Red onions finely chopped – ½ cup

Cilantro minced – 3 tbsp.

Salt – to taste

Mix all ingredients for the salad together. Add the vinaigrette, toss well and serve

Leave a Comment Appetizers, Indian, Kerala, Vegetarian

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