Tag: starter

Instant Stuffed Brinjal:

July 29, 2018

Tiny brinjals are very delicious in dry curries as well as in gravies. When I have plenty of home grown organic brinjals, I normally make this quick dish, which can be handy as well as tasty when you are super lazy to cook. If chutney powder (any chutney powder will do) is around, within no time you will be able to make this delicious dish. It can be relished as a starter, side dish or with curd rice.

Ingredients:

Tiny Brinjals – 12

Garlic Chutney powder – 2 to 3 table spoons

Hucchellu/ gurellu or Nigella seed powder – 1 tea spoon (optional)

Red chilli powder – 1 tea spoon

Amchur powder – ½ tea spoon

Salt

Turmeric – ½ tea spoon

Cooking oil – 2 tea spoons

Method:

-Hucchellu powder is purely optional. If you have roasted Hucchellu powder, use it.

-Take one bowl, mix chutney powder, gurellu powder, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, amchur powder, salt.

-Wash brinjal, make 2 slits (+ shape) and fill this mixture and keep aside. If any mixture is remaining, keep aside.

-Take one kadai, add oil. When oil becomes hot, add masala filled brinjals and toss for couple of minutes.

-Sprinkle little (1 table spoon) water and close the lid and cook in a low flame.

-Once again sprinkle water in between and cook until brinjal shrinks and cooks properly.

-Lastly, sprinkle remaining masala mixture, give one stir and serve as you wish.

 

 

Guacamole / Mexican Avocado or Butter fruit dip:

August 23, 2017

I tasted my first fresh and authentic Guacamole which was prepared by a native Mexican couple in Key west during my recent trip. Personally, I had never liked it before. It was by accident that we spotted a cart over there, due to my tiny niece who loves her dose of Guac at any time of the day, and that is the reason why we picked up one.

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We got an opportunity to taste Authentic key lime pie and visited “Peppers of Key west” which is a small pepper bar. We sat at the pepper bar and did a taste test as well. They had more than thousands of varieties of sauces and dips with spice levels ranged or ranked from 0 to 10 and my daughters and sister who enjoyed this tasting session earned their ” I have the Hottest tongue in this island” badge as well.

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At Mallory square, one will get to see lots of things like Magic shows, tarot reading or some amazing food in different kinds of carts. We browsed a bit and decided to taste Budapest special Chimney cake, Caribbean grilled corn and this Guacamole. After all these experiences and eating sessions, we enjoyed the sunset over there.

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Now we will see how I tried to replicate their recipe and I want to dedicate this recipe to that couple.

Ingredient:

Avocadoes/ Butter fruit – 2 (small size)

Garlic cloves – 5 to 6

Crystal cooking salt – as needed

Tabasco chilli sauce – 1 tea spoon

Tomato ketch up – 1 teaspoon

Tomato – 1 (big)

Spring onion greens – 2 table spoons

Fresh Lemon juice – as needed

Method:

-Make a paste of garlic, salt and Tabasco sauce by using pestle and mortar.

– it should be like a semi ground paste and it takes little time and energy of yours.

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-Now cut open the fruit, remove seed and scoop out the flesh and mash this into fine texture.

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– Mix in tomato ketch up and ground garlic and salt paste.

-Garnish with finely chopped spring onion, tomato and juice of lime .

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Serve fresh with tortilla chips or with some other choice of yours.

 

Plantain stem and Moringa Rasam:

July 16, 2017

Where to start about the benefits of these two super foods? From my childhood, we used to relish banana stem and its flower in various dishes. Every part of banana plant is useful, be it its leaves, flower, stem, its outer fibre or fruit. No wastage of any part. Usually after the harvest of Banana fruit bunch, we should remove that plant and should allow its baby plant to grow and fruit. Usually after the harvest, banana plant is chopped off, outer fibre is peeled off and it is dried under the sun and used as a thread in tying Jasmine flowers. Inner core or pith is divided into 3 parts. Top most part, which is very slender and less fibrous will be used in raw salads. Middle portion is little more fibrous and used in cooking and making Dosa’s. Bottom part, which is more fibrous, mature and hard to chew will be used in juices, soups or Rasam’s.

Plantain stem is one of the best, natural high fibre vegetable. It also maintains fluid balance in our body and acts as a coolant, especially in Summer season.

Moringa or Drumstick leaves are considered as a “Power food” for its nutritionally rich nature.

Here I have combined these two ingredients and made Rasam and trust me it is very tasty and can be used as an appetizer shot as well.

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Ingredients:

Plantain stem – 6- 8 inches long

Drumstick leaves – 1 cup

Tomatoes – 2

Tamarind – ½ tsp

Garlic – 8 cloves

Cumin – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 2 to 3

Salt

Jaggery – 1tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 table sp.

Seasoning:

Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Mustard – 1 tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

Hing – one pinch

Red chilli-1

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Method:

–  Slice plantain stem into discs, remove thread like fibre while slicing.

–  Chop the roundels into thin slices.

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–  Wash drumstick leaves, here you can use as it is, with its sticks intact. No need to remove intact stalks of these tiny leaves.

–  Cook plantain stem pieces, drumstick leaves, chopped tomatoes, green chilli, tamarind in a pressure cooker for one whistle. Cool this mixture, grind and sieve. Discard the fibrous part.

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–  Dry grind garlic and cumin. Add this to collected solution, add salt, jaggery and boil for a while.

–  Garnish with coriander leaves and do the seasoning.

–  Heat coconut oil, add mustard, when it starts to splutter, add broken red chilli, cumin and curry leaves.

–  Serve this as an appetizer shot before food or as a Rasam with hot rice.