Stuffed Ridge Gourd / Gutti Beerakaye / Bharwa Thurai

Stuffed Ridge Gourd:

Ingredients:

Ridge gourd - tender 2-3
Ginger-garlic paste
Onion paste
Salt
Turmeric
Chili powder
Sesame oil few spoons.

To be Toasted and Powdered:

Coriander seeds 2 spoons
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Pepper 1/2 spoon
Cloves 2
Cinnamon 1 stick
Poppy seeds 1/2 spoon
Sesame seeds 2 spoons
Dry red chilies 5
Dry coconut 2 spoons.

Method:

Peel the ridges and cut the veggie into big chunks. Slit them twice and stuff them with powdered spices.

In a wide wok, heat oil and fry ginger-garlic and onion...add the remaining spice powder. Now add the veggies, cover and cook, till tender.

Serve to go with your rotis or plain steamed rice.

Stuffed Whole Okras / Stuffed Lady's Finger / Bharwa Bindi

Vendaikai Masala:

Gutti Bendakaya. Stuffed Vendaikai. Bindi Nirachadhu. Stuffed Whole Okras. Stuffed Lady's Finger. Bharwa Bindi.

Ingredients:

Fresh Okras
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Garam masala 1/4 spoon
Onion grated 1/4 cup
Ginger-garlic paste 1/ spoon
Tomato 1 crushed
Oil for stir-frying.

Method:

Trim the ends and slit the okras.

Now mix all the above mentioned ingredients(except oil and okra).

Baste and fill the vegetable with above mixture.

Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry the veggies. Once the raw odor leaves the pan and the vegetable turns tender, its done.

Serve to go with your main meal, as a side dish.

Stuffed Karela / Stuffed Bitter Gourd

Stuffed Pavakkai:(Re Posting)

Gutti Kaakarkaye. Pavakka Nirachadhu. Masala Pavakkai. Pavakkai Masala.

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd/ Bitter Melon - 4-8
Red onions finely chopped 1 large bowl full
Tomatoes 4 finely chopped
Ginger-garlic paste 1 teaspoon
Jaggery/brown sugar 1 gooseberry size
Garam masala powder 1/2 spoon
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Chili powder 1 spoon
Coriander powder 1 spoon
Cumin seeds powder 1 spoon
Curry leaves few
Cumin seeds
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

1. Trim the ends of the gourd. Scrap away the serrated ridges. Wash and clean. Now, make an incision at one end vertically. Remove the pith and seeds, using back of a spoon or any instrument of your choice.

2. Now one could steam cook the gourd for 10 minutes. When the vegetable is semi done, set aside. I skipped this step tho'.

3. Heat oil, in a pan...add cumin seeds, allow this to pop and crackle. Then add ginger-garlic paste. Fry them for a while and followed by onions. Fry till they are translucent. Add tomatoes plus jaggery, cover and cook over medium heat.

4. Add salt, turmeric, chili, coriander, cumin and garam masala powders. When the masala turns aromatic enough, turn off the heat.

5. Stuff this masala into bitter gourd. One can stitch the gourd using needle and thread or simply leave it.

6. Heat oil in a pan. Add this stuffed vegetable and remaining masala too. Fry them over high heat, without lid. Let the vegetable turn to golden brown color and slightly crispy.

Garnish with fried curry leaves. Serve this side dish for Pulkah roti or curd rice. Enjoy:)

Baghara Tamatar - Getting my Creative Tabs Working!

Tamatar Ki Salan:(Hyderabadi Style)
Bagara Tamatar. Bahara Tamatar. Baghara Tomato. Tamatar Ki Salan.

Ingredients:

Green chilies 3
Tomatoes 4-6
Turmeric 1/4teaspoon
Salt to taste
Tamarind paste 1/4 spoon
Bay leaves 2

Roast each separately and powder them together:

Peanuts 1 table spoon
Dry coconut 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon

Fry in little oil and wet grind these to paste:

Onion
Tomato
Garlic grated
Ginger grated

Method:

Slit the tomatoes and chilies, fill in with ground powders. Set aside

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add bay leaves.

Add remaining ground powders, and wet-ground paste. Fry them till oil separates. Add salt, tamarind paste and a cup of water.

Add stuffed chilies, tomatoes and boil till gravy thickens and oil shows up on the top.

Serve hot with parathas or chapattis or Dhum Biriyani.

Stuffed Aubergine / Gutti Vangaya - Andhra Special

Stuufed Eggplants:

Stuffed Brinjal. Stuffed Baingan. Karhirikkai Nirachadhu.

Sometimes, I feel awkward to post my regular cooking!!! I know its not blog-worthy:( But you see, when you live in a new nation...things are not the same! Spotting native stuff happens only after some time consuming travel(atleast in my place). And of course its very fascinating in one way.:) That is why, the Simple Coconut Chutney(which Mommy made zillion times) is not simple anymore (where I see good quality coconut once in a blue moon!!!)and Masala Vadai (which I ate and grew upon) became almost now A Symbol of Love. Yes, it is...food' stirs up all the nostalgic past! So, here you go...bit labor intensive but fulfilling recipe, I tried my best with Japanese Eggplants, which my great grandmother wouldn't have approved:):)


Ingredients:

Eggplants 1/4 kilo
Ginger-garlic paste
Onion paste
Salt
Turmeric
Chili powder
Sesame oil few spoons.

To be Toasted and Powdered:

Coriander seeds 2 spoons
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Pepper 1/2 spoon
Cloves 2
Cinnamon 1 stick
Poppy seeds 1/2 spoon
Sesame seeds 2 spoons
Dry red chilies 5
Dry coconut 2 spoons.

Method:

Slit the veggie twice and bake them for 10 minutes.

In a wide wok, heat oil and fry ginger-garlic and onion...add the spices to it. Now puree them.

Stuff the above masala in the vegetable.

Once again, heat oil in a wide wok...add these stuffed vegetable and stir-fry over high heat. Once the oil shows up on the sides plus the raw odour of the masalas are gone, its done.

Serve to go with your rotis or plain steamed rice.

Stuffed Tinda / Gutti Dondakaya - Andhra Special

Stuffed Kovaikkai:(Andhra Special)

Kovakka Nirachadhu. Gutti Dondakaya. Stuffed Tinda. Stuffed Tindora. Bharwa Tindora.

My Mommy never bought nor prepared Tinda at home. As a child never saw this vegetable. My whole life was from hostel to hostel and mess to mess. I sometimes really missed how the food tastes at home:(

When I was in Tamil Nadu hostel...I used to hate this vegetable, used to be angry at the mess boys saying 'eppavume kovaikkai sambhar thaana:(' (always tinda sambhar' eh).

My attitude completely changed when I moved to Hyderabad. I understood that this is such a delicate vegetable. Its all in the hands of cook, right. Typical Andhra meals are hot and spicy, which indeed turned me a foodie, later. My cooking passion also got shaped slowly. Stuffed Tinda is one of delicacy there, with myriad flavors.

Ingredients:

Kovaikai/tinda/dondakai 1/4 kilo
Ginger-garlic paste
Onion paste
Salt
Turmeric
Chili powder
Sesame oil few spoons.

To be Toasted and Powdered:

Coriander seeds 2 spoons
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Pepper 1/2 spoon
Cloves 2
Cinnamon 1 stick
Poppy seeds 1/2 spoon
Sesame seeds 2 spoons
Dry red chilies 5
Dry coconut 2 spoons.

Method:

Slit the veggie twice and boil them for 10 minutes.

In a wide wok, heat oil and fry ginger-garlic and onion...add the spices to it. Now puree them.

Stuff the above masala in the vegetable.

Once again, heat oil in a wide wok...add these stuffed vegetable and stir-fry over high heat. Once the oil shows up on the sides plus the raw odour of the masalas are gone, its done.

Serve to go with your rotis or plain steamed rice.

Malabar Special Ramzaan Sweet Treat

Unnakayi. Unnakaye. Unnakaya. Pazham Nirachadhu. Stuffed Plantains. Vazhai Kai Appam?Vayaka Adda. Vayyakada. Kai ada. Kayeada.

Generally I do cook several dishes from my blogger friends, but I don't picture or post them. This is the first time, I am so impressed with my fellow blogger's work and tried her recipe the very same day. When she posted this recipe' under Ramadhaan special, I was so curious to try it immediately. That was quite exciting and totally a new dish for me:) But I was so skeptical to post the same because' mine didnt turn out very well...hmmm but its okay for the first time, right! Anyhow, comeon please take a look, at the original version, here.

Ingredients:

Semi ripe plantains (not raw, not ripe...you got it?)
Egg with Sugar - scrambled
Cashewnuts and raisins - ghee fried.
Ghee for deep frying.

Method:

Steam the palntains, peel and core them. Now mash them coarsely.

Divide into equal parts, and flatten them...fill-in scrambled eggs plus nuts and raisins. Cover and bring them to elongated ball shapes. Repeat the same for allt he remaining stuff too.

Shallow or deep fry these in hot ghee. Yep, ready...so yummm:)

Eggplants Masala

Stuffed Eggplants Masala:

Stuffed Brinjal Masala. Baingan Subzi.

Whenever I talk about egg-plants(brinjal), I really long for that 'spiny wild variety'. Yeah...pretty much still resembling the old world species. Anyway, ancient eggplants were all white in color, though! Constant selection and breeding made them to appear in different colors now.

Hmmm, eggplants are one of the oldest vegetable that our ancestor's domesticated. Well...people generally think, only animals are domesticated! But truly ancient Indians did research(observe) and carefully selected pure cell lines, to produce less bitter vegetables. Why to go into ploidy and multiple genes kind of stuff here....

Thanks to modern science as well, now we could enjoy this vegetable through out the year, which is also large, colorful, seedless, resistant...what not.

Ingredients:

Small Eggplants 6-8
Onion 1 grated
Ginger-garlic paste 1 teaspoon
Tomato 1 crushed
Dry coconut 1/4 cup
Dry red chilies 1 fistful
Salt
Turmeric 1/2 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Sesame oil 1/4 cup.

Method:

Wet-toast coconut, till fragrant. Dry toast chilies. Now blend them together, set aside.

In a wide wok, heat oil. Add all the tempering spices...followed by onion and ginger-garlic paste.

Now fry real good, till fragrant...add salt, turmeric and toasted powder. Also add tomatoes now.

Stir-fry for couple of minutes, then add slitted eggplants. Cover and cook, till tender.

Serve warm to go with you plain steamed rice or chappathi.

Stuffed Tomatoes

Stuffed Tomatoes:

Best way to have fresh tomatoes is to either grill or bake them, with a hint of butter...its heaven!! Today I planned for snack meal dinner. It doesnt mess up your kitchen at all, so simple to fix!!

Ingredients:

Roma tomatoes 4-6
Wild rice/brown rice/red rice 1 cup
Salt
Garlic crushed
Chili powder 1/2 spoon
Cilantro leaves few
Butter 2 cubes
Cheese to garnish.

Method:

Slice a small part of tomatoes and core them neatly.

In a skillet, add a cube of butter...throw in all the spices and wild rice. Fry real quick until fragrant. Remove from heat and bring down to rooom temperature.

Now fill this rice in the tomatoes, garnish with cheese. Melt butter, bast them over tomatoes.

Now either bake or grill them until semi-tender.

Serving steaming hot as a meal.