Smoked Brinjal/Eggplant - Baingan ka Bharta (Punjabi style)

I grew up around cosmopolitan cultures in Dubai, UAE and had good Punjabi friends. Of course, once I got married I met a lot more Punjabi people who are my husband's friends and are now very good friends of mine as well.

I have always loved Punjabi food. Lassi and Punjabi samosas top that list for me :)

This recipe comes after trying out the several variants of Baingan ka Bharta. I love the Punjabi variant thus far. The eggplant is first roasted before being mashed.

You need:

• 4 medium sized brinjals/eggplants
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 medium sized onions, sliced finely
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
• 1" ginger, finely grated
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped finely
• 2 green chilies, chopped finely (or sliced if you don't want it spiced)
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
• Some coriander leaves for garnish
• Oil - 1 tbsp or as required
• Drinking water - as required
• Salt to taste

The Make
Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

1. Roast the eggplant on all sides either on the gas top or on your grill or in your oven. The resultant eggplant's external skin would be charred and the flesh internally would be soft.
2. Once all the eggplants are roasted, set aside to cool. Once cooled, peel of the skin and coarsely mash up the softened flesh of the eggplants.
3. Heat oil in a non-stick pan or a wok and splutter the cumin seeds.
4. On medium-low heat, add the onions and fry till translucent. Next add the garlic, ginger and green chilis and fry for a minute.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, powdered spices, salt and saute well. Allow the spices to cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the spices leave the sides of the wok. Add a drizzle of water if required.
6. Next add the mashed eggplant,chopped coriander leaves, cumin powder and mix well. Cook for a minute.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chapattis or your favourite rotis and yoghurt.

Hope you enjoy this dish as much as my husband and I did! :)

Bon Appetit!

Muringaella Thoran (Drumstick tree (Moringa Oleifera)'s leaves with coconut gratings)

Somehow it is becoming increasingly difficult since Lent started to write my recipe creations. There is a lot of challenges I experience during Lent and quite unexpected too. I guess that is what happens in the spiritual world with a battle between Good and Evil! So it is probably but natural that a lot of these challenges and unwanted concerns arise during the season of Lent. How you deal with it is probably a test of your faith.  Also, I seem to have a lot going on at once and hence the delay in sharing this way too simple recipe.

You can prep this dish when you are free or even whilst doing another activity that does not involve using your hands. You can even get your toddler/little ones to assist. They will definitely enjoy doing so and you can have some fun time with them as well while prepping for the dish.

These  leaves came from my parents' garden. I have always loved the drumsticks' tree leaves. And as mentioned in an earlier blog post we grew up in a villa which had this huge Moringa Oleifera tree growing in our front yard garden! These leaves are rich in Vitamin B, C, Provitamin A, Vitamin K, Manganese, Calcium and yes Protein!! Remember overcooking these leaves as with some other leaves as well would kill some of its nutrients. So it is normally cooked on medium-low heat of up to a maximum of 60°C.

Prepping the leaves requires either some old newspapers or a 'Muram' which is either a bamboo or plastic tray. It looks like this. I have the plastic version and will share the photo soon. So you basically you take the drumstick branches and gently tap it on the newspaper or the Muram and the leaves fall off the branches and stems.

You need to make sure to discard the thinner stems as well as it can get in the way once you cook it and tends to taste more bitter than it should. Also its quite stringy so you really cannot chew your way through it. I have photos of version#1 for you where I experimented cooking the thinner stems. It was a pain to get them out of the cooked dish. So make sure you painstakingly discard the stems prior to cooking.

This is mum's recipe <3

You need:

• 5 cups Drumstick leaves, washed clean and separated from branches and stems*
• Half a small coconut, grated *
• 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder 
• 1/3 cup Split Pigeon Pea (Toor dal/Tuvara dal), semi-boiled (optional but adds more texture and flavour and not to forget added protein!)
• 1/2 cup Red pearl onions/shallots/small onions
• 1 medium sized onion, finely diced
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Water to sprinkle
• 2 Green chilies, chopped finely
• 2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/jeerakam)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• Cooking oil

The Make:

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cooking time: 15-20 minutes  | Serves 2 adults

1. Set the washed and separated leaves aside on a colander to drain.

2. Next using a mortar and pestle or a grinder, crush the coconut gratings, garlic, cumin seeds and pearl onions with only a sprinkle of water not more.

3. Transfer the drained Moringa Oleifera leaves and crushed ingredients to a large bowl and add the salt, green chilies and turmeric powder.

4. Add the drained semi-cooked split pigeon peas to the bowl.

5.Splutter mustard seeds in oil a large deep bottomed pot or wok and add the curry leaves.

6. Next add the sliced onion and fry for about a minute or until translucent.

7. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the drumstick leaves with the ground mixture blend and saute slightly. Cover and cook for not more than 15 minutes or until the leaves are cooked and no residual water present. The leaves turn to a nice dark green colour as well.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

*Note:
Since we eat very less coconut in our diet, I restricted it to half of a small coconut you could add more as you require and in proportion to the quantity of drumstick leaves. So for 3 cups of drumstick leaves, I added 1/4 cup of coconut.

Bon Appetit!

Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin seeds)

Aloo Jeera, my very first attempt at this dish was well received by my husband and little one. I really enjoyed this simple dish as well. It is very comforting to have this one with Roti (Flatbread), Puris(Puffed Fried  Flatbread) or even Rice.

Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin seeds)

This is a kid-friendly recipe as it is not spicy but flavoursome.

You need:

• 2 large potatoes, skinned and diced in cubes
• 2 tsp of cumin seeds (or Jeera)
• 1 tbsp of coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 sprig coriander leaves, diced finely
• 2-4 tbsp of filtered water (*optional)

The make
Serves 2 adults | Preparation time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 20 minutes

1. Heat the oil on medium-high in a non-stick skillet and add the cumin seeds.

2. Once the cumin begins to splutter, lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining ingredients except the coriander leaves and saute well.

3. If required, add some water if it gets to dry or sticks to the pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Uncover and check if the potatoes are cooked or if it requires any water and cook if required for another 5-10 minutes.

I did not add any water as I used a non-stick pan.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti (Indian flatbread), Puris (Puffed, fried Indian flatbread) or Rice.

Potatoes with Cumin seeds