Yum! Yum! Yum!

The name 'Gutti Vankaya' itself makes my mouth water! I love this vegetable for two reasons, one it twists so well for all the different variations you try with it, two this is the only vegetable got the privilege to be pictured as romantic vegetable in our Telugu Literacy! I have tried several Gutti Vankaya recipes so far, but still my quest doesn't stop and I keep exploring more recipes with this vegetable. Today I am sharing this recipe, which is quite popular in Andhra region and this recipe will be cherished by non-veg lovers due to onion and other masala ingredients that are used. In this recipe, baby eggplants are stuffed with onion, green chili, red chili spices and simmered on low to medium heat until all the egg plants are cooked thoroughly.  The best taste of his dish comes with only when it served with hot white rice. Here is the recipe, njoy!



Ingredients:
Baby Eggplants (tender) - 12
Oil - 3 Tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Clove - 2
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Ulli Kaaram Masala:
Onion - 2 medium
Green Chili - 3
Cilantro - 1/4 cup
Ginger - 1 inch stick
Garlic - 4 cloves
Tamarind - 1 Tbsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 Tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp





Method:

1. Grind Onion, Green Chili, Cilantro, Ginger, Garlic and Tamarind in a small mixie jar and blend into coarse paste. Now add red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder to the onion paste and mix it well together and grind again until it becomes smooth paste. 
2. Wash egg plants, trim the edges and make 4 slits at the bottom making sure they are still intact at the top. (keep the eggplants in water to avoid them from browning). Stuff eggplants with Ulli Kaaram Masala and keep them aside. 
3. Take a wide pan and heat on stove on medium heat. Add Oil, once oil is hot, add cinnamon, clove and cumin seeds. As cumin start spluttering add stuffed eggplants to pan gently one-by-one. Keep them separate from each other allowing eggplants to be cooked on all sides. Keep rotating eggplants gently on all sides and saute them for 5 min. Now add remaining Onion Masala paste to pan and distribute evenly. Cover the lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 15 to 20 min. 
4. After 20 min, remove lid and you notice egg plants are fully cooked becoming tender and masala comes together. Increase heat to medium to high and cook for another 10 min for all the gravy to come thick and together. 
5. Switch off the stove and transfer Stuffed Brinjals to serving bowl and serve hot with White Rice. 

Check out other Vankaya / Brinjal Recipes:

• Gutti Vankaya Recipes

• Vankaya Recipes

• Andhra Recipes

Will be back with another regional recipe
Take care until then
-Mythreyi

In those early married days in my life, every weekend used to result in a phone call to mom, me enquiring about some day-to-day recipe details. :-) Though now I have mastered several recipes by far, still when ever I make a call to mom, i always ask 'What did you make for Dinner?', when she reads the list of dishes, it gives me a homely feeling. Sometimes, when mom spots or tries a new recipe, she shares with me, I always love and cherish this cooking bond between mum and myself. So for this Sankranthi (2017) festival, she shared this new chutney recipe and assured me to try as it tasted so good for her. So I tried for our Pongal potluck here and no need to say my friends Aahhh, Oohhed about it all day! Mom's cooking is the best for everyone, any day. Here is the recipe for you, Njoy!


Ingredients:
Sesame Seeds - Nuvvulu - 1/2 cup
Whole Dried Red Chili - 4 to 5
Chana Dal - 3 Tbsp
Urad Dal - 3 Tbsp
Coriander Seeds - 1 Tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp
Tomato -  3 medium
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic - 3 to 4 cloves
Tamarind - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp ( adjust per your taste)

Indian Tempering:
Oil - 1 tsp
Whole Dried Red Chili - 1
Chana Dal - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves  - 10

Roasted Sesame and Lentils

Tomato, Tamarind and Spices

Method:

1. Heat non-stick pan on the stove at medium heat. Add sesame seeds to pan and dry roast them for 2 min. Take them out into a plate. (Sesame seeds can quickly get burnt, keep watching and once you start noticing the slight golden color and transfer them to plate).
2. Grind roasted sesame seeds into fine powder in small mixie jar and keep it aside.
3. Add 1 tsp oil in the same pan, add red chili, Chana Dal, Urad Dal, Coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds. Roast them for 2 min until lentils turn into slight golden color. Switch off the stove and transfer these into a wide plate and let them cool. Grind these into coarse powder in small mixie jar. 
4. Now add sesame powder to this mixture and grind it again until everything is combined and turn into fine powder. Keel it aside.
5. Heat non-stick pan, add 1 tsp oil,  once oil is hot, add cumin seeds, garlic cloves, tamarind and tomato cubes. Cook on medium heat until tomato becomes juicy ( for 5 to 6 min). Switch off the stove and let it cool. Transfer this into mixie jar and grind  along with 1 tsp salt. adjust salt per your taste. 
6. Add the spice powder to mixie jar and grind everything together until everything is combined.  Transfer into a bowl. 
7. In a small pan, heat 1 tsp oil. Once oil is hot, add red chili, chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves in the order.  Saute for 1 to 2 min, until lentils turn golden color. Switch off the stove and add this tempering to the chutney in the bowl. Serve with hot white rice or idli / dosa. This tasted super good with Dosa. 

Will be back with another interesting chutney recipe!
Take care until then!
-Mythreyi

When ever I need to make an exotic menu for the weekend or make Friday supper special, I go with pasta dishes. Because you can make several variations with pasta, with chicken or shrimp or veggies, hubby likes to eat pasta with the combination of red wine ( to get to relax on Fridays), kids love those different shapes of pasta that I always experiment with. So Today I am determined to make red sauce veggie pasta and made all the preparation, then spoiled red sauce in the fridge gave me a big surprise :-0. So I had to make the White Sauce from the scratch and finished this pasta recipe. Although it took longer to make the pasta dish and ruined my Friday evening time, but i loved the fact that I have created new White Sauce recipe on my own and now big NO to store bought sauce. Did some one say 'Necessity is Mother of Invention'! :-) Here is the recipe, njoy!




Ingredients:
Pasta - 1 lb ( your favorite variety)
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Vegetables
Yellow Bell Pepper - 1
Carrot - 1
Mushrooms - 5
Zucchini - 1
Olive Oil - 3 Tbsp
Dry Basil - 1 Tbsp
Garlic - 5 Cloves ( chopped)
Salt - 1 tsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red Pepper Flakes - 1/4 tsp ( optional)
Parmesan Cheese - 1/4 cup  ( grated) ( for Garnish)

White Sauce - 1 cup ( follow my recipe for White Sauce prep)

Preparation:

• Boil Pasta according to package instructions. Drain in colander and run through cold water, so that pasta is separate from each other with out sticking. Transfer drained pasta to a wide plate and add 1 tbsp butter to it. ( no need to melt butter, as pasta is hot butter melts and gives nice shiny coat to pasta)
• Wash all the veggies. Remove stems from mushrooms and chop into 4 chunks. Trim edges of Zucchini and cut into medium size cubes. Trim edges, peel carrot and chop into medium size pieces. Remove stem and deseed Bell Pepper and chop into medium cubes. 

• Adding butter to the boiled pasta gives nice shining coat and look to your pasta. 
• Red Pepper flakes is optional, i like my pasta dishes with slight touch of spice, hence i add red chili flakes, if it is spicy for you you can skip. 
• Adding red chili flakes and garlic to oil in the beginning, makes the oil infused with spices and gives better flavor to your pasta dishes. 
• I like to add variety of veggies in dish to make it colorful, that's why i added rainbow color veggies. ( you can try other veggies like asparagus, green peas, red bell pepper, etc)
• Make sure veggies are not overcooked in this dish, veggies need to be fresh and crunchy in pasta dishes with out loosing their bright color. So after adding veggies to pan don't go anywhere, be there and notice the tenderness and add pasta accordingly. 

this looks so inviting...Nom, Nom Nom!

Check out my other pasta dishes as well:

Take Care
-Mythreyi

As my sister insisted I bought a slow cooker for 2015 Thanks Giving. Usually I don't like buying unnecessary kitchen gadgets as they take up lot of space in kitchen. I get tempted lot of times to buy Food Processor or Standup Mixer, but never owned one, for the same reason. When I went to Thanks Giving shopping in 2015, with my sister, she made me buy electric griddle and slow cooker. I have used electric griddle a lot in the whole year 2016 , but never opened slow cooker. So for Thanks Giving 2016 I was determined to open the Slow Cooker, so i finally experimented Vegetarian Chili , in slow cooker ( which was long time due on my recipe list). That was just the beginning and there is no end. Lot of Slow Cooker recipes started happening in my kitchen these days, esp for this cold winter season, hot slow cooker recipes are best to give warmth and comfort. You should really thank my sister, otherwise I would't be trying all these recipes and bringing these to you. Wink, wink..;-) !



I wanted my first slow cooker recipe to be Vegeterian Chili, so I have browsed several recipes, but didn't settle on any one. Finally I ended making my own version chili with the vegetables that I had handy at that time. Here is the recipe, Njoy!

Step by Step View

Ingredients:
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Onion - 1 medium
Zucchini - 1
Yellow Bell Pepper - 1
Carrot - 1
Crushed Tomatoes - 1 can
Black Beans - 1 can
Pickled Jalapeños - 10 ( or Deseeded Fresh Jalapeno  - 1)
Cilantro - 1/4 cup

Spices:
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp ( or Paprika)
Salt - 1 tsp
Cajun Seasoning - 1/2 tsp ( or Garlic and Onion Powder - 1/2 tsp)
Brown Sugar -  1 tsp

Garnish:
Lime Juice  or Lime Wedges
Cheddar Cheese
Avocado Slices

Preparatory Steps:

• Take Black Beans out of the can and wash under running water in a colander. This helps to reduce the excess sodium in canned foods. 
• Chop onion into big pieces, chop Zucchini into medium size cubes. Trim edges, remove seeds from the bell pepper and chop into medium size cubes. 

Method:

1. In a non-stick pot, add Oil, once it is hot, add chopped onion pieces, Zucchini and bell pepper pieces. Saute for 5 min. Switch off the stove and transfer veggies to Slow Cooker ceramic pot. 
2. Add canned tomatoes to the pot followed by rinsed black beans. Add Jalapeno slices. Mix everything well in the pot. 
3. Add salt and spices to the pot. Add 1 cup of water, combine everything together. Close the lid. 
4. Set the Slow Cooker setting, Mode to Low, set timer to 4:00 hours. That is it. Do your work or shopping and come back in 4 hours. 
5. Now open the lid and adjust salt as needed. 
6. Serve Chili into wide bowl, Garnish with Avocado slices, cheddar cheese on top and lemon wedge on the side ( or sprinkle lemon juice on top), serve hot immediately. Serve some corn chips on the side to add little crunch. Yummmm! Nom, Nom...Nom!

so Delicious...!

• I was little greedy with spices and added green chilies also, that made this chili little spicy. You can reduce the spices according to your needs if you can't handle the spice. :-).
• If you don't have Kashmiri Red Chili Powder you can use 1/2 tsp of Paprika. Kashmiri red chili powder is very spicy and very bright in red color. 
• Cajun Seasoning will be little salty, if you are using it, adjust your salt accordingly. If you don't have cajun seasoning, you can add 1/2 tsp of Garlic Powder and 1/2 tsp of Onion Powder.

For 2014 Thanks Giving, I have bought NutriBullet, I have kept that in full use since then, you can browse all NutriBullet Recipes here.

Will be back with another spicy and winter recipe, stay tuned!
-Mythreyi

Gobhi Musallam is a super fancy cauliflower Mughali dish that can entrance any crowd when it is plated and brought to the table. It looks very exotic and restaurant style delicacy dish  and the best part is, this recipe is very easy and you don't have to stress about it. In Mughali, Mussallam means 'Whole', in this recipe the Cauliflower is marinated with masala and get roasted as a whole hence the name "Gobhi Musallam". This dish is quite popular in North India, if you are in states, this could be a nice addition to your Vegetarian Thanks Giving Menu. With out any due, here is the recipe, Njoy!












Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 medium size
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Garlic Cloves - 3
Bay Leaf - 1
Salt - 1 tsp
Lime Juice - 1 tsp

Gravy:
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 stick
Clove - 2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Green Chili - 1
Onion - 1 cup ( chopped)
Tomato - 1 cup ( chopped)
Salt - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Cilantro -1/4 cup

Cashew Nuts - 10
Poppy Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Preparatory Steps:

• Soak Cashew Nuts and Poppy Seeds in 1/2 cup of Warm Water.
• Trim the outer leaves and base of Cauliflower carefully with out breaking the whole cauliflower. Wash thoroughly under lukewarm water. 

Method:

Blanch Cauliflower:

1. Take a deep pot and fill half with water. Add salt, turmeric powder, chopped garlic and bay leave to water. Immerse the whole cauliflower in it, you need to make sure Cauliflower is fully covered with water. Keep the pot on stove and boil water, for about 10 to 15 min ( until cauliflower becomes tender).
2. Take the Cauliflower out of the water and keep it aside on a plate. 

Make Masala Marinade:

1. Heat non-stick pan, add butter and oil. Once butter melts, add cinnamon and clove. Add chopped green chili and onions. Saute onion for 2 min, then add ginger garlic paste. Mix it well with onions. 
2. Add chopped tomato and keep mixing it with onions. In 2 min it becomes thick gravy. Add salt, red chili powder and coriander powder and mix it well into gravy. Add Garam Masal and and chopped Cilantro and close the lid and let it cook for 2 min. Finally add cashew nuts and poppy seeds to the gravy along with water. Switch off the stove.
3. Let this mixture cool, and grind everything into thick paste. 

Baking the Whole Cauliflower:

1. Pre Heat Oven to 350 F.
2. Rub this paste on the Cauliflower on all sides.  Transfer Cauliflower to a baking dish.
3. Bake for 30 - 35 min, until the paste becomes thick and dry on Cauliflower. 
4. Switch off the Oven, Take the Cauliflower out and transfer this to a Wide serving plate and Garnish with Cilantro on top. Chop into pieces and serve warm with rice or roti. 

Notes:

• Usually Mughlai Dishes are prepared with Cashew Nut and Poppy seeds masala. If you don't like Poppy seeds you can eliminate it, you don't notice a whole lot of difference in taste. 
• Always pick small to medium cauliflowers for this recipe. 
• Blanching Cauliflower is a critical step in this recipe, as this process makes the Cauliflower get cooked on all side and makes it very tender inside. Bay leave and Garlic will give very nice flavor to cauliflower, and turmeric will give nice color. 
• If you don't have Oven, Wrap the marinated Cauliflower with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. Then cook it on the deep wide pot covering with the lid on all side on a low to medium flame until the marinade becomes thick and dry. 
• I have added only little bit of Garam Masala as I am serving this to kids as well. If you like it spicy you can increase the Garam Masala quantity per your taste. 

Browse for some more Cauliflower Recipes like Cauliflower Biryani, Baked Chili Cauliflower, Buffalo Style Cauliflower Wings


Will be back with another fancy side dish,
Take care until then
-Mythreyi