Egg pulao

Ande ka Pulao (Rice cooked in spices and served with egg)

Anda Pulao

Ingredients

1. 2 cup of  basmati rice
2. 2 tbsp oil
3. A small bunch of  coriander leaves (cilantro)
4. A small bunch of  mint leaves
5. 2 green chillies
6. 2-3 cloves of  garlic
7. 2" piece of  ginger
8. 1 medium onion chopped
9. 1 large or 2 medium  tomato  chopped
10. 1/2 tsp of  red chilli powder (adjust to taste), cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder
11. 1 teaspoon salt
12. 6 eggs hard boiled
13. 2 tablespoons grated coconut
14. 1 medium large onion cut into 1 cm cubes
15. 1/2 cup green peas
16. 1 large carrot cubed
17. 1 cup cauliflower florets if desired

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions till they start becoming brown. Add ginger and garlic pieces and coconut and fry for 2 more minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes. Let it cool and grind to a fine paste.

Heat the rest of the oil and fry the onions for 10 minutes. Add carrots and cauliflower if using and fry for 5 more minutes. Add all the spices and mix well. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Add rice and cook for 20 minutes or until done. Garnish with cilantro and hard boiled eggs and serve with dahi/Yogurt raita

Podi kottina vankaaya

Here is one of the recipes for the king of vegetables... Eggplant or brinjal. Why is it the king of vegetables... Because it has a natural crown on it's head. Baingan raaja.

This is an amazingly easy recipe of stir fried eggplant. I served it with white rice and khatti dal

Podi kottina vankaaya( stir fried eggplant with roasted lentils)
Ingredients
1. 1 medium American eggplant or two Chinese eggplants
2. 1 tablespoon oil
3. 3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 2 tablespoons juice from a marble sized tamarind

For powder
1. 2 teaspoons each of Chana dal, desiccated coconut
2. 1 teaspoon each of urad dal, coriander seed
3. 2 dried red chillies

Roast the ingredients for powder without any oil and let them cool. Grind them to a coarse powder

In a pan heat the oil and fry the eggplant with salt covered for 10 minutes. Add the powder and stir to combine. Add the tamarind juice and cover and cook for 5 more minutes. Enjoy with hot steamy rice and sambar

Baingan beenj Salan

There are two kinds of people...one who love eggplant and two who hate eggplant. I belong to the first category from the first time I went to the market and got eggplant all by myself. Before that I belonged to the second group.
                               Anyway, this curry made of eggplant and pinto beans is one of my favourite. When I was in India my mom used to make this curry with eggplant and the beans from the Indian broad beans or Sem ki phalli ke Beej. This goes great with either rice or roti and is super easy to make

Eggplant with beans curry

Baingan Beej Salan (Yummy Eggplant and Pinto Beans curry)

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized American eggplant cut into 1 cm cubes or 2 times as much chopped eggplant as the beans
2. 1 can washed and drained pinto beans
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 cup chopped onion
5. 1 green chilly chopped
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of grated ginger, grated garlic, turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin
7. Chopped cilantro for garnishing

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for a couple of minutes. Add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Ass ginger and garlic and all the spices and fry for a couple of minutes. Add eggplant and fry for 5 minutes. Add the beans and a cup water and stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice and Kaccha Khatta or Till ka Khatta or with any of the Roti or Indian Breads

Nutty Brinjal fry and Tomato Dal

I need to get dinner ready in a hurry because I had to go out for some work. I wanted to made stuffed brinjal or eggplant but its too much work and takes a little while to make. So instead I made this delicious and eay nutty eggplant fry and Tomato dal which is one of my favourite dal dishes. The photo for this dal does not do any justice because it doesn't look as good as it tastes. Make it and decide for your own self and may be you can contribute a nice photo to my blog.

Nutty Eggplant fry (Eggplant stirfried with peanut powder)

Nutty eggplant fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb or so or about 6-8 of Indian egg plants cubed
2. 1/2-3/4 cup chopped onions
3. 1 green chilly chopped
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, cumin, coriander powder
5. 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
6. 1/4 cup peanuts
7. 2 tablespoons oil
8. Cilantro for garnishing
9. 1 garlic clove minced

Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds and cumin and grind to powder and set aside. (If you have this powder on hand it makes the process of cooking this curry fairly fast)
In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start to change color. Add well drained brinjal or eggplant pieces and fry covered till the pieces seem to be almost done. Add the rest of the ingredients stir to combine and cover and fry for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with Tomarto dal and hot rice

Tomato Dal (Lentils with Tomato and Tamarind Juice)

Tomato dal

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Toor dal
2. 2 big or 3 medium tomatos chopped
3. 2 cups juice from a lime sized tamarind
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1 clove of garlic chopped
7. 1/2 taspoon each of cumin and mustard seeds
8. Few curry leaves and 2 dried red chillies broken

In a pressure cooker cook the dal and tomatos for 3-4 whistles along with 2 cups water and turmeric. After the steam escapes open the cooker and mash the dal. Add the tamarind juice and bring to a boil. In a pan heat the oil and fry cumin, mustard seeds, red chillies for a minute. Add garlic and curry leaves and fry for a couple of minutes. Add this tempering to the dal and salt and chilly powder and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot white rice