Bagara Baingan

 

{Made it for one of the pot-lucks at work}

Ingredients:

Sesame Seeds (Til) - 2 Tablespoon (fry them and grind them into powder)
Peanuts - 1 Handful (fry them and grind them into powder)
Cumin seeds (Jilkar) - 1 Teaspoon (fry them and grind them into powder, Add this at last)
Methi seeds - 1 pinch (powder)
Baingan (Brinjal) - 4 - 5
Onion - 1 Big
Tamarind - small lemon size. (Soaked in little water)
Mint (Pudhina) - Few leaves (Handful)
Green Chillies - 4 - 5 (depending on your taste)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 teaspoon

Method:

1. Fry separately Sesame seeds, Peanuts, Cumin seeds and Methi seeds and grind them separately into powder. 
2. Now cut onion into small pieces and green chillies into two half’s. 
3. Take a pan, pour 3 teaspoons of oil and put green chillies after 3 seconds put onions fry them well till it changes it colour to Golden brown. Now put Mint and fry for few seconds and turn off the stove. 
4. After it cools put them (3) in Grinder, add ginger garlic paste, little turmeric powder (haldhi), red chilly powder, salt, Curry powder 1/2 teaspoon and grind them into thick paste. If required add little water. Remove it and keep it a side.  
5. Make 4 slits vertically for each Baingan (do not cut it completely)  
6. Keep them in microwave for 3 to 4 minutes and Remove them.  
7. Take a pan pour 2 tablespoon of oil and put Baingan and fry them for few minutes.  
8. Then add the Grinded material (4) and mix well, see that baingan does not break. 
9. When it is well cooked add Tamarind water (little bit concentrated), mix them and let it be cooked for 6-7 minutes. 
10. Now add Cumin powder and Methi powder and turn off the stove and Garnish with Cilantro leaves.

 

Chicken Balti

 

Description

Balti is actually the name of the cooking pot and serving dish. A decent wok is a good substitute. My balti has red and green sweet (bell) peppers in it and looks very colourful. Tastes pretty yummy too. If you have individual balti pots, heat them up and serve the sizzling curry in them. Use nan bread to scoop out the curry from the balti. Spoons or forks are NOT allowed!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 red and 1 green sweet (bell) pepper - cut into half-inch squares (well, sort of)
• 1 medium onion cut into biggish pieces
• red and green chillies - deseeded and veined then coarsely chopped. The quantity and variety if chillies is up to you. But, as a guide, I would use 3 red and 3 green fleshy chillies for a medium heat. You can always add some chilli powder half way through the cooking if it’s not hot enough
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 4 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon good paprika
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• half teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A whole batch of Basic Curry Sauce
• 1 teaspoon concentrated tomato purée
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

Method

1. Heat a little of the oil in a wok or balti pan over a high heat
2. Add the peppers and stir fry until they go a little brown at the edges. Remove the peppers from the wok and set aside
3. Put a little more oil into the wok, heat through, then add some of the chicken pieces and stir fry until they are sealed and have turned white. Remove the chicken from the wok and set aside. You will need to stir fry the chicken in 2 or 3 batches otherwise it will just stew
4. Add the rest of the oil to the wok and heat through on a medium heat
5. Add the onion pieces, chopped chillies and cumin seeds and stir fry until the onion is translucent but not brown
6. Add the paprika, turmeric and cinnamon on stir fry for 30 seconds
7. Return the chicken pieces to the wok along with the Basic Curry sauce, tomato purée and salt
8. Bring to a simmer then cook on a low heat for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Add a little hot water if the sauce gets too thick.
9. 10 minutes from the end, stir the peppers and garam masala into the sauce.
10. Serve in heated individual balti pots. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/rsc/balti.htm

 

Basic Curry Sauce

This is the basis for many of the restaurant-style curries you’ll find here. The recipe makes between 8 and 9 fl oz of Sauce which is enough for 2 main course curries or a main course and some side dishes. The recipe doesn’t work as well if you try to make a smaller portion. It will double nicely if you’re making a number of curries but you will need to extend the cooking time a bit. If you have some sauce left over it will keep in good condition in the freezer but only for a few weeks. Even small amounts are useful for making a quick one-portion curry, it goes a long way. Remember to wrap it up well or your ice-cream may take on a strange taste!.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 medium onion - finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic - peeled and sliced
• 1.5 inch piece root ginger - peeled and thinly sliced (it should look about the same volume as the garlic)
• (optional) 2 mild fleshy green chillies - de-seeded and veined then chopped
• half teaspoon turmeric powder
• half teaspoon ground cumin seed
• half teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 5 tablespoons plain passata (smooth, thick, sieved tomatoes, US = purée) or 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato purée (US = paste) mixed with 4 tablespoons water

Method

1. Heat the oil in a heavy pan then add the chopped onion and stir for a few minutes with the heat on high.
2. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli (if using). Stir for 30 seconds then put the heat down to very low.
3. Cook for 15 minutes stirring from time to time making sure nothing browns or burns.
4. Add the turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook, still very gently, for a further 5 minutes. Don’t burn the spices or the sauce will taste horrid - sprinkle on a few drops of water if you’re worried.
5. Take off the heat and cool a little. Put 4 fl oz cold water in a blender, add the contents of the pan and whizz until very smooth. Add the passata and stir.
6. Put the puréed mixture back into the pan and cook for 20 - 30 minutes (the longer the better) over very low heat stirring occasionally. You can add a little hot water if it starts to catch on the pan but the idea is to gently “fry” the sauce which will darken in colour to an orangy brown. The final texture should be something like good tomato ketchup. Warning - it WILL gloop occasionally and splatter over your cooker, it’s the price you have to pay!

http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/rsc/sauce.htm

 

Coconut Burfi

Coconut Burfi 

15 oz. (1 bowl) ricotta cheese         
1/2 c. melted butter or ghee
15 oz. sugar                           
1/4 tsp. cardamom (powder)
2 c. coconut                           
2 drops food coloring
15 oz. milk, powdered  

Put ricotta cheese in a fry pan and heat it over medium heat. Keep stirring until the cheese turns into a light brown color (about 15 minutes). Add sugar and keep stirring until it is dissolved (about 10 minutes). Add coconut and let it cook until it becomes thick (about 15-20 minutes). Keep stirring. Add the milk powder and mix it well. Then add ghee, cardamom and the coloring. When the mixture is well incorporated and thick, remove from heat. Pour it into a greased pan. Cool and cut it into small pieces.