Andhra Style Stuffed Brinjal Fry

Brinjals also known as Aubergines and Eggplants are called by different names in different languages like  ‘Baingan‘ in Hindi, ‘Vankaya‘ in Telugu, ‘Kathirikai‘ in Tamil, ‘Vazhuthanaga‘ in Malayalam, ‘Badanekai‘ in Kannada, ‘Ringan‘ in Gujarati, ‘Vaangi‘ in Marathi’ and ‘Bengun‘ in Bengali. 

There are a lot of health benefits of Brinjals but not many people are fond of this particular vegetable. Personally speaking in my house rarely stuffed brinjal is made. I want to ensure my daughter eats all veggies hence I keep on searching recipes online which are tasty and which will help her develop and liking for this vegetable. 

I tried different methods but none seemed to be successful with my husband and my daughter one day finally I saw the recipe of Andhra Style Stuffed Brinjal. The source of this recipe if from google.

Believe me its a no fail recipe and was an instant hit at my place so all the mom's out there who are struggling with their kids who don't eat brinjals and moreover whose husbands don't eat don't hesitate to try this one its a sure shot hit recipe.

Let's have a look at the recipe

PREPARATION TIME: 10mins
COOKING TIME: 20mins
TOTAL TIME: 30mins

INGREDIENTS:
8-10 small to medium sized brinjals
2 onions
1/4th cup coconut
1/4th cup peanuts
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp jeera
pinch of hing
6-8 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
1  tsp kashmiri red chilly powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
salt to taste
1 and 1/2 tsp oil

METHOD:
1.  Dry roast peanuts and keep aside. In same pan dry roast coconut,sesame seeds,jeera and keep aside.
2. In another pan take 1/2 tsp oil and roast onions,garlic and ginger until onions turn golden.
3. In a mixer, jar add all roasted ingredients along with dry masalas including salt. Grind it to a coarse paste.
4. Meanwhile slit brinjals keeping intact till the stem.
5. Once the mixture gets completely cooled stuff in the brinjals.
6. In a pan take 1 tsp oil and keep brinjals and cover and cook until tender when brinjals are almost cooked you can add remaining masala if any and cook for another 5-10minutes occasionally stirring in between with light hands so that brinjals don't break.
7. Sprinkle coriander on top and serve with hot phulkas or rice.

NOTES:
1. You can skip coconut if you wish I have tried both the versions with coconut and without coconut and both tasted equally good.
2. If you like lemon and tamarind in your food while grinding into a coarse paste add lemon or tamarind pulp.
3. Do not stir often and in case if you stir, stir very gently so that your brinjals don't break.
4. If you feel oil is less and your brinjals are sticking to the bottom of the pan you can add more oil or ekse you can cook indirectly by placing pan on a tawa.

Chole Tikki Chat

This blog is for typical street food Chole Tikki which can be easily made at home. If you are chat lover then this is must try and I am sure your family will love it.

This dish is a two-part preparation, chole, and tikkis . Chole is prepared by soaking white chana overnight in water to make them easier to cook. They are drained and cooked in a pressure cooker. The chana is then mashed and fried with onions, spices to make a curry which is the chole (gravy).

The tikkis are made from boiled mashed potatoes. Two or three of these tikkis are covered with the stew-like chole as a sauce and garnished with finely chopped onions, coriander leaves, spicy chutney, and sweet and sour tamarind chutney.

Here is detailed recipe for Chole Tikki Chat:

INGREDIENTS :

FOR CHOLE:

1 cup chole boiled 
1-2 pinch hing
1 onion
7-8 cloves of garlic crushed
1 cup tea water
2-3 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon jeera
1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tablespoon chole masala
1 teaspoon amchur powder / chat masala
salt to taste

FOR TIKKIS:

3 big potatoes boiled
2-3 pieces of bread
1 carrot grated
1 beetroot grated
1/2 cup paneer grated
1/2 cup cheese grated (optional)
1/4th cup coriander leaves 
1 teaspoon amchur masala / chat masala
1 teaspoon jeera powder
1/2 cup semolina for coating
1 cup oil for frying tikkis

FOR SERVING:

1 onion
1/2 cup coriander leaves (garnishing)
tamarind chutney
coriander chutney
1/2 cup dahi
1 teaspoon chat masala

METHOD:

FOR CHOLE:

1. Soak chole overnight. Next day in a saucepan boil one cup of water with 1 tablespoon of tea powder when water starts to boil strain and keep the water aside.

2. In a pressure cooker boil chole and at this point of time add tea water along with necessary water and salt.

3. Meanwhile take 1 onion and chop it finely. Take 2-3 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Let it become hot add jeera and let it splutter then add hing.

4. Add onions and garlic paste and cook till onions become translucent and turn brown. Meanwhile from boiled chole take 1-2 ladle chole and grind it into a paste and add it to onions.

5. Once onions and chole paste start to leave oil add kashmiri red chilly powder,chole masala,amchur/chat masala and add remaining chole and stir. Once chole starts to boil you can garnish it with coriander leaves and jeera powder.

FOR TIKKI:

1. Boil potatoes and keep aside. Take pieces of bread you can either wet them and then squeeze excess water and break into pieces or else you can grind pieces of bread in a mixer.

2. Grate carrot,beetroot,paneer and cheese and mix it with potatoes and bread.

3. Add salt,amchur masala/chat masala,jeera powder and coriander leaves. Knead a soft dough while combining all the ingredients together.

4. Roll into small or medium size discs of your choice or else you can you heart shape cookie cutter and give that shape also. Coat with semolina and deep fry until golden and crispy.

FOR SERVING:

1. In a plate firstly arrange tikkis then pour chole such that tikkis get drowned in it. 

2. Add dahi ensure that you whip dahi nicely. Add tamarind chutney , coriander chutney or any other chutney of your choice.

3. Add chopped onions and chopped coriander leaves. Sprinkle chat masala and jeera powder and serve immediately.

POINTS TO BE NOTED:

1. This chole recipe goes along with bhature also.

2. You can add additional tadka on top of chole by taking 1 tablespoon of ghee in tadka pan let it heat add jeera 1 teaspoon, a pinch of hing and 1 teaspoon chole masala and pour over ready chole and close the lid immediately it helps in keeping the flavours intact.

3. You can always make tikkis and keep in fridge fry them once your guests are about to come.

4. Those who do not like tamarind chutney can opt for khajoor chutney and one can also opt of pudina chutney instead of coriander chutney.

Stuffed Wheat Garlic Bread

We all love bread and especially garlic bread is must whenever we visit and the pizza outlet. These days everybody prefers a healthy version of food but because of maida and cheese we refrain ourselves from such foods. Why not opt for a healthier version by using wheat base instead of maida base and reduce the usage of cheese in our food by making it healthier.
I recently baked stuffed wheat garlic bread at home and it was an instant hit and loved by all now I shall never look towards maida base anymore.

Recipe for the same is as follows

Preparation time : 1hour for dough and 20minutes for filling and garlic spread
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes or until the bread becomes golden brown 
Makes 3-4 garlic bread depending upon the size of balls you make out of dough

Ingredients For Bread:
1 and 1/2 cup All purpose flour / Maida / wheat flour
1 tablespoon Active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon Granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 cup Water

For Garlic Spread:
2 teaspoon Garlic ,grated
1/4 cup Salted butter
1 teaspoon Red chilli flakes
2 teaspoon Dried spice mix
1 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper

For Stuffing:
1/2 cup Sweet corn , boiled
1/2 cup paneer , grated
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese spread

Method:

For Bread:
1.Heat 1/2 cup of water to lukewarm temperature. Add active dry yeast and sugar. Beat using a spoon till the yeast dissolves completely. Keep aside for 5-7 minutes till frothy.
2.In a wide mixing bowl, take all purpose flour and salt. Add proved yeast mixture and a tablespoon of olive oil to it. Mix well. Add water slowly till you get a soft and sticky dough. Knead it on a floured surface till you get soft and slightly sticky dough. Feel free to add more dough to reach the required dough consistency. At the same time, take extra care not make very stiff and dry dough.
3.Coat the dough with the remaining olive oil. Place it in the greased bowl and cover using a cling wrap and keep it aside for 1 hour or until it doubled in its size.

Garlic Spread:
1.Take butter in a bowl.
2.Add red chilli flakes , garlic and dried spice mix. Mix well.

Stuffing:
1.Mix sweet corn , paneer , Oregano and salt .

Assembling:
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees .
2.Punch back the raised dough. Transfer this to a floured surface. Slightly knead it for 3-5 minutes.Divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
3.Roll each dough ball into a circular disc with 12-14 cm diameter.
4.Spread a tablespoon or more garlic spread to the disc. Spread the  cheese first and then place a helpful of stuffing.
5.Fold the dough in half and seal the edges carefully. Make sure not to have any opening, otherwise, the cheese will come out while baking.
6.Score the dough gently to allow the air go out while baking. Repeat these steps for remaining bread. 
7.Cover the prepared bread using cling wrap to avoid it from drying.Brush the top of all the bread with remaining garlic spread. Sprinkle dried oregano.
8.Bake it in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or till the bread becomes golden brown.