Prawns Masala

Some dishes are ridiculously easy to cook and yet look downright exotic . Some of these recipes handed down from my grandmother are even today on demand and enjoyed by all generations. One such lovely and absolutely delicious dish is Prwans Masala. Its so easy to cook and can still be the one dish that gets maximum number of ooohs and aaahs at a party. Beware: You need to cook it in a larger quantity than you would another entree. Guests go for seconds and thirds too.

So here goes
Ingredients
500 gms medium to large size prawns, shelled and de veined
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes cut into medium size chunks
1 capsicum ( optional) , cut into medium size chunks
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chopped green chilli
1 tblsp each chopped ginger and garlic
2 tblsp oil
1 tsp each red chilli powder , haldi, garam masala, corriander powder
Salt to taste
Finely chopped green corriander leaves

Heat oil , add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add in the chillies, ginger and fry for a minute. Add the onions and cook till transluscent. Add garlic. Then mix the red chilli powder, haldi, corriander powder and garam masala with 4 tblsp water. Add this to the onion mix and cook till oil separates.Add salt to taste.  Add the tomatoes and capsicum. Cover and cook till the tomatoes have softened. Add the prawns and 1/4th cup water. Cover and cook. Once the prawns turn opaque, take off the lid and dry out the water. Add the green corriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot with Rotis/ Bread or steamed rice.

Vaangi Batata

Brinjals are not really a focal point of any conversations. Yet people have extreme reactions when the topic comes up. They either love it or hate it , no in betweens.My family does that though. They will readily eat them , but not ask for them or refuse them . As for me I love brinjals in all forms. Be it the typically Maharashtrian style spicy stuffed Brinjals or the North Indian mashed chunky Brinjal Bharta or the Middle Eastern Moutabal or Turkish Imam Bayildi






 4 medium sized brinjals, washed . Slit them from the bottom 3/4 upwards into 4 attached segments. 4 medium sized potatoes, washed peeled and slit from the bottom 3/4 upwards into 4 attached segments. Mix the stuffing ingredients well. Stuff the mixture into the brinjals and potaoes. Take care to not force too much stuffing or the segments may break off. Keep aside the extra stuffing if any.

Stuffing:
 2 tbsp grated dry coconut, 1/4 cup besan/ gram flour roasted ,2 tsp sesame seeds, 2 tsp red chilli powder, 2 tbsp dhania ( coriander powder , 1 tbsp jeera ( cumin) powder , 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp tamarind paste or aamchur ( dry mango) powder, 1 tbsp gud (jaggery), finely chopped fresh coriander leaves, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste ( optional) , 1 tsp garam masala powder ,salt to taste.1 tsp oil to bind the stuffing. 

Tempering:
 2 tbsp oil, 1 tsp rai/ sarson (mustard) seeds , 5-6 curry leaves.


Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds. When they pop add curry leaves. Add the stuffed brinjals and potaoes. Mix lightly , cover and cook for abt 10 mins on a slow flame. This will help the stuffing coagulate and stick to the vegetables. Lightly sprinkle the leftover stuffing over the vegetables , again cover and cook on slow flame till welldone , but dont let the brianjals get mushy. 

Serve with whole wheat roti, jowar ( sorghum) or bajra ( pearl millet) or nachani ( finger millet) rotis.

Kofta Curry

Koftya clearly comes to us from the Middle East. It is basically a variety of ground meat, mixed with spices and grilled or fried, served as an dry appetizer or side dish or cooked in a rich gravy. In India the vegeratians adapted this to form the popular Kofta Curry , made with bottle gourd ( Lauki) or potatoes, paneer, raw bananas or other tubers.These koftas are made from grated vegetables, mixed with spices and flour ( mostly chick pea flour) , stuffed with rich dried nuts and fruits like raisins, apricots, sultanas and fried. These are then cooked in a tomato based gravy and garnished with cream.

1 cup grated bottle gourd ( lauki) , 100 gms paneer, 1 tbsp flour, salt to taste,1 tsp each chopped ginger ,garlic, coriander . 1 tbsp chopped mixed nuts, ¼ tsp red chilli powder.

add the salt to the grated bottle gourd and leave for 10 mins. Squeeze it till all the water is drained out.To this add giner, garlic, coriander leaves, nuts, red chilli powder, salt to taste and flour. Mix well.Crumble the paneer and add to the mixture. Mix well and roll into 8 even sized balls.

Gravy:

2 tbsp oil, 2 onions boiled, pureed and cooked till light brown.2 tbsp tomato puree, ¼ cup thick yoghurt, 8-10 cashews ground into paste , with milk,2 green cardamoms crushed, 1 tsp each red chilli powder, turmeric, cumin powder, coarinder pwoder, garam masala powder, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 cup water, salt to taste. Cheese for garnish.

Heat oil, add onion paste , add ginger garlic paste, when oil separates add tomato puree , add in red chilli powder, turmeric, cumin and corriander powders,cook till oil separates, add yoghurt and cook on slow flame for 2 mins.Add cashew paste and cook till mixture thicken. Add water and salt to taste, add garam masala and cook till gravy bubbles.

Meanwhile fry the kofta balls in hot oil , once the balls are light brown , reduce heat and fry till golden brown. Drain and add to the boiling gravy. reduce heat and cook till the koftas sink into the gravy. Garnish with green coriander leaves and grated cheese or cream. Serve hot with rotis, poories, parathas , naan or kulchas.

To make a jain( free from onions and garlic)  version of the above, skip out the ginger-garlic in the koftas and the onion paste and ginger garlic paste from the gravy. Instead increase the quantity of cashews and yoghurt. You can susbstitute the lauki for raw bananas , but never potatoes or other tubers.Paneer can be used either with a combination of lauki or raw bananas or on its own. In that case double the quantity of flour.

Batate Song

A spicy side dish with Daali Thoy . This potato dish is a favourite with the konkani people. Its spicy gravy and colour can add a zing to any bland meal.
3 big potaoes, boiled and cubed, 1 big onion chopped, 4 red chillies ( if you cannot handle the heat , use kashmiri chillies, which gives a red colour but are not spicy), 1/4th cup grated fresh coconut, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp tamarind pulp, salt to taste.

Grind together coconut, coriander seeds, tamarind and salt, to a fine paste. Heat oil fry the onions till soft....do not brown.add the potato cubes and saute for a minute. Add the paste and 1/4th cup water. Cover and cook for another couple of minutes. The gravy is not supposed to be too liquid, just semi thick. I like mine a little dry.
Serve hot with rotis or steamed rice and dal.

Here is another version of the Song , as my friend Madhvi Pai pointed out . The rest of the recipe remains the same except you use bedgi chillies instead of kashmiri chillies and omit the coconut. What you get is yummy spicy batate song.

This was sent to me by a very indulgent aunt, Pushpa Aatya. That and Farasbi Upkari with takka kadhi was today's Lunch. Now for some susegad :)