Bharli Vangi (Sode ghalun) - Stuffed Eggplant with dried shrimp

 

Sode ghalun Bharli Vangi is a CKP delicacy. I haven't followed the authentic CKP recipe here but my version was loved by those who love sode/dry shrimp. Technically speaking, sode are big dried shrimp and the ones that I get at Indian stores, is a smaller variety.

Bharli Vangi (Sode Ghalun)
भरली वांगी (सोडे घालून )
Ingredients
8 small eggplants, slit cross wise leaving each eggplant in tact
2-3 kokums
1 tsp coconut oil

Grind to paste
1/4 cup cilantro
1" ginger, peeled
4-5 garlic cloves
1 green chili
1 tsp lemon juice

For stuffing
1 cup dried prawns
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
salt to taste

Tempering
1 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp asafetida

Garnish
1 tbsp. minced cilantro

Method
1. Soak dried shrimp in water for 1/2 hour. Squeeze water and drain completely.
2. Mix with ground green paste and set aside.
3. Remove the stems of baby eggplants. Make cross slits leaving each eggplant in tact.
4. Mix coconut, onion, turmeric powder, garam masala, chili powder and marinated shrimp. Adjust salt as needed.

5. Stuff each eggplant with above mixture. There should be plenty more remaining.
6. Heat oil in a saucepan. Add turmeric powder and asafetida. Place stuffed eggplants in a single layer. Spread all the remaining stuffing around it.
7. Add kokum and 1/3 cup water. Cover with a lid. Pour water on the lid.
8. Let it cook on low flame till it's well done. This should be on the dry side.
9. Drizzle coconut oil.
10. Garnish with cilantro.

Note -
1. Dried shrimp that I had, were already cleaned and ready to use.
2. Generally dried seafood has plenty salt content. Take it into consideration while adding salt.





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Cabbage, Cabbage and More Cabbage

I was excited to buy this huge cabbage head for $2 at the farmers market. The farmer said that she picked it just previous night. I couldn't even hold this huge cabbage in my hand. Out of sheer curiosity, I weighed it after coming home and it was a whopping 7 lb cabbage. I shredded the cabbage and placed them separately into ziplock bags in the crisper section. I realized that I had a daunting task of using all the cabbage pretty soon. In my excitement, I had overlooked it. I wanted to distribute my shredded cabbage among friends, but somehow, I was too busy to go to everybody's house that weekend. So I took a deep breath and decided to feed my family cabbage pretty much on daily basis. I froze some items and used up all the cabbage!  While going through this cabbage quest, I realized that I still haven't cooked and blogged my maushi's kobichya karanjya! [Well hopefully sometime in distant future - since I am done with this cabbage business for a while!!;-)

Here's what I made -

Kobichya Vadya
Pav bhaji (Added generous cabbage along with other veggies and mashed them together)
Kachcha Kobi
Kobi Thepla
Cabbage Idli -Masala Sanna Khotto(Recipe Coming Soon)
Kobi Bhaat
Kobi Bhutti
Kobij na pooda
Kobichi Bhuji
Kobi Appe

Note to self - Do not get too carried away when visiting Farmers markets and ahem, no more cabbage for at least next 3 months!!;-)

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Garlic Scapes Chutney

 

I spotted these beautiful garlic scapes at our farmers market. They looked distinctly different than fresh garlic that we get in Mumbai during winter. The farmer told me that they come in two variety - local and California. He gave me both of them. He suggested making pesto with it. I gave that suggestion - my very own Indian makeover. I used some for making chutney to be served with idlies and I made "Kolhapuri Thecha" with the remaining.

 

 

Garlic Scapes Chutney

Ingredients

3-4 garlic scapes, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup coconut

2 tbsp. Pandharpuri DaLe/puffed chana daal

1/3 cup plain yogurt

3-4 green chilies (Adjust per heat)

salt to taste

 

Tempering

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp asafetida

2 red chilies, broken

1 sprig curry leaves, torn

 

Method

1. Grind garlic scapes, coconut, puffed chana daal, chilies and salt to a coarse paste.

2. Add yogurt and grind again.

3. Pour into a serving bowl.

4. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add the ingredients for tempering. Let them splutter.

5. Drizzle over chutney.

6. Serve with hot idlies.

 

Note-

1. Chop garlic scapes and discard any rough parts.

Fresh Garlic Scapes

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Stuffed Focaccia Sandwich

 

 

We went to the Farmers market and got summer fresh sweet corn. We then went to Panera and after eating sandwich, hubby decided to buy focaccia. I asked the server at the bakery section if he could cut the bread for me. He suggested that he could even cut it horizontally so it can be used for making sandwiches. I liked the idea.

Following week, while thinking about dinner menu, I thought of making stuffed focaccia sandwich. I had already boiled the corn adding salt and turmeric power. I cut them into niblets and proceeded to make this sandwich.

If you don't have focaccia, use this stuffing for making grilled sandwich using sliced bread.

Stuffed Focaccia Sandwich
Ingredients
1 Italian Focaccia bread, cut horizontally
2 slices pepper jack cheese

For stuffing
1 tbsp. oil
A pinch of sugar (to caramelize onions)
1 cup thinly sliced onion
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup boiled and drained corn niblets
2 tbsp. oven roasted tomatoes in oil
1/2 cup chopped collard greens
1 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a saucepan. Add sugar and as it caramelizes, add onions and garlic. Saute till onion is nicely browned. Add corn niblets, oven roasted tomatoes and collard greens. Cook till done.
2. Add seasoning, salt, pepper. Mix well. Set aside to cool down.

3. Scatter pieces of cheese slice on one half of the focaccia bread.

4. Cover it with stuffing generously.
5.  Top it with pieces of remaining cheese slice and cover with the remaining half of the bread.
6. Preheat oven 350 F. Cover in kitchen foil and bake for 15 minutes or till the cheese melts.
7. Serve a wedge along with soup of your choice.

Note -
1. There will probably be extra stuffing. It can be used to make grilled cheese , corn stuffing using bread slices.





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Khubbya Randayi - Clams Curry

It's funny how I refer to the same ingredient by various different names based on the recipe that I am following. When I am making my maternal grandmother's South Canara style curry, I refer to clams as Khubbe. When I am making my paternal grandmother's Malvani style curry, I refer to the same clams as Tisrya. :-)

 

Today let's visit my South Canara heritage and relish Khubbya randayi or Manglore style Clams Curry. This recipe is exactly similar to Sungta Hinga udaak. But for some unknown reason, when making this curry with clams, it's always referred to as Khubbya Randayi and not Khubbya Hinga Udaak.

 

Khubbya Randayi

Ingredients

1 packet Costco little neck clams

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

 

Salt to taste (Adjust)

 

Grind to a fine paste

1 cup freshly scraped coconut

12-15 byadgi chilies, roasted in few drops of coconut oil

2 tsp tamarind pulp

 

Garnish

1 tsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp asafetida

 

Method

1. Scrub and clean the clams.

2. Place them in a heavy bottomed big container. Add 1/2 cup water and turmeric powder.

3. Cook till the shells are open. Switch off the gas. Cover

4. Let them cool down till they are easy to handle. Take out the flesh.

5. Drain the clam juice. Set aside.

6. Meanwhile, roast byadgi chilies using few drops of coconut oil. Grind to a very fine paste adding coconut and tamarind pulp. Add water as needed for grinding.

7. Place cooked clams, clam juice in the saucepan.

8. Add ground masala and enough water to get the desired consistency.

9. Adjust salt.

10. As the curry comes to a rapid boil, switch the gas to low.

11. Let it simmer.

12. Drizzle coconut oil and asafetida over the curry.

13. Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes.

14. Switch off the gas. Cover.

15. Serve with plain rice.

 

Note -

1. Clams may have salt content. Adjust salt accordingly.

2. Clams are covered with lots of sand. Scrub carefully, making sure that they are sand free before cooking.

3. Drain the clam juice to avoid any sand particles.

4. After initial cooking, discard any clams that don't open up.
5. When in season, add peeled, raw mango pieces to this curry. If using, add them along with ground masala paste. Adjust tamarind accordingly.

6. Many home cooks in Mumbai use a knife or viLi to crack the clams and then use them in the curry. In my family, we boil the clams first, and let the clams open the shells instead of using knife.

 

Salgam Song - Turnips Curry

I spotted some fresh turnips/salgams at our farmers market. I decided to make "Saung". Traditionally, saung uses potatoes. I replaced them with turnips. This curry tasted delicious.

Salgam Song
Turnip Curry
Ingredients

3-4 medium turnips, peeled, cut into chunks

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

Salt to taste

1 tbsp coconut oil or any other oil of preference

Grind to a coarse paste

5-6 byadgi chilies, roasted in a drop of coconut oil

1 tbsp tamarind pulp

Method

1. Heat oil. Saute onion till golden brown. Do not let it burn.
2. Add turnip pieces, stir. Cover with a lid. Pour water on the lid. Let it cook.

2. Add ground masala paste. Saute for 1 minute.

3. Add 1/2 cup water. add salt to taste.

4. Bring to boil.

5. Let it simmer. This is a thick curry. Adjust consistency per your own preference.
 

Note -

1. The coconut oil gives a unique and authentic flavor. However, if you are bothered by the saturated fat contents in the coconut oil, you can use canola or olive oil. and then add a few drops of coconut oil for flavor.

2. Instead of grinding the masala, sometimes, I just mix chili powder and tamarind pulp for a quick fix.

 

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Shevga Palebhaji - Drumsticks Leaves Stir Fry

 

I try to include some leafy greens or the other at least 3 times a week. During winter, I just use frozen collard greens, turnip greens or spinach. But now it's spring turning into summer. Farmers markets and Indian stores bring in some exotic leafy greens. This is the best time to eat fresh greens.

Shevgyachi Paaleybhaji


Ingredients
1 bunch tender drumsticks greens, rinsed, roughly chopped
1/4 cup yellow moong daal, soaked for 2 hours
salt to taste

Tempering
1 tsp oil
1 shallot or small onion, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped or slivered
A pinch of turmeric powder
2 red chilies
2 green chilies

Garnish
1/4 cup freshly scraped coconut

Method
1. Chop drumsticks leaves and stems - if they are tender. Chop the onion.

2. Heat oil in a saucepan. Sauté garlic and pinch of turmeric till garlic changes its colors. Add chilies and shallot. Sauté till onion is soft.
3. Add drained moong daal. Sauté for 5 minutes.
4. Add chopped drumstick leaves. Sprinkle some water. Mix.
5. Cover with a lid. Pour water on the lid.
6. Let it cook till soft.
7. Add salt to taste and coconut.

Note -
1. This bhaji needs more coconut than usual.
2. Use more or less chilies per personal preference.

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