Week #26 of 52 recipes is Spiced Eggplant Rice with Peanuts aka Masala Bhaath

Hi all,
This week's recipe is inspired from Ranjana, a Maharastrian cook who comes to my in-laws house in Nagpur. She is an amazing cook and I learnt a lot of recipes from her. Som eof my favourite recipes have come from just normal cooks who go about their day in their own surroundings, oblivious to how brilliant they are. I hope to meet Ranjana when I visit India soon and will post some pics of this bubbly girl. Masala Bhaath is so common for Maharastrians and supposedly, its served in all weddings. This is just a more day-to-day version of this awesome dish.

Spiced Eggplant Rice with Peanuts aka Masala Bhaath
Ingredients :
Eggplant or Brinjal- diced into 1 inch pieces
Basmati Rice - 3 cups
onions- diced- 1 cup
green peas- 1/2 cup
peanuts- 1/2 cup
Cumin, coriander seeds- 2 tablespoons each
Dry red chillies- 3 or as needed
shredded coconut- 1/2 cup
2 cloves garlic- optional
Bay Leaf and cinnamon stick- 1
curry leaves- optional
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
garam masala or Maharashtrian goda masala- 1 tablespoon
salt- to taste
oil- 1/2 cup

Method:
Wash and Soak rice in 5 cups of salted water for 1 hr. Drain and set aside.Dry roast cumin, coriander and dry red chillies for 5 min on low flame and set aside. Dry roast the coconut as well and mix all these ingredients with 1/4 cup water and grind to a smooth paste. Heat 1/4 cup oil oil in wok and add peanuts and fry for 2 min. Add turmeric and eggplant or brinjal pieces and fry them for 5 minutes until slightly softened. Add salt.They dont need to cook thoroughly Add bay leaf and cinnamon stick and then onions and garlic if using and saute. Now add curry leaves, peas and garam masala or goda masala and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the soaked rice and saute these for 2 minutes on high heat. Now add the ground paste and mix them together for 3 minutes. Put the entire mixture in a rice cooker and rest of the oil and add 5 cups hot water and turn on the cooker. Spiced eggplant rice will be ready in 10-15 minutes! Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!!!

Guess the recipe!!! Week #26!

25th week of 52 weeks of 52 recipes is BLT sandwich's healthier version

Week #25 is no cooking week!!! This is one of the most simplest sandwiches- the All English class BLT sandwich. While the BLT stands for Bacon Lettuce and Tomato, I found this super awesome healthier version of the bacon called Benevolent Bacon! Its completely vegetarian and contains 10g of protein. When you combine it with multigrain bread and crunchy lettuce, its something anyone would enjoy even though its not the real deal.



Ingredients
Multigrain bread 2 slices
Benevolent Bacon slices- 4-5 ( pan fried till crisp for 3-4 min in non stick pan)
lettuce- 3 leaves
tomato- cut halfwise into thin slices
Mayo- 1 spoon
Black pepper- 1 teaspoon

Spread mayo over the bread slices. Line lettuce first, then the tomato and spray black pepper over the tomatoes. Then add the bacon slices and top with th other slice of bread and enjoy!!!

Week #24 is a celebration of my favorite Dim Sum restaurant in SFO

The greens that were pictured were actually Snow Peas shoots. This recipe is Snow pea shoots dim sum that I love in my fav restuarant called Yank Sing. But this could easily be made with spinach and tastes quite brilliant. For my friends who dont know what is Dim Sum- its just a savory dumpling ( modak or kozhakatai) In India, dumplings are made from scratch, but in this recipe, I just use store bought wonton wrappers.

Pea shoots Dim Sum
Won ton wrappers ( round in shape)
1 bunch snow pea shoots OR spinach- washed and cut into small pieces ( available in Asian grocery stores)
Garlic- 3 cloves- minced
chilli paste- 1 teaspoon (optional)
soy sauce- 1 tablespoon
sesame oil- 1 tablespoon
water- 1/2 cup
steaming vessel

Diping sauce- 1 spoon of sriracha and 2 spoons of soy sauce,

Method:
Heat sesame oil in pan until its quite hot. Add garlic and chilli flakes and immediately add the snow peas shoots or spinach and stir in high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add soy sauce and continue sauteing in high heat. Make sure there is no liquid left and switch off the heat. Cool this for 10 minutes. Take a won ton wrapper and fill it with a spoonful of the mixture in the middle. Close the won ton wrapper and seal the edges with water, so there is no chance of it opening up. Continue and make a few dim sums. Place carefully in a steaming vessel and steam for about 7-9 minutes on medium heat. Switch off heat and then carefully remove and serve after a minute. Mix soy sauce and sriracha sauce together a spoonful each for a simple dipping sauce. Enjoy!!!

#24 of 52 weeks of recipes- Guess this green and what dish I will be making with it!!!

Week #23 is going tropical- Coconut Rice!

Sorry everyone- I have been traveling and couldnt do the guessing game this week either. But I promise that will be back soon....
This week's recipe is a tropical delicacy made of shredded coconuts, something so common in Southern India, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Its so simple yet very flavorful. The green chillies give it that zing and works so well as the coconut is fairly sweet.

Ingredients
Shredded coconut- 1 cup
Green chillies sliced thin- 5-6 or as desired
Cooked rice-2 cups
curry leaves- 10
cashews or peanuts- 3 tablespoons
Optional- mustard seeds,cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon each 1 dried red chilly
Oil- 2 tablespoons
Salt- as needed
Method:
Pour oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds,cumin and red chillies if using .If not, addd the nuts and saute for 1 min until browned. Then add green chillies and saute and then finally the shredded coconut. and curry leaves. Saute for 1-2 minutes until the cocnut is starting to slightly brown. Mix the rice and salt and combine for 1 minute. Its super easy and yet so flavorful.