Vankaya Perugu Pachadi (Eggplant in Yogurt gravy)

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: 3 Veggies that are Fruit

Dish: Vankaya Perugu Pachadi

For the final day of this week's theme '3 veggies that are fruit', I have a dish made with eggplant -- you know I can't miss an opportunity to try and post a new recipe with my favorite veggie. I watched this yogurt based eggplant dish being made on a Telugu cooking show.

I planted a few eggplant saplings in my backyard this year and they just started to flower and grow. My daughter counts the flowers and the tiny eggplants everyday. Hopefully I'll have more eggplant dishes for you this summer.

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Methi Tomato Paneer

This Methi-Tomato Paneer curry recipe is from a Telugu cooking show. It is a simple curry with very simple ingredients, methi, tomato and paneer. It is a great side dish for rice or roti.

I planted my little vegetable garden few weeks back and the saplings have slowly started to grow. My methi plants are also slowly grwoing. Hopefully I can get to cook with my own methi leaves soon :-)

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Tameta Muthiya nu Shaak (Gujarati Tomato Curry with Steamed Dumplings)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 3: Gujarati Cuisine 

Day 20: T for Tameta Muthiya nu Shaak

Recipe from Tarla Dalal.com:
Can't believe we are at the end of the 3rd week in our 'Journey through the cuisines' mega marathon. Here's the last of the Gujarati dishes in the series and it's yet another easy to make, simple everyday tomato curry with muthiyas.

I made Palak-Methi muthiyas -- steamed this time to add to the tomato shaak. Even the fried muthiyas would work just as good in this recipe. I made a similar Gujarati tomato curry with sev for one of the previous BMs.

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Potato Curry leaf Curry (Aloo Karivepaku Podi Kura)

It is quite frustrating when you can't find that one ingredient (or that one thing) you are looking for -- in my case it's curry leaves. They have been MIA from most Indian groceries in NJ for more than 1 month now. With the mega marathon cooking in full swing, I needed curry leaves for some of the dishes and they were no where to be found. I am thinking of growing curry leaf plant this year in my container garden.

Well, I made today's dish couple of months ago after watching a Telugu cooking show. This was the last of the curry leaves I bought couple of months ago. A spice powder is made with the curry leaves which is then used to flavor the potatoes.

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Sambhariyu Shaak (Gujarati Stuffed Mixed Vegetable Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 3: Gujarati Cuisine 

Day 19: S for Sambhariya Shaak

Today's Gujarati dish is yet another traditional vegetable dish. Here the veggies are stuffed with a spicy coconut filling and then pressure cooked until cooked to perfection. Another amazing recipe from Tarla Dalal.com.

All of my recipes for this week are from Tarla Dala's site. It has been a great resource and I love watching her videos as well. She makes even a hard recipe sound very easy to make.

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Rasawala Chana (Gujarati Saucy Chickpea Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 3: Gujarati Cuisine 

Day 18: R for Rasawala Chana with Rotlis

Today's Gujarati dish is a simple, protein packed curry made with black chana or chickpeas. Rasawala means saucy and in this dish black chickpeas are cooked in a tangy and sweet sauce.

The only time taking part of this dish is the soaking and boiling the chana. The actual cooking time takes about 15 minutes. Served with rotis or even rice, this is a delicious and comforting dish. I made rotlis to serve with this chana.

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Makai Ki Subzi (Rajasthani Corn Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 2: Rajasthani Cuisine 

Day 13: M for Makai Ki Subzi

Today's dish is a very simple to make Rajasthani Makai aka corn curry. Corn is one of the extensively cultivated crops in Rajasthan. Corn is one of their staple foods and is used in various forms from flour to grits to whole corn.

My first pick for the letter M was Malai Mirch. Gayathri made this for one of the previous BM and I bookmarked to try it. It has very few ingredients and is very quick and easy to make. But my husband is not a big fan of creamy milk based dishes and the calories in the dish scared me to try the dish just for myself.

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Fulkopi Posto (Bengali Cauliflower curry with poppy seeds)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 6: F for Fulkopi Posto (Bengali Cauliflower curry with poppy seeds)
Here's another different way of cooking with veggies, the Bengali way. First up was a simple mixed vegetables flavored with just panch phoron, then it was okra in a spicy yogurt sauce and today it is cauliflower cooked in creamy poppy seed gravy.

Letter F was one of the tough letters to find a dish. Initially I wanted to make 'Fuchka', a Bengali variation of our beloved pani puri. But then after looking at couple of recipes, I wasn't sure if it was puchka, phuchka or fuchka. With so much ambiguity, I left it at that (but I still have a pack of store-bought puris waiting to be used). Then I thought of making Fuluri, a lentil based bajji but I wasn't in a mood to deep fry, so finally chose a simpler and easier to make dish.

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Doi Dharosh (Bengali Okra in Yogurt gravy)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine 
Day 4: D for Doi Dharosh (Bengali Okra in Yogurt gravy)
D for Dharosh or Dhyarosh in Bengali has 2 meanings, one is our beloved okra/ bhindi/ ladies finger and the other not-so-nice meaning is someone who's lazy and clumsy. But I am only talking about D for Okra/ bhindi today.

Doi in bengali means yogurt and in this dish okra is cooked in a spicy yogurt sauce. I was planning to make it when my husband was traveling, so I don't have to make him eat a yogurt based dish. But alas I had to make it when he was around and I made sure that he had something else to eat. I didn't tell him that this dish had yogurt in it and was surprised that he served himself a second serving. I kept quiet and didn't tell him about the secret ingredient :-)

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Charchari (Bengali Mixed Vegetable Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 3: C for Charchari (Bengali Mixed Vegetable Curry)

I'm going to continue on with my journey through Bengali cuisine for our 'Journey through the cuisines' month long mega blogging marathon. It's Day 3 and we are cooking with the letter C. I chose to make a very simple, everyday Bengali dish called Charchari aka Chorchori aka Chochchori.

It is an easy to make mixed vegetable dish and from the different recipes I found online, each family has it's own way of making this humble dish. Each version had a slightly different veggie used and some used mustard paste while some didn't. I followed Sandeepa's recipe to make my Charchari, except for the addition of mustard paste which I omitted.

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Hara Butter Paneer Masala (Spicy Green Curry with Paneer)

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: No Tomato Gravies

Dish: Hara Butter Masala
For the final day of this week's 'No Tomato Gravies' theme I have an interesting curry made with green pepper and cilantro. Regular butter masala is made with butter, tomatoes puree and cream. This 'green' version is made with butter, green pepper, cilantro and cream.

This recipe is from a Telugu cooking show and it looked too good to pass on. It is very easy to make once you have hara/ green masala prepped. Switch paneer with other protein like tofu, chickpeas or beans and skip the cream and use vegan butter for a vegan version of the curry.

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Punjabi Dal Tadka

I made this Punjabi Dal tadka along with this Aloo curry for a mini Punjabi meal. Recipe for the dal is from a Telugu cooking show and I have made it quite a few times already.

Like any dal, this is very easy to make and is very hearty and comforting dish. It is a simple dish but tastes amazing and the lovely thing about this dish is it can whipped up for a simple dal-chawal menu on a weeknight or can be served with naans and jeera rice for a party.

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Mixed Vegetable Curry in Coconut milk gravy

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: No Tomato Gravies
Dish: Mixed Vegetable Curry in Coconut milk gravy

After yesterday's yogurt based curry, today I have a coconut milk based curry that is creamy and delicious. Coconut milk is a great vegan alternate and is much healthier than using heavy cream.

This recipe is from Mallika Bhadrinath's 100 gravy recipes cookbook. Along with coconut milk, a freshly ground spice paste gives this dish creaminess and a nice spicy kick.

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Punjabi Aloo (Spicy Potato curry with Yogurt)

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 4/ Day 1
Theme: No Tomato Gravies
Dish: Punjabi Aloo
We are starting the final week of this month's marathon and my theme for the week is 'Gravies with No tomatoes'. When I signed up for this theme, I wasn't expecting it to be as difficult as it turned out. I realized that I'm very much dependent on tomatoes for making gravy curries. I have fresh tomatoes, canned tomato paste and puree always in the pantry. Coming up with 3 tomato-free gravy recipes was quite a challenge.

I have tried 3 curry recipes using different ingredients to give the gravy consistency. For the first day, the curry is thickened with yogurt and a little bit of heavy cream. I was skeptical if my yogurt-hating husband would like it or not. But he didn't really notice the yogurt that much, so this curry goes into our recipe rotation.

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Pepper Gojju (Mysore style Masala curry)

Blogging Marathon #60: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Regional Specials

Dish: Pepper & Onion Gojju (Mysore style Masala curry)

For the second day of this week's BM, I made a lip smacking Mysore curry with peppers and onions. Highlight and the base of the dish is a delicious coconut gravy. 

This recipe is again from Vani's blog, Mysoorean. I made her Kattina dal and this pepper curry for a simple, comforting and delicious meal.

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Bhindi Masala Curry (Spicy Stuffed Okra Curry)

Blogging Marathon# 59: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Stuffed Dishes

Dish: Stuffed Bhindi Masala Curry

We are starting a new week of blogging marathon today and my theme for the week is 'Stuffed Dishes'. First up is a delicious stuffed bhindi/ okra in a tomato gravy recipe.

Recipe is from a Telugu cooking show. It looked like a show stopper and I noted it down in my book. As I was looking for dishes to make for this week, this one looked very tempting and luckily I was able to buy some nice looking okra too.

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Shaam Savera (Spinach-Paneer balls in Tomato sauce)

Blogging Marathon# 57: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: Side Dishes for Rice/ Roti

Dish: Shaam Savera

I have a rich and decadent restaurant style curry today. It is called 'Shaam-Savera' aka Spinach-paneer koftas in tomato sauce. I ate it once in an Indian restaurant and absolutely loved the dish. I have been looking for the recipe and an opportunity to make it ever since.

We had my mom and sister's family come over for my son's birthday last month and I made this curry along with yesterday's post Aloo-Gobhi, Mughlai parathas and Jeera rice for dinner. It was a restaurant style meal without going to the restaurant :-)

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Dry Potato-Cauliflower Curry (Sukhi Aloo-Gobhi Subzi)

Blogging Marathon# 57: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Side Dishes for Rice/ Roti

Dish: Dry Aloo-Gobhi Curry

Today's side dish is with a popular combination of Aloo and Gobhi (potato and cauliflower). If you have watched 'Bend it like Beckham' movie you know how important it is to learn to make Aloo-GoBHI in Punjabi families :-)

There are quite a few different ways of making this curry. This particular recipe is from a Telugu cooking show and the chef said this is dhaba style of making this dish. I never ate in a proper dhaba, so I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the curry, but all I can say is it tastes amazing.

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Gongura Paneer (Paneer with Sorrel Spinach)

Blogging Marathon# 57: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: Side Dishes for Rice/ Roti

Dish: Gongura Paneer

We are starting our final week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is Side dishes for rice and/ or roti. I am one of those people who is always looking for new sides dishes. Old ones bore me and I pin and bookmark any new or interesting recipes.

I'm starting off this week with an interesting curry with Gongura and Paneer. I was piqued by the unusual combination of gongura and paneer -- it is essentially a South meets North dish. I saw this on Vah Chef's site and followed the recipe almost to the T.

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Muvva Vankaya Kura (Baby Eggplant Curry)

I'm always looking for new eggplant recipes and when I find a new recipe, I try to make as soon as I can :-) This muvva vankaya (muvva=pearl vankaya=eggplant) curry recipe is from a Telugu cooking show that I duly noted down in my recipe diary. Valli already made the same dish few months back.

We rarely get really small baby eggplants here, so it took me a while to get to this recipe. But luckily my mom found some beautiful baby eggplants at the Indian grocery a month back and I made this curry right away (so it has been sitting in the drafts for  while :-)).

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