From My Kitchen

Brinjal,the one vegetable which husband hates the most but i love the most,Its been a year since i had this curry,haan, no,not because i think pati is parmeshwar and that i need to eat what he eats,Nah,no ways,just that i am too lazy to make two curries and i just discarded brinjals from my kitchen:(((( but no,Not anymore, i had this huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge craving for a nice brinjal curry whe i saw fresh bhaigan at Madiwala market and i brought them home and in the name of RCI i made Gutti vankaya Koora,my mom's version,the one which i loved always, Infact i guess there is a song also in a telugu movie which i donot remember, and this time i just made sure to make only this curry and hubby had no choice but to have this,And guess what, he ate it with out a word and after finishing the dinner he cleared the table,shifted the remaining curry in to a box and put it in the fridge,why???? because he wanted to have it next day also,yayayaaaaaaaaaaaa,welcome back brinjals:)))

Now for the recipe.I took 5 medium sized brinjals and these are the ingredients which go into the filling. Two medium sized onions and 2 green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Saute the onions in a pan along with the G&G paste,chillies for about 3 minutes,till the onions are looking almost golden yellow,take them out into a plate and let it cool.

Dry coconut powder, and groundnut powder {fry the groundnuts without oil and remove the rusk on it} and garam masala powder,add these three to the onions which we fried before and add corriander and salt and red chilli powder to it,now the filling is ready to put in the brinjals:)

Make cross cuts to the brinjal at the top and please do not remove the tail of the brinjal!!!!! and then fill the masala into it.

take a wide pan and add oil to it,drop the stuffed brinjals into it taking care ,the filling should not fall into the oil and the remaining masala can be just added to the pan,adjust the water content so that the brinjals can cook properly and cover it with a lid for about 10min.
and while you mix it at intervals make sure to do so carefully without splitting the brinjals .

When the oil starts showing from the sides its time to say that curry is ready:D shift it carefully to a serving dish and garnish with corriander and serve it with hot rice or chapathis.

Pacchi pulusu,the one kind of dish which i love on a hot summer evening,this is one more speciality of the villages of andhrapradesh,made in different ways,i remember the third day of my wedding, one of the aunt of my husband was requested specially by everyone to make her trade mark pacchipulusu,now she took a big vessel,took a few red chillies,added onions to it,few strands of corriander,jeera and starting crushing it all with hand,for a long time and then added it to the tamarind juice,added salt and a piece of jaggery and then did the tadka with a little oil,jeera, rayi,chilli flakes, curry leaves and dont forget to add a little haldi at the end to the tadka and add it to the tamarind juice, ready,pacchipulusu,hot rice and papad,and have a simple dinner:)

My final entry for RCI-Andhra Hosted by Latha of Masalamagic

Aloo kurma

Potatoes have been my all time favorites and the aloo kurma is the one dish which i miss the most from my mom's kitchen.A rich gravy made of dray coconut powder,garam masala ,poppy seeds or khus khus and dahi this is a common dish at most of the family functions or gatherings,at my home whenever a guest comes who is a strict vegetarian mom makes puri and alookurma and its spelled as aloo khorma here in Hyderabad in many households who speak urdu or hindi. I donot know if it qualifies for RCI hosted by lovely latha of masalamagic but i will certainly send it too apart from my other recipes which i am already getting ready with,this rich gravy has been a part of food flavours of moghulai and nizam era, and you can find a good description of khorma from here which says......

A traditional korma will have a long slow cooking. In fact, korma is not one particular dish but rather a method of cooking similar to braising. Because korma is a cooking method there are a wide variety of dishes that could be described as "korma".

Ingredients

Potatoes,i took 5 small ones{boiled,peeled,cut into peices,3 big onions, 2 tomatoes, elaichi,lavang and shahjeera { to add spice to the curry}

Green chillies,salt, ginger garlic paste,red chilli powder, very little haldi or turmeric, fresh coriander, three table spoons of garam masala, one half of greated dry coconut or khopra and 3 spoons of khuskhus powder {all the ingredients or masalas can be changed acc to the tastes,i like the khorma very rich and spicy.

Heat oil in a wide pan and add shahjeera,elaichi and lavang to the oil . and then add the green chillies,the onions,add ginger garlic paste,salt and turmeric and fry the onions for about two min or till they turn to golden color.

Add the boiled potatoes into the skillet and let both be mixed properly and then add the garam masala, khopra powder,khus khus powder, and add a glass of water checking the consistency,remember the potaotes are already boiled,we need the water only to get a rich gravy,keep that to mind for the proportions.

And now add two tomotoes and chilli powder to the gravy,cover the lid and let the gravy be cooked at a low heat atleast for 10min { i prefer 15min} remember this is a slow cooking process} do keep checking one or two times and mix it well.

When the dish is almost done add two spoons of curds or fresh cream {curds is prefered} and let it simmer for a while, mix well and garnish with corriander at the end.
I love Aloo khorma with puris or hot rice and pepper rasam along with this dish is my all time favourite.