I have used in this recipe the “varikatri” brinjal which is in season locally – this has a pretty purple-and-white striped skin and a mild tasting fleshy interior.

I tried looking for its English name – couldn’t find an authoritative translation but from its appearance, I guess it is the fairy tale eggplant. Can my learned readers confirm?

You Need:

• Baby eggplant – 300 grams (6-7 pieces)
• Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons
• Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1 teaspoon
• Amchoor powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Salt – 1/3 teaspoon
• Peanut oil – 1 tablespoon

How To Make Sookhe Bharwan Baingan:

1. Quarter and soak

Slice each eggplant into quarters, without cutting all the way through – let the joint at the head remain intact.

Keep a bowlful of salted water nearby. As soon as you slice each eggplant, drop it into the salted water. This is to prevent the browning of eggplant on being cut.

Let the quartered eggplant stand in salted water for 20 minutes.

Drain and wash.

3. Spice and stuff

In an dry bowl, measure out the spices: coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, amchoor powder.

Add salt to taste to the spice powders. Stir and mix.

Pat the eggplant with a kitchen towel to dry out excess moisture. We are now ready to stuff the eggplant.

Pry each eggplant slit open and stuff in some of the spice powder – fit the powder near the head of the eggplant and clamp the open ends shut. Remember to divide the spice powder evenly across all the eggplants – don’t overstuff to start with and then have nothing for the last ones!

3. Cook

Take a flat non-stick pan, just large enough to hold all the stuffed eggplants in a single file – a pan with 8-9 inch diameter works best for 7 small eggplants.

Heat the pan on medium heat. Pour half a tablespoon of oil into the pan, give it a swirl to coat the base evenly and place the eggplants in the pan close to the source of heat.

Cook the eggplants covered and undisturbed for five minutes.

Shake the covered pan gently to move eggplants around. When you start hearing crackling sounds (~2-3 minutes), uncover and turn the eggplants over using a wooden spatula or tongs.

From this point on, uncover every 2-3 minutes to check for doneness. Keep moving the positions of the eggplants to roast them from all sides evenly. Drizzle a few drops of oil whenever some part looks dry.

When all sides are roasted well, switch off the heat. Let the eggplant stand for another ten minutes, covered.

Sookhe bharwan baingan (dry spice-stuffed eggplant) is ready.

Serve on the side with an Indian meal of rice/chapatis, curries/dal, raita.

Meal below: sookhe bharwan baingan with coconut rice, vegetable red lentil soup, pineapple raita.

Notes:

Looking for more stuffed vegetable dishes? You must try:

The post Sookhe Bharwan Baingan: Dry Spice Stuffed Eggplant appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

You Need:

• Potatoes – 2 large
• Red/yellow bell peppers – 2
• Green chilies – 2
• Amchoor powder (raw mango powder) – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 tablespoons

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

How To Make Aloo Capsicum Dry:

1. Prep the vegetables

Boil the potatoes unpeeled till they have softened slightly – just enough to make the skin come off easily, not so much that it get mashed. This step is to quicken the cooking process with oil and make the peel come off easily. (If boiling in an Indian-style pressure cooker, place the potatoes along wit two cups of water into the cooker, lock lod and place on high heat till the cooker gives off a whistle. Let the pressure release naturally.)

Pick the potatoes out of the water they were boiled in and let them cool to room temperature. Peel and slice them into thick sticks or wedges.

Core and chop the peppers to roughly the same thickness and length as the potato wedges.

2. Cook

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Slide in the potato wedges when the oil is hot.

Cook the potatoes covered, moving them around every other minute. If there is some sticking to the bottom of the pan, do not hurry to scrape it – it will all come off easily when you cover the pan and let some moisture build inside.

Let the potato wedges turn gold-rimmed, then add coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder and some salt.

Mix and tip in the chopped bell peppers and whole green chilies.

Give it a stir to coat the bell peppers with the spices. Adjust salt and continue to cook till the vegetables are cooked to your liking. I prefer the bell peppers to have some crunch (about 2 mins covered + 5 mins uncovered) – if you want them softer, add to the cooking time.

Note: Red/yellow bell peppers cook faster than green. If using a mix of green/red/yellow, add the green bell peppers a couple of minutes before before you add the red and yellow.

When the vegetables are nearly done, sprinkle half a teaspoon of amchoor powder. Mix well.

Potato capsicum dry sabzi is ready.

Serve as a colorful accompaniment to any Indian meal.

Notes:

Bell peppers interest you? Then you should check out these recipes:

Meal below (clockwise from left): buttery green beans, spiced fried onions, Gujarati moong dal, aloo capsicum dry, chapatis.

The post Aloo Capsicum Dry – Peppy Peppery Side Dish! appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

You Need:

• Potatoes – 3 medium (300 grams)
• Pumpkin – 300 grams
• Garam masala – 1/4 teaspoon
• Amchoor powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Tomatoes – 3 medium
• Onions – 1 medium
• Garlic – 5 small cloves
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Salt – to taste
• Bay leaf – 1
• Panch phoron – 1/2 teaspoon
• Ghee/oil – 1 tablespoon
• Fresh coriander leaves – for garnish

How To Make Potato Pumpkin Masala:

1. Chop and grind

Peel and cube potatoes into 1-inch pieces.

Chop tomatoes.

Cut pumpkin into similar-sized pieces. [Peel if using tough-skinned pumpkin.]

Grind together ginger, garlic and onion to paste.

2. Cook

Heat a tablespoon of ghee or oil in a pan.

When hot, add panch phoron and let it splutter. Add a bay leaf to the hot oil, followed by onion-ginger-garlic paste.

Let the onion paste fry in hot oil till it turns golden. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.

Mix and cook another minute.

Add chopped tomatoes next, along with red chili powder and salt.

Stir around and cook for two minutes so that the tomatoes soften.

Tip in cubed potatoes. Let the potatoes cook covered on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

Cubed pumpkin and amchoor powder go in next. Give it all a good stir.

Set heat to low and let the vegetables simmer covered in the pan, for 20-25 minutes.

Check the pan a couple of times in between to move the vegetables around. Sprinkle some water if the dish looks too dry. [You would not normally need to as the juices from the pumpkin and tomatoes keep the dish moist.]

Switch off the heat when the vegetables have softened to your liking. Stir in coriander leaves.

Let the pan sit covered for another ten minutes to let the flavors settle.

Potato pumpkin masala is ready. Serve hot.

Tastes great with pooris on the side. Here is some potato pumpkin masala with jeera rice:

Notes:

Looking for more pumpkin recipes? Try pumpkin masoor dal, pumpkin kala chana, kaddu rajma.

The post Potato Pumpkin Masala appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

There are two schools of thought on how the filling for mooli paratha should be prepared: the first camp sautés the grated radish before using it for stuffing, the second camp keeps it raw. This recipe gives you my preferred method – the raw.

Challenges one might hear about the raw approach:

Both challenges are ably addressed with one simple trick: salting.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me lay out the recipe for mooli paratha (radish stuffed flatbread) in sequence, in full.

You Need:

[for 4 parathas]

• Wheat flour (atta) – 1 cup
• White radish (mooli) – 3 medium (enough to give 1 packed cup of grated radish)
• Carom seeds (ajwain) – 1/4 teaspoon
• Raw mango powder (amchoor powder) – 1/4 teaspoon
• Green chilies – 2
• Coriander leaves – a few sprigs
• Salt – to taste
• Ghee – for pan-frying the parathas, about 1/2 teaspoon per paratha

How To Make Mooli Paratha:

1. Prepare the radish filling

Scrape and grate the radish.

Add half a teaspoon of salt to the radish. Mix well and set aside.

While the salted radish rests, prepare the other ingredients: chop coriander leaves and green chilies finely.

After about twenty minutes, the grated radish would have given off water. Squeeze out this water into a separate container. Do not throw the water away – use it for kneading the atta for the parathas.

Tip: After a round of radish-squeezing, let it rest for another five minutes and re-squeeze for a totally unmessy filling.

To the grated radish, add these ingredients: chopped coriander leaves and green chilies, carom seeds, raw mango powder.

Mix the seasoning well with the grated radish.

2. Knead the dough

Take a cup of atta in a wide pan for kneading. Knead the atta as you would for chapatis, using the radish water collected from step 1. Let the dough rest covered for 20 minutes.

2. Roll and stuff

[We are going to make two layers per paratha, sandwiching the radish mix between the layers.]

Pluck a small ball of dough (slightly smaller than a ping pong ball). Roll it out into a disc shape of 5-6 inches diameter. This will be the top layer.

For tips on how to roll right, look up section C "Rolling it" in The Ultimate Chapati Cheatsheet.

Keep the rolled out layer aside and repeat with another ball of dough to make the bottom layer. Aim to make the two layers symmetrical.

On the just-rolled bottom layer, put a tablespoon of radish filling.

Spread the radish filling evenly, leaving a centimeter on the edges aside.

Place the top layer carefully covering all of the radish filling, mirrorring the bottom layer.

Gently press the two layers together – I do this using my hands. Ensure that the edges are sealed.

That makes one mooli paratha ready to be cooked.

Repeat for all the dough.

3. On the fire

Heat a wide non-stick pan. Place the uncooked paratha on it.

When the side facing the heat begins to spot, flip it over.

Spread some ghee on flipped-up partly-cooked side.

Keep an eye on the heat – you may have to adjust the setting as the paratha cooks.

Setting the heat too low gives you dry papad-like paratha. Keeping the heat too high makes some parts of the paratha well-done, some parts undercooked. Beat the blunders: watch the heat.

Let the second side cook as well, then turn the paratha over again and spread ghee on the second side.

Do another round of flipping till the mooli paratha is well toasted on both sides.

Take the mooli paratha off the heat and place it on absorbent paper.

Repeat for all the rolled out parathas.

Mooli parathas are ready. Best eaten hot with pickle/chutney on the side.

Meal below: mooli parathas with garlic chili chutney.

Notes:

As with preparing the filling, the act of stuffing a paratha too has varied approaches. You could:

1. Stuff first, then roll

   This method has the advantage of distributing the stuffing evenly through the paratha, also reaching the edges. It’s best done when you have some experience with paratha-making and/or the filling is dry – as in the case of sattu paratha.

2. Roll first, then stuff

   When you have gooey filling to handle, roll-first-stuff-later is the way to go. This method is more beginner-friendly – you can’t go much wrong with it as long as you seal the edges right. Cases in point: tomato onion paratha, cheese paratha.

3. Mix the "stuffing" into the flour

   The foolproof (cop-out ;-) ) approach is to not even attempt filling the paratha but to knead the dough along with the stuffing. The flavor may not be as intense this way but you still end up with delicious parathas, next best to the real deal. More about this approach here: The Taste of Aloo Parathas wthout the Hassle of Stuffing.

Mooli paratha recipes abound for each of the stuffing approaches. This recipe demoes “Roll first, then stuff”, though I do occasionally make mooli paratha using the other two approaches depending on the time I have on hand. Experiment and see what works for you.

Wondering what else you can cook with mooli? Try these recipes:

The post Mooli Paratha: Radish Stuffed Flatbread appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

I’m using the Indian pumpkin in this recipe. You could instead go for other similar squashes that have creamy orange flesh compatible with both salt and sweet flavors, such as butternut squash..

You Need:

• Pumpkin – 400 grams
• Kala chana (dry black chickpea) – 1/2 cup
• Garam masala powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Amchoor powder (dry mango powder) – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – 1/2 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
• Jaggery powder – 1 teaspoon
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Green chili – 1
• Dry red chilies – 2
• Panch phoron* – 1 teaspoon
• Bay leaves – 2
• Asafoetida powder – a pinch
• Mustard oil – 1/2 tablespoon
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

*If you don’t have panch phoron on hand, use a mix of these whole spices: fenugreek seed, nigella seed, cumin seed, mustard seed, fennel seed.

How To Make Pumpkin Kala Chana Bengali-Style:

1. Boil the kala chana

Soak kala chana overnight (~7-8 hours) in three cups of water.

Drain and boil the kala chana in salted water till done. [In my Indian-style pressure cooker, I would boil half a cup of kala chana in two cups of salted water on high heat till one whistle, then on low heat for another twenty minutes.]

Strain out the water used for boiling the kala chana. [Don’t throw away this water – use it in curries or for kneading parathas.]

2. Chop and Grate

Peel and cut the pumpkin into 2-cm cubes.

Peel and grate the ginger.

Cut green chili in half.

3. Cook it all together

Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed pan.

When the oil is hot, add the tadka ingredients: panch phoron, asafoetida, bay leaf, green chili and dry red chilies.

As soon as the tadka is done (quick check: the fenugreek seeds in the panch phoron should have turned a shade darker), follow with pumpkin cubes.

Mix well.

Cover and cook on medium heat till the pumpkin is about 3/4th done (10-12 minutes), stirring once or twice in between.

Now add grated ginger, salt, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder.

Cook for another two minutes with lid on. Add the boiled kala chana next, along with jaggery, amchoor powder and garam masala powder.

Mix well. Cook till the pumpkin is fully done.

Pumpkin kala chana is ready. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve pumpkin kala chana with chapatis, ghee, dal and plain yogurt.

Notes:

Try other Indian pumpkin recipes: pumpkin bharta, pumpkin adzuki bean curry, pumpkin mangodi.

The post Pumpkin Kala Chana, Bengali Style appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Both zucchini and tomatoes have high water content and when cooked together, stew gamely in their own juices without demanding much from the cook. You can have zucchini tomato curry simmering on one stove burner, rice on the other, while you focus on other pressing tasks.

You Need:

[for 3-4 servings]

• Zucchini* – 1 medium (350 grams)
• Tomatoes – 3-4 small (250 grams)
• Green chilies – 2
• Coriander leaves – a few sprigs
• Salt – 1/2 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Pepper powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Roasted cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
• Raw mango powder (amchoor powder) – 1/3 teaspoon
• Asafoetida – a pinch
• Cumin seeds – 1/3 teaspoon
• Oil – 2 teaspoons

*I have used yellow zucchini. Green zucchini works just as well.

How To Make Zucchini Tomato Curry:

Wash, remove the head and chop the zuchhini into chunks.

For thick (>= 2-inch diameter) zuchhini: cut into quarters lengthwise and chop into 3/4-inch segments.

For slim (< 2-inch diameter) zucchini: cut into half lengthwise and chop into 3/4-inch half-moons.

Chop tomatoes into similar-sized pieces.

Slit green chilies vertically.

Use a thick-bottomed pan with a close-fitting lid for cooking. Heat oil in the pan, set the heat to low and add to it cumin seeds and asafoetida.

When the cumin seeds turn a darker hue (keep watch – this will take just a few seconds, don’t let the spices burn), add slit green chilies.

Follow with zucchini chunks. Turn the vegetables around in the pan so that they are well-coated with the oil and spices.

Turn heat to medium-high, cook the zucchini covered for 2 minutes.

Uncover, add tomato chunks.

Add salt and these spices: turmeric powder, red chili powder. Mix well to coat the vegetables with the spice powders.

Cook covered on medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes. Once or twice in between, open the lid and turn the contents around for even cooking.

By this time, the zucchini would be almost done. Uncover, add these spices: raw mango powder, roasted cumin powder, pepper powder.

Cook for another minute or till the zucchini is soft enough to your liking.

Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves over the zucchini tomato curry.

Serve with rice, chapatis or bread.

Notes:

You could, if you wish, make the gravy runnier by adding some water midway between the covered cooking process. As it stands, this semi-dry style of zucchini tomato curry is super-convenient to carry in the lunchbox as well.

Looking for more quick and easy vegetable recipes? Try carrot radish curry, red capsicum curry, dahi aloo.

The post Zucchini Tomato Curry appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

You Need:

• Potatoes – 2
• Carrots – 2
• Tomatoes – 1
• Coriander leaves – 1/4 cup, finely chopped
• Onions – 1
• Salt – to taste
• Dry mango powder (amchoor powder) – 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chili flakes – 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Green chilies – 1
• Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Oil – 1/2 tablespoon

How To Make Aloo Gajar Ki Sabzi:

Peel potatoes and cut them into sticks, the way you’d cut them for fries.

Scrape the carrots and cut them in the same shape as the potatoes.

Peel and slice onions. Slit the green chili into half vertically. Chop or mince garlic.

Chop tomatoes and coriander leaves finely.

In a pan, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and coriander seeds. When the cumin seeds crackle and change color, add slit green chili, chopped garlic and sliced onions.

Saute for a minute, then add potato sticks. Stir around the potato in the pan to let the oil coat it evenly.

Cook covered on medium flame, tossing/stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes.

Mix in the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili flakes. Stir so that the spices form a film around the potato sticks.

Tip in carrot sticks into the cooking pan. Stir again.

Continue to cook covered on medium flame. After another 3-4 minutes, add chopped tomatoes to the pan.

When the potatoes and carrots are nearly done, add salt to taste, dry mango powder, and coriander leaves.

Mix well. Cook till the vegetables are done.

Q: How do you know the vegetables are "done"? When do you stop the cooking?

A: When you can pierce a potato or carrot with a toothpick easily but without having it break apart, that’s the time to take the potato carrot curry off the heat.

Aloo gajar ki sabzi is ready to serve.

Have it with parathas, raita and pickle.

Meal below: aloo gajar ki sabzi with chapatis and garlic chili chutney.

Notes:

Take a look at other (potato + X) combo veggie recipes:

The post Aloo Gajar ki Sabzi: Potato Carrot Curry appeared first on The Steaming Pot.