Stir-fried beetroot with lentil crumble from Chettinad (Beetroot Paruppu Usili)

This Recipe is inspired from Chandra Padmanabhan's Simply South. Her recipes are a real treasure!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Thuvar dal (pigeon peas)
1/2 cup husked bengal gram(chana dal)
6 dried red chillies
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
Salt to taste
4cups grated beetroot
1 onion, finely chopped

Tempering
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp husked black gram dal(urad dal)
1 green chilli, halved
1 sprig curry leaves

Preparation

Wash dals and soak in 2 cups water with red chillies for 1 hour. Drain and grind to a coarse batter, gradually adding 1/3-1/2 cup water.
Add asafoetida powder and 3/4 tsp salt. Mix well and set aside.
Pressure cook the beetroots, let them cool. Remove the skin and grate.
In a pan, heat oil for tempering over moderate heat. Add the tempering ingredients in the order given. When mustard seeds splutter, add onions and fry till pink.
Blend in dal batter and fry over low heat stirring frequently, till mixture is well cooked, crisp and resembles breadcrumbs. (but not hard)
Mix in beetroot and stir-fry for 5 minutes till well blended.
Serve hot with rice.

Bajra ki Masaledar Roti

Bajra Rotis are  very popular in Rajasthan. I did some mix and match to it and gave it a makeover:)

Ingredients
2 cup Bajra Flour (Millet)
1 cup Whole wheat flour
1 medium potato boiled and mashed
1 radish grated
Salt to taste
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 finely chopped onion (optional)
1tsp chilli powder
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 tbsp olive oil
water to make dough

Preparation
Sift together the two flours into a bowl. Add the mashed potatoes, radish, all the masalas and olive oil. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Cover the dough to rest for ten minutes. Divide the dough into small equal portions and form into balls. Make small rotis, use extra flour for rolling if required. Heat tawa/griddle and make the roti by adding oil, Fry till they give Paratha like texture.
Serve hot with Pickles, chutneys, or just butter:)

Sending this to Nags for The Balance Mantra.

Bharli Vangi (Stuffed Brinjals)

This  learnt this recipe from a very sweet Maharashtrian friend of mine long back .  Pulled it out of my drafts today:)

Ingredients
    * 12-14 small brinjals/eggplants,
    * 1 cup dry shredded coconut,
    * 1/2 cup peanut powder or peanuts (roasted),
    * 1/4 cup sesame seeds,
    * 1 tbsp each coriander-cumin seeds,
    * 2 tbsp Maharashtrian goda Masala    
    * 1 tsp tamarind pulp,
    * 1 tbsp jaggery,
    * 2 tsp chilli powder,
    * salt to taste,
    * 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste (optional),
    * 1/2 tsp asafoetida,
    * 1 tsp turmeric powder.
    * 2 tsp oil


Preparation

   1. Remove stems and give four vertical slits (not fully) to the brinjals from the top. If you want to keep the stems, give the slits from the bottom of the brinajls keeping the stem intact. Keep them in salt water for 10 minutes and rinse. Set aside.
   2. Roast coconut, sesame seeds, coriander-cumin seeds together till light brown. Powder this mixture and combine tamarind, jaggery, peanut powder, ginger-garlic paste, salt, chilli powder and goda masala with the ground spices. Alternatively, grind all these ingredients together with the roasted mixture.
   3. Stuff all the brinjals with above masala.
   4. Take a kadai or a shallow non stick pan, and heat oil in it. Add mustard seeds. When you hear spluttering sound, add asafoetida and turmeric powder.
   5. Add the brinjals and the leftover masala. Gently fry for sometime. Add 1/2 cup water.
   6. Cover and cook over low-medium heat for about 15-25 min or until the brinjals turn soft and completely cooked. (To keep the masala from sticking to the bottom of the pan, cover the pan with a deep platter with some water in it. It helps the curry cook evenly without burning.)
   7. Remove the lid and stir to check if the brinjals are done. If not, cook further until well done. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapati or rice.
Variations:
1) Chop 1 small onion and combine it with the ground masala in step 2. Follow rest of the method same as above.
2) Add potato cut into vertical pieces along with the brinjals.
3) Stuff small potatoes in the same way as brinjals and cook them along with the brinjals.