Happy New Year Wishes and Christmas pics!!

Hope You all had a wonderful Christmas ! My Son's vacation in on so I am on the move:) Ooty to Hyderabad and then B'lore!! Thought of sharing some pics and wishing all of you " A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year. Hope this new year brings more happiness in everyone's life.

This would be my last post of the year:)

Charing Cross Ooty


Home Made Chocolates which are very famous!









The famous Christmas Plum Cake















Christmas Procession of Santa Claus


People dressed in a Lovely way and in the middle "Mother Mary sitting with little Jesus"



This is Hyderabad Central Mall


Will be back with more pics next year !!

Brinjal-cranberry beans gravy

This recipe is inspired from Sailu's Vankaya Gasagasala Kura. She tempted me so much with her pics that I had to make them. I did not get the lovely colour which is in her gravy though:(. I did a slight variation by adding fresh cranberry beans which is famous in Ooty. The locals here grow them and make a special curry with it(Will blog about it later). This beans makes any curry so flavourful!




Ingredients

1 cup fresh cranberry beans
6-8 baby brinjals, washed and sliced
1 medium onion sliced
1 1/2 tbsps oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
a pinch of roasted methi/fenugreek/menthi pwd
a pinch of roasted cumin pwd
3 tbsps khus khus/poppy seeds, roasted and ground to a paste
1 1/2 tbsps jaggery
1 lemon sized tamarind, pulp extracted
Fresh chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste

Preparation

Wash and pressure cook the beans for 2-3 whistles.
Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp oil, to this add the sliced brinjals and roast them till soft and brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan, add the remaining oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds and as they splutter, add the cumin seeds and allow to splutter. Add ginger garlic paste and saute, Add onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the roasted khus khus(poppy)paste, tamarind extract and jaggery and cook on medium high flame. Add salt, red chilli pwd, turmeric pwd, coriander pwd, cumin pwd, roasted methi pwd, combine well and cook till the oil comes out of the mixture. If the mixture is too thick you can add 1/2 to 1 cup of water.
Add the roasted brinjal slices and cooked beans and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes or till the gravy turns thick. Turn off heat, garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with rice or rotis.
I was cooking for first time with poppy seeds and thanks to Sailu, My family enjoyed the curry!

Baingan ki kadhi ( Eggplant in yogurt gravy)

This kadhi becomes flavourful because of the use of Panch Phoron( mixture of five kinds of seeds).

Ingredients

10-12 baby brinjals cut length wise
1 1/2 cup yogurt
2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp onion seeds
4 dried red chillies (broken into halves)
handful of curry leaves
a dash of asafoetida
salt to taste

Preparation

In a bowl, mix together the yogurt, gram flour, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste and 2 cups of water. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, add brinjal pieces and saute on medium heat till soft and cooked. Remember the brinjals should retain shape. Drain and set aside.
In the same pan add 2 tbsp oil, add fennel, mustard, cumin, fenugreek and onion seeds. When the seeds start spluttering add red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves. To this add the yogurt mixture and stir. Cook, till the kadhi thickens, stirring continously.
Add sauteed brinjals and bring the kadhi to boil.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot.