VAL (serves 2-3)

Tangy, sweet and spicy val

This is a tangy, sweet and spicy curry made from a certain kind of flat dried beans called val. Traditionally this is one of the many dishes which is made during a sacred ceremony - a part of a big meal but you can make it separately. It goes perfectly well with rice and chapati.  It comes from Saurashtra (Gujarat) located in western part of India.  This is my mom-in-law's one of  the best dishes !! Now this recipe calls for certain traditional ingredients which can be found easily in an Indian grocery store. One of them is kokum which is a purple colored fruit of a plant called garcinia indica. If you don't find it you can add lemon juice but it should be your last resort. We are specifically using val ranguni, they are white, flat and kidney shaped.

Val ranguni

Ingredients :-

1/2 cup val ranguni

3 dried red chilies

7 dried kokum phool (fruit of garcinia indica)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ajwain or carom seeds

2-3 tbsp jaggery (preferred) or sugar

pinch of hing or asafoetida

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1 1/2 tsp red chili pwd / to taste

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

coriander, chopped for garnish (optional)

water

Process :-

1.  Soak  val in a big bowl of water overnight, they will almost double in size by morning.

2.  Pressure cook the val with up to 4-5 whistles till soft but whole. These can be tricky to cook sometimes depending on their quality. If they aren't soft after 4-5 whistles, again cook with 2-3 whistles - make sure they shouldn't fall apart but still are soft.

3.  Meanwhile soak kokum in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water and set aside. It will turn into purple liquid.

4.  Heat oil on medium high in a pan. Add mustard seeds, once they have spluttered and messed up your kitchen top :) add carom seeds, asafoetida followed by turmeric pwd. and broken red chilies.

Red chilies add color

5.  Add red chili pwd and quickly add a big spoon of cooked val so as not to burn the chili pwd. Add remaining val, kokum phool along with the purple liquid. Finish it with salt, broken jaggery and little water if required, we want semi thick consistency. Mix it properly, taste it and add jaggery if reqd. - it should be tangy, sweet and spicy !  Garnish with coriander and serve hot !!

STUFFED BRINJAL AND RED POTATOES

Stuffed brinjal and red potatoes

This is one of the many famous vegetables/curries from India. There are various recipes for the stuffing, I am making the one which my friend told me about. I made a few changes to it adjust to my taste. Brinjal and eggplant belong to the same family but brinjal are purple, small and round in shape - you will easily find them in Indian grocery stores. I have tried using same sized red potatoes and brinjals so the dish looks nice. Let's look at the ingredients to get an idea what we will need. 

Ingredients :-

4 red baby potatoes, washed and dried
4 Indian style small brinjals, washed and dried
2 tbsp oil
pinch of asafoetida
handful of coriander, chopped

Stuffing :

1/8 cup fine gram flour/besan
4 tbsp roasted peanut powder
2 tbsp white sesame seeds, lightly toasted
2 tsp red chili pwd 
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/2 tsp lemon juice
5 tbsp roasted coriander cumin pwd
1 tbsp Maharashtrian style goda masala (preferred) / garam masala
1/8 tsp turmeric pwd.
1/8 tsp sugar

Process :-

1.  Mix all of the stuffing ingredients properly in a bowl.

2.  Make crosscuts like a plus (+) sign on the brinjal and red potato till the end but leaving some space don't they don't fall apart completely. Stuff them with the above mixture till the end. Keep aside the remaining mixture if any.

Stuffed with masala, ready to cook

3.  Heat 2 tbsp oil on medium high in a flat bottom wide pan. Add asafoetida and arrange all the stuffed brinjal and potatoes - masala side up (we want the stuffing intact :)) Sprinkle the leftover masala on top.

4. Cover it and let it cook on medium low heat for 15-20 mins. turning them once/twice with a spatula till they are cooked through but not mushy. Make sure they don't break or fall apart.

5.  Garnish with coriander and serve hot. The go perfectly well with chapati (Indian style bread).

FRESH CORN BHAJI / FRESH CORN FRITTERS

Crunchy golden corn bhaji !!

Summer is about to end but you can still entertain your taste buds with fresh corn bhaji or fritters. These are quick and easy to make so they work perfectly as an afternoon snack / appetizer when you have company. They are sure to steal the show when you take it to a party !! So let's look at the ingredients, you will need :

4 fresh corn
4 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger
4 green chilies (or acc. to taste)
1 medium red onion chopped
5-6 tbsp gram flour / besan
Salt to taste
handful of coriander chopped
oil for frying

Process :-

1.  Shuck the corn to remove all of the kernels. Keeping half of the kernels aside, crush the other half with ginger, green chilies and garlic cloves. Corn is sweet so I have used 4 green chilies, this will give nice hot and sweet taste to the fritters. You can decrease the amount acc. to your taste.

2.  Heat oil on medium high. Simultaneously add the whole kernels, salt, coriander and gram flour to the crushed corn batter. Gram flour is used for binding the fritters, they will not let the fritters fall apart in hot oil. Mix everything properly.

Corn bhaji batter

3.  Use a spoon to drop 2-3 even sized fritters in hot oil depending on the size of your pan. Remember never to overcrowd the pan else fritters will turn oily. Fry them till they turn crunchy and golden brown. Serve with ketchup or they taste yummy just by themselves !!

Yummy corn fritters !

SAMOSA

Chatpata Samosas !

Samosa is a very famous spicy appetizer from Indian cuisine. It is shaped like a triangle and normally stuffed with potatoes, onions, green peas or lentil filling.  It is normally fried but sometimes baked too. It tastes great with coriander chutney, tomato ketchup or even by itself. Let's look at the ingredients, they make 16 medium sized samosas.

Ingredients :-

Filling ::

3 medium sized potatoes boiled and mashed
1 small onion chopped fine
1/4 cup green peas, boiled and partially mashed
3 large cloves garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
2 green chilies
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp red chili pwd (or to taste)
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1/8 tsp turmeric pwd
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil + more for deep frying
Handful of coriander, chopped for garnish


Cover ::

3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp oil
water

Process :-

1.  Mince ginger, garlic and green chilies to form a paste.

2.  Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan on medium high, add mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter, add asafoetida and turmeric pwd. Now add onions and saute them for a minute or so, add potatoes, green peas and rest of the spices. Add lemon juice, coriander and mix properly. Keep it aside and let cool - our filling is ready. Divide it into 16 portions.

Samosa filling

3.  For the cover, make a pliable dough using the flour, oil and water. Cover it and let it rest for 10 mins. 

4.  Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Divide the dough into 8 equal sized balls. Take a dough ball and roll it into a circle of around 5 inch diameter. Cut it from the center to form 2 semi circles. So basically from one dough ball you will  make 2 samosas.

Semi circles are formed

5.  Form a cone out of the semi circle and stick the sides by applying water on your fingertips.

Shape it into a cone

 Fill the cone with a portion of the filing and overlap one side over the other forming a triangle. Use water to glue to sides together. Your samosa should be able to stand ! Use the same process to shape other samosa.

Samosas stuffed with filling 

Standing samosas !

6.  Simultaneously add 2-3 samosas to the fryer not overcrowding the frying pan. Fry for 2-3 mins. per side on medium heat till they turn golden in color and crisp on the outside.

Samosas getting fried

Samosa is ready !!

7.  Serve hot samosas with either coriander chutney or ketchup. Enjoy !!

Mouth watering samosa !!