Vatha Kolambu

Notes:There are about 8 cloves (medim sized) garlic. Each one is cut into two. Garlic needs to be in that size for this stew (looks like you don't add any Garlic for "authentic" vatha kulambu)The lentil (paruppu) you see in the sifter: it's one table spoon 'kadala paruppu' and one table spoon 'thuvaram paruppu (used for sambar). They are microwaved in 1 cup of water for 3 minutes. Then the water is retained with the paruppu kept aside.You can liquify about lemon sized ball of tamarind or take about a teaspoon tamarind paste and dissolve it in water. (here you can use the water left from the microwaved lentils.)Of the onion used (shown in the video), half should be ground coaresely and half should be chopped. (the coarsely ground onion helps adding thickness to the stew).Vegetable could be anything. Prferrably brinjal, drumsticks or brussel sprouts (any one of these)'Sunda vathal' is not essential, but adding it gives additional flavour.You can use anywhere between 1.5 to 2 tea spoonfuls of sambar powder (and two pinches of turmeric powder/manjal thool).Vatha kolambu is basically 'watery', if you want to make it thick you can either add chickpea flour (kadala maavu) or boil 1 tb spoon 'thuvaram paruppu' for 10 mins, mash it and add it to stew (all this in addition to contents already in the pan/pot).Please let me know if anything is not clear."Authentic" Recipe:Spicy Vatha KozambhuIngredients1 lemon size Tamarind or tamarind concentrate1 large Onion1 large Tomato1 tsp grated Coconut1/4 tsp Mustard seeds1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds1 tsp Toor Dal5-6 Red ChilliesPinch of Asafoetida4 tsp Sesame OilSalt to tasteMethod: 1. Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 min. and take out pulp (you should be able to get 2 cups of tamarind water). 2. Fry fenugreek seeds, toor dal and red chillies with a drop of oil until they become little crisp. 3. Grind onion, tomato grated coconut and the fried mix of toor dal, fenugreek seeds and red chillies to a paste. Do not add water while grinding. 4. In a pan heat sesame oil, add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the tamarind extract and boil at low heat for 5 minutes. Add the grounded paste, salt to taste and pinch of asfoetida. Boil the mix for 12-15 min. until the mix gets a thick consistency. You can also add some rice flour mixed with water to thicken the kozambhu. 5. Serve it with Hot Rice and fried Papadam.

Vankaya (Egg plant / Brinjal) Tomato Pachhadi (Chutney)

Exhaustive recipe text in English available on http://www.gayatrivantillu.com/vankayatomatopachhadi

Baingan Aloo

Ingredients
8-10 small round eggplants
approximately 3 inch size
3-4 medium size potatoes
1 branch of curry patta
6 t. oil
1 c. water
3 t. besan (gram) flour
3 t. dhania powder
less than 1/4 t. haldi
heaping t. red chili powder
1/2 c. fresh coriander leaves
stems removed
2 t. salt
i heaping t. sugar
1 t. til (sesame seeds)
1/4 t. oil

Method
Slice the ends of the tiny round eggplants, score in half, and open coarsely.
Remove seeds somewhat. Add 6 t. oil in a pan and add the potatoes chopped in approximately 1 inch pieces.
Add 1 cup of water so the potato does not turn brown. Cook on medium heat,
covered. Take 3 t. besan flour, 3 t. dhania powder, less than 1/4 t. haldi, 1 heaping t. red chili, 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, 2 t. salt, 1 heaping t.sugar,
1 t. sesame seeds, and 2 t. oil and combine these into a masala.
Add 1 spring of curry patta. Mix the masala to include the 2 t. oil. Stuff the masala into the eggplants. Cover and turn heat to medium. Let sit for approximately 10 minutes. Stir and mix the eggplant and potatoes.
After about 10-15 minutes check to see if potatoes are done. They will be soft. Add the rest of the masala and mix carefully after another 10 minutes.

Note: Another name for the small round eggplants is brinjals. The large
eggplant is bhartha baingan.



Recipe taken from RecipezWorld.com - http://www.recipezworld.com
URL to this Recipe: http://www.recipezworld.com/indian-recipes/brinjal-indian-recipes/baingan-aloo/