Baingan Bharta / Aubergine in Spiced Sauce

Baingan Bharta is yet another delicious dish from Punjabi cuisine. My family , specially my Husband loves eating Baingan Bharta. We cook Baingan Bharta in two styles without Fry Tadka (Like Raw Chutney mix) and with Tadka.

This time I made by roasting the tadka with oven roasted Aubergine/Brinjal. Baingan bharta is largely made in North India and served with Roti, Chapati and Paratha. Raw onion slices and green chutney is the best companions of Baingan Bharta. I do not use awful lot of Spices, as with subtle taste of spices will bring out the smoky and roast aroma of brinjal very well. With just enough spices and oil makes this recipe awesome in taste.

We normally eat Baingan Bharta with Some kind of Kofte, Dal Makhani or Tadka Daal. This dish can be served in Lunch or dinner. I love to eat this in breakfast , if there is any leftover from dinner. Here I'm writing my way / my version of Baingan Bharta recipe. Have a go onto this simple recipe and wow your family with the awesome taste and aroma of this dish.

Ingredients:

Brinjals                             -1 kg / 2 large (Also known as Eggplants and Aubergine)
Onions                              -3 medium diced
Ginger                               -1 inch piece finely chopped
Garlic                                -5-7 cloves finely chopped
Green chillies                   -2 finely chopped
Tomatoes                          -4 medium finely chopped
Oil                                     -2 tbspoons
Asafetida                           -2 pinch
Cumin seeds                      -1 tspoon
Turmeric                           -1 tspoon
Coriander Powder             -2 tspoon
Red chilli powder             -1/2 tspoon
Garam Masala                  -1 tspoon
Amchoor                           - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                                   -to taste
Fresh coriander                -4 tbspoon chopped


Method:

Wash, dry and prick eggplants. Roast them over open flame or in a tandoor or in preheated oven until the skin starts to burn and separate or peel off.

Eggplants will start to shrink when they starts to cook from inside. At this point, I add diced onions and peeled garlic cloves and roasted them in oven for 5 more minutes.

Now let them cool down. You can cool them by dipping them in water as well, which I avoid to do.
Now remove the skin and mash the pulp completely.
In a blender, blend together roasted onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes. It should not be smooth puree, just blend it for few pulse to keep it coarse.

Heat oil in a kadai or fry pan. Add cumin seeds and asafetida to it.
As cumin starts to crackle, add the coarse mixture of onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes.
Add finely chopped green chillies and cook for a minute.

Now add the mashed roasted eggplants. Mix well.

Now add all dry spices  turmeric, coriander powder, red chili powder, amchoor, salt and mix very well.

Cook for 10-12 minutes over medium heat. Cover the pan while cooking it.

Stir in between these 10-12 minutes for few times, so that it doesn't stick and start to burn.
When Bhartha is cooked it will leave all the oil to the sides and this will look like thick mash.
Add about 3 tblspoon of chopped coriander in it and mix.

Baingan Bharta is ready to serve.
Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot. Bhartha can be a good company for Tadka daal or dal makhani with hot roti for lunch.

Punjabi Bhatura

As the name says, this is a hearty food. Punjabi food is spicy, tangy and delicious. Chole Bhature is the best known combination of Punjabi cuisine. We often eat Chole Bhature , because my family is a big fan of this dish, even friends come over for the chole bhature party.

Bhatura/Bhature, is made another form of fried bread made from plain flour/maida or sometimes 50:50 ratio of wheat flour and Maida. I make it each way. Some people add semolina in it to get the crunchy texture, but that makes Bhatura to soak a lot of oil, which noone in my family likes.

This recipe of Bhatura is my mom's recipe and tried and tested by me several times. So I totally trust this recipe. My mum keeps the dough to ferment overnight and then knead it again to active the gluten of the flour. Thats what I've learned from her and use her way of making Soft, fluffy and delicious Bhaturas.

Few ingredients, less hassle recipe is the best recipe for me. You also try this recipe at home and leave your feedback in comments below. I would love to hear from you. Until next time............... Happy Cooking Friends, Saumya

Ingredients:

Maida/Plain Flour                   - 1-1/2 cups
Salt                                          - to taste / 1 tspoon
Oil/Butter                                - 1 tblspoon + for deep frying
Yogurt                                     -  1/3 cup
Baking Powder                        - 1/2 tspoon
Baking Soda                            - 1/4 tspoon
Warm Water                            - 1/2 cup to as required

Method:

In a mixing bowl, take the yoghurt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 tblspoon oil, salt  and flour.
Mix well, with the help of water form a soft smooth and pliable dough.

If the yogurt is thick and has it's water/whey in it, probably you don't need all the water.
If the yogurt is thick, then to thin the batter, add more water.

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set it aside in a warm place for atleast 3-4 hours to get the fermentation. if the weather is too cold, keep the dough overnight..
The 4 hours later/next day you will see the dough will be more than double in size and has bubbles in it.
Punch and Knead the dough again to make it smooth.

Divide it into 8-10 balls (depending on the size of Bhatura you like)  and roll them into 5-6 inch discs.

Heat oil or ghee in heavy Karahi/Pan and deep fry the bhaturas, same way as Poori or Kachori.

Bhaturas are the best companion of Punjabi Chole. Serve them Hot with Chole, Raita, Salad and Chutney.

Amritsari Kulcha / Stuffed Flat Bread

Kulche & Chole is a very popular breakfast, brunch or street food in the North of India. Be it Delhi, Punjab or now even UP, whole of north India loves this one plate food. I have never been to Punjab, but I'm always fascinated to go there and visit famous cities and their monuments, specially Golden temple. Punjabi food, as we all know is THE most delicious food in the world, spicy, tangy, full of ghee!! Yummy!!!!  This is a very famous street food around North India.

Amritsari Kulcha is the stuffed variety of regular Kulchas. Authentically these kulchas are rolled and stretched between your palms and fingers not with rolling pins. These are cooked in Clay ovens not in electronic ovens or griddles. They are accompanied by Spicy thick Chole, Yogurt Dip, runny onion chutney, Salad and Pickle.

I've had Chole Kulche, so so so many times in my life. I've tried them in many places, in my native, It's surrounding cities, Delhi, UK and so on....But everywhere the taste is different. But I love this combo a lot. I often make this combo and we go for seaside picnic. Warm sunny day, cold breeze from sea, lots of seaside water play and when you are hungry, you eat Chole Kulche. Thats is called day well spend. My hubby is also a big big fan of Punjabi food, He is a foodie basically, he loves tasty food, be it North Indian, South Indian or from anywhere else. The food should be awesomely tasty.

As it is Father's Day today, I thought to treat my hubby, who is an AMAZING father, with Chole Kulche in breakfast. He just loved when me and kids present this combo on breakfast. We all enjoyed the Kulchas together and now we are off to have some outside fun.........You also try making this combo and I'm sure everyone in your family will love it. Let me know your feedback on this recipe by dropping a comment............. Until next time, Happy Cooking Friends, Saumya

Ingredients:

For Kulcha:
Whole Wheat Flour               - 1 cup
Plain Flour                             - 2 cups
Sugar                                      - 1/2 tblspoon
Baking Soda                           - 1/4 tspoon
Oil                                           - 2 tspoon
Yogurt/Curd                            - 3/4 cup
Salt                                          - 1 tspoon / to taste
Water                                       - 1/4 to 1/3 cup for kneading of the dough

For Stuffing:
Potatoes                            - 4 medium size boiled and Mashed
Onion                                - 1 medium chopped finely (will give you around 4 tblspoon )
Paneer                               - 1/2 cup crumbled
Grated Cheese                  - 1/2 cup grated Mozzarella
Green Chillies                  - 3 finely chopped (gives you 1 full tspoon)
Red Chili Powder             - 1/4 tspoon + 1/4 tspoon
Amchoor                           - 1/4 tspoon + 1/4 tspoon
Coriander Powder             - 1/4 tspoon + 1/4 tspoon + 1/4 tspoon
Garam Masala                   - 1/4 tspoon + 1/4 tspoon + 1/4 tspoon
Salt                                    - to taste for all 3 stuffings
Coriander                          - 3 tblspoon freshly chopped ( 1 for each stuffing)


Method:

Making Kulcha Dough:
Take a deep mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, plain flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Whisk well.

Now add yogurt and oil into it.
Start mixing your hands lightly.
With the help of little water at a time start to knead the dough. Adding water depends on the quality of flour as well, so add little at a time.

Take it out on lightly floured surface and knead with hands for few minutes.

Knead it to a smooth soft dough. cover the dough and keep aside for atleast 2 hours.

I used my stand mixer so threw everything together and mixed for 2 minute in low and 5 minutes in high speed with the dough hook on.

Making the Stuffing:
While the dough is resting we will make the stuffings. I made 3 types of stuffing for everyone's taste.

Potato Stuffing:
Mix Mashed Potato, 3/4 tspoon chopped green chillies, 2 tblspoon chopped onion, 1/4 tspoon Red chili powder, 1/4 Amchoor, 1/4 Coriander powder, 1/4 Garam masala, Salt and 1 tblspoon chopped coriander.
Mix everything well to make stuffing like a dough.

Paneer Stuffing:
Mix Crumbled Paneer, 1/4 tspoon chopped green chillies, 2 tblspoon chopped onion, 1/4 tspoon Red chili powder, 1/4 Amchoor, 1/4 Coriander powder, 1/4 Garam masala, Salt and 1 tblspoon chopped coriander.
Mix well with hands to incorporate everything together.

Cheese stuffing:
Mix Grated Cheese,  2 tblspoon chopped onion, 1/4 Amchoor, 1/4 Coriander powder, 1/4 Garam masala, Salt and 1 tblspoon chopped coriander.
Mix very well to combine everything.

Preparing Kulchas:
After 2 hours, or when you are ready to make, knead the dough again to smooth it out.
Make medium size balls out of it, like a cricket ball. I made 11 kulchas out of this quantity.
Lightly flour the work surface/rolling board.
Place the dough ball of it and roll a 4 inch circle.

Place 2 tblspoon of stuffing on it.

Pinch the end edges together to make it a ball again.

Roll it gently between your palms.

Sprinkle some more flour on work surface/rolling board.
Now roll the stuffed ball, slowly / gently with a rolling pin, into a 7-8 inch circle / or your choice of size.

Heat a heavy bottomed Tawa/Griddle.
Place the rolled Kulcha on the tawa. Sprinkle few drops of water on it.

Cover it and let it cook for 1 minute.

It will start to form some puffs on the Kulcha.

Now flip it over and cover again for it to puff fully.

Once cook from both side, which is turned golden brown evenly from both side, take it out of the griddle and put it on cooling rack.
Spread generous amount of ghee/butter/clarified butter on it.
After cooking each Kulcha, wipe clean the Tawa/Griddle.
Use the same process with Paneer and Cheese stuffing as well.

For Cheese and Paneer Kulchas, I made them by baking in the oven. Preheated the oven on max temperature. Place the rolled Cheese and Paneer kulcha on non-stick baking mat/greased baking tray.

Bake until both sides are golden brown.

Once baked take them out on a cooling rack and Spread generous amount of ghee/butter/clarified butter on them.
Serve the Kulchas with Chole, Raita, Salad and Chutney.

Daal Makhni

Ingredients:

Whole Urad Dal/Black Gram                                  - 1 cup
Red Kidney Beans/ Lal Rajma                                - 1/2 cup
Onion                                                                       - 1 medium finely chopped or pureed
Tomatoes                                                                 - 1 large finely chopped or pureed
Ginger                                                                      - 1/2 inch crushed or pureed
Garlic                                                                       - 5-6 cloves crushed or pureed
Hing                                                                         - a pinch
Cumin Seeds                                                            - 1/2 tspoon
Black Cardamom                                                     - 1
Bay leaf/Tej Patta                                                    - 1
Cloves/ Laung                                                         - 2-3
Black pepper/Kali Mirch                                        - 4-5
Whole Coriander                                                    - 5-10 seeds
Cinnamon Stick/Dalchini                                       - 1 inch small stick
Mace/Javitri                                                           - one cover
Butter                                                                     - 2 tblspoon
Oil                                                                          - 1 tblspoon
Salt                                                                         - to taste
Garam Masala                                                        - 1/2 tspoon
Amchoor                                                                - 1/2 tspoon
Turmeric                                                                - 1/4 tspoon
Yogurt / cream                                                       - 1 tblspoon
Fresh Coriander leaves                                          - 2 tblspoon chopped well
Water                                                                     - as required for your choice of consistency


Method:

Wash and soak the Kidney Beans overnight.
Wash the whole black gram.
In a pressure cooker, Black gram and soaked kidney beans.
Add water. Pressure cook for some 12-15 whistles, as Kidney beans and black gram takes lots of time to soften.
Open and check if both the lentils and beans are cooked.
You should be able to mash both the urad dal and rajma with your fingers if they are cooked completely.
If they are not cooked thoroughly, then pressure cook for few more whistles. Add some more water if required.
Now open the cooker and take the lentils and beans out in a bowl and keep aside.
Now in a heavy bottom pan, heat butter and oil and add all whole spices, Hing, Cumin, Cardamom,Bay Leaf,Cloves,Black Pepper,Cinnamon,Mace, and coriander.
When whole spices starts to crackle, add chopped Onion and Garlic. Saute them until they start to turn golden brown.
Now add ginger and tomato puree along with all the powdered spices, Turmeric, Amchoor,Salt and Garam Masala.
Mix it well and let it cook until the oil starts to separate.
Now add the lentil and beans mix to the tadka. Mix very well and add some water if it's too dry.
Let the daal simmer in the pan for 5-7 minutes.
Switch off the flame after maximum of 7 minutes, mix it again well.
Once its starts to cool down a bit add some cream to it and mix well again.
Garnish the Daal Makhni with some freshly chopped coriander and some cream.
Dal Makhni goes very well with Rice, Naan or Laccha Paratha.

Sarso Ka Saag

Ingredients:

For the saag:

Mustard leaves/sarson ke patte                      - 1 Bunch, chopped
Spinach leaves/palak                                      - 1/2 Bunch, chopped
Fenugreek/methi                                            - 1/2 Bunch, chopped
chenopodium/bathua leaves                           - 1/2 Bucnh, chopped (Optional)
White Radish Leaves/ Mooli ke Patte            - 1/2 Bucnh, chopped (Optional)
Water                                                              - 2 cups
Maize flour/Polenta/Cornmeal                       - 1 cup
Salt                                                                  - to taste

For the tadka/tempering:

Oil/Ghee/Makkhan                                    - 2 tblspoon
Garam Masala                                           - 1/2 tspoon
Red chili powder                                       - 1/2 tspoon
Asafoetida                                                 - 2 pinch
Onions                                                       - 2 medium sized finely chopped
Ginger                                                       - 2 inch finely chopped
Green chilies                                             - 2-3 finely chopped
Garlic                                                        - 6-7 finely chopped



Method:

Firstly clean thoroughly and chop all the greens.
Wash the greens very well.

Take a pressure cooker or deep saucepan add all the ingredients listed under saag except for maize flour.

Cover the pressure cook and cook for 15 minutes.
If cooking in a pan, then cover and let the greens cook till they are tender and kind of mixed very well. Do check the greens occasionally.

Now take a Dasher/Potato Masher/Mathani, and mash the greens very well and keep mashing for around 6-7 minutes until they blend together and looks smooth.

Now mix the maize flour with spoon, put one spoon at a time and mix and another spoonful again and mix. Do not mix all the maize flour at once else it will be lumpy and you have to use the mixer or blender for it.

Once mixed well and look smooth puree again, now is the time to prepare the Tadka for Saag.
Take a deep pan, heat Oil or Ghee or Makkhan.

Add the chopped onions, Ginger and Garlic, saute them until light brown.

Add the prepared saag to this tadka pan. Stir and simmer for a couple of 7-10 minutes. stir occasionally.

Serve sarson ka saag hot with Makke ki Roti, Salad and Daal Makhni.