Hyderabadi Baingan Bhartha

Our Blog. And how can it ever exist without a Brinjal dish??? We love and live on brinjals!! So here is our next recipe, Baingan Bhartha.We are not really sure of the authentic North Indian methods, but this is the Hyderabadi way of making Baingan Bhartha. Baingan is Brinjal, called as Vankaya in telugu, badnekay in kannada and katriga in tamil.

The preparation time is 30-45 mins and the recipe is as follows:

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

Large brinjal (referred to as bhartha waala baingan in local shops) 1
Finely chopped Onion (ullipaya) 1
Finely chopped tomatoes 2
Finely chopped green chillies 2
Finely chopped ginger 1 tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Finely chopped coriander to garnish
Salt and red chilly powder to taste.
Refined cooking oil 4 tsp
Cumin (jeera/jeelakarra) 1tsp

Method:

Wash the brinjal and wipe it thoroughly. Apply oil to the brinjal and place it directly on the stove flame to fry. It can also be done on the grill if available. Keep turning the brinjal till the brinjal changes colour. Now set the brinjal aside to cool.

Once it is cooled, peel the brinjal, the peel wears off quite easily. Now chop the stem portion of the brinjal.

Take a kadai (bandli/mookudu) or a pan. Add 2 tsp of oil, add jeera and once it splutters, add a pinch of turmeric and the onions, green chillies and ginger. Fry until the onions are golden brown.

Now add the tomatoes and cook till they are soft.

Add the brinjal and mash thoroughly while mixing the curry. Cook on simmer flame so that the curry is not burnt.

Add salt and Red Chilly powder (optional) and mix .Once thoroughly cooked, which may normally take 3-5 mins, switch the stove off.

Garnish with coriander before serving.

Baingan bhartha goes well with any of the Indian breads and also flavoured rice of any kind. Left to ourselves, we can eat it just like that!!

Kudumu

Lord Ganesha is always worshipped during all new and happy beginnings. As we begin our blog, we take off with a sweet that is Ganapati bappa’s favorite- The kudumu as it called in Karnataka and the Rayalaseema areas of AP and Kajjikaya in Andhra and Telangana regions.

Kudumus are a must inclusion in the Ganesh chaturthi festivities. For other occasions too kudumu is a simple and traditional sweet that is savoured by young and old. The preparation time is around 30 to 45 mins. The method is as follows:


Serves 2
Ingredients:
For the dough:
Refined Flour (Maida) 1 cup
Rice Flour (Biyyampindi/Akki hittu) 1/4th cup
For the Filling:
Dry Coconut grated (endukobbari) 1 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Cardamom powder (elaichi/yelakkaya) 1tsp
Refined cooking oil to deep fry
Method:

Mix the refined flour and rice flour with water to make dough of chapati dough consistency. Take medium sized balls of the dough and roll them out in circular shape.Thoroughly mix the dry coconut, sugar and powdered cardamom in a separate bowl.Place this filling in the centre of the circular rolls and fold into hemi-spherical rolls. Fold the edges together to close the roll completely. Twist the edges together like we twist a twine.

Deep fry in pre heated oil for tasty kudumus. It is advisable to fry the kudumus on simmer as they won’t turn black soon and get completely cooked in the inner portions too.

Kudumus can be stored in air tight containers for a week and normally last for 3 to 4 days.