Dahi Baingan

Though I have eaten "Dahi Baingan" all my life, I developed a liking for it only after marriage. One my relatives, the very sweet “B”Aii (maternal grandmother in Oriya) had invited us for lunch. There she served us a rich and sweet version of "Dahi Baingan" and instantly hubby and me fell in love with it. Immediately it was tried at home, however it took some trials to get that kind of yum "Dahi Baingan". Thanks “B” Aii for re-introducing us to best tasting "Dahi baingan" ever. However, I too have added some of my subtle touches to the dish.

Dahi Bainga is not very complicated and does its duty as a crowd pleaser very well. So be it for guests at home or for potluck fun, it has always been a hit . So do try this as a side-dish which is sweet, spicy and does one of the best treatments to our baingan . It also pairs up as a side-dish well with both veg and non-veg main course.

Dahi baingan

Serves- 5-6 people

Ingredients :

Baingan or Brinjal (big variety) - 1 (Finely sliced)

Thick curd or Yogurt- 350 gm

Turmeric powder- 2tsp

Sugar- 4-5 tbsp (depending on your expected sweet level)

Salt to taste

Black salt- 1 tsp

Garlic- 6 tbsp (finely chopped)

Curry leaves- 1 spring

Green chillies (small) - 4 (finely chopped)

Ginger- 1 inch (crushed)

Panch phoron- 1 tsp

Oil for deep frying the brinjals

Oil- 1 tbsp for tadka

Procedure:

Take a bowl, add yogurt or thick curd, salt, black salt, black pepper and sugar to it and whisk everything well. Marinate the sliced brinjal or baingan with salt and turmeric powder. Then deep fry them the brinjal slices till tender. Keep an eye, so as not to burn the brinjal slices otherwise you may end with bitter tasting brinjals. Strain and keep it aside.  Take oil again in the pan (I prefer using mustard oil), then add panch phoron. Let it splutter, after that add, curry leaves, crushed ginger, chopped garlic, green chilies. Fry it well and then add the tadka to Dahi Baingan. Mix well and cool it for an hour before serving.

Notes:

If you don’t have paanch phoron (The famous Oriya and Bengali spice mix), don’t worry use a mix of mustard seeds and cumin seeds, or even any of them individually for tempering.

This is a sweet version of "Dahi Baingan", so if you want it to be tangy don’t add any sugar.

You may add about 1/2 tbsp of besan to the curd to avoid any curdling.

"Dahi Baingan" goes along as an accompaniment with plain rice or pulao.

The spice-less chicken gravy with butter garlic tadka

The spice-less chicken gravy with butter garlic tadka

I call it spice-less because I have omitted the usage of overdoes of spices (only turmeric powder and chili powder goes into it). Well I have a habit of glorifying my chicken dishes with lot of spices. When my mummy came to my place she causally told me that she cooks chicken without any special spices. I was surprised because I had never tried chicken that way. However, recently, I decided to give it a try and the result was remarkably juicy yummy chicken.

The spice-less chicken gravy with butter garlic tadka:

Serves: 4-5 persons

Ingredients: 
Chicken- 1.2 kg
Onions (medium) - 7 (finely sliced)
Tomato (medium) – 3 (finely chopped)
Curd- 1 cup
Turmeric powder- 2 tsp
Red chili powder- 1 tbsp
Kashmiri chili powder- 2 tsp
Oil- 2 tbsp
Butter- 1 tbsp
Garlic- 4 tbsp (finely chopped)
Green chilies- 6
Sugar- 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure:

 Marinate chicken for 1 hour with curd and turmeric powder. Then take oil in a kadhai with some sugar. After the sugar melts, add onions and sauté it well till translucent. After that mix in the chicken along with marinade and keep on frying on high heat. Continue cooking till the water dries up and then add the chopped tomatoes, salt, Kashmiri chili powder and red chili powder. Cover and cook till the chicken is done. It will take around 45 minutes. Meanwhile heat a tadka pan, melt the butter in it and add the chopped garlic and green chilies. Fry it till the garlic turns light brown and then add to the chicken. Give a final stir and its ready to be served.

Notes:

You may alter the quantity of chili powder used in the recipe according to your liking.

The spice-less chicken goes well with masala rice.

Shahi Mushroom Matar

Shahi Mushroom Matar-

Sometime mistakes in kitchen are needed. While making this recipe, I made a mistake and was actually skeptical about the outcome, but I decided to move ahead with it. When I tasted the gravy I felt elated. Well “No risk no gain”. Mushroom and green peas partnered amazingly with the rich gravy base to create this very memorable dish.

Shahi Mushroom Matar -

Serves- 2-3 persons

Ingredients:

Button mushrooms- 200 gms (cut into thick slices)

Green peas- 1 cup (fresh)

Onions (small) - 2 (finely chopped)

Tomatoes (large) – 2 (roughly chopped)

Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Coriander powder- 1 tbsp

Cumin powder- 3 tsp

Chili powder- ¾ tbsp

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Cashew- ½ tbsp

Melon seeds- ½ tbsp

Copra or grated coconut- 4 tbsp

Green cardamom- 2

Clove- 4

Cinnamon- 1’’ inch

Mace or javitri- 1

Milk- ¼ cup

Coriander leaves- 4 tbsp

Oil+ghee- 1 ½ tbsp

Bay leaf- 1

Shahi zeera- 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Procedure:

 Boil the green peas in salted water and the mushrooms in turmeric and salted water respectively till done.  Strain and keep them aside in separate bowls. Heat oil+ghee in a Kadhai, then add bay leaf and shahi zeera. After they have spluttered add onions and sauté them well till translucent. Meanwhile, grind tomatoes into fine paste. Then add ginger-garlic paste. Fry it well, and after the raw smell disappears add tomato paste alongwith turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Cover and cook on a medium flame. During this time boil the cashew and melon seeds for 5 minutes. In another pan take copra or grated coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and mace and dry roast it till browned completely. Well that was the mistake I was talking about- I forgot to re-enter the kitchen at the correct time as I got entangled with a short conversation with hubby. This resulted in complete browning of copra. I was scared and thought of discarding it as I did not want the gravy to emit any burned smell. However, I decided to go ahead with the trial. Then I took it off, cooled it down. Along with milk, boiled cashew-melon seeds and roasted spices grounded it into a smooth paste. When the masala is well cooked, add the grounded masala and some water according to your desired gravy consistency. Bring the gravy to boil, add mushrooms and green peas. Cover and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Check the salt and spice level. Finally add coriander leaves and take it off stove.

Notes:

If you want to impress guest with this Shahi mushroom matar sauté the mushrooms in ghee. Add cream and mint leaves to garnish.

Shahi mushroom matar tastes best with pulao or paranthas.