Burnt Eggplant in Coconut Chutney

This is one side dish that comes into my mind instantly when I see eggplant! I used to dislike this veggie earlier, but now with a wide variety of dishes that can be prepared with the eggplant, I actually started liking it. This is quite easy to prepare - cook the eggplant on stovetop till the outer skin is burnt, after which the skin is removed and the inner part is added to a ground coconut chutney. Tastes great with chapathis, rottis, esp Ubbu rotti, and even with rice.

Burnt Eggplant in Coconut Chutney

Preparation time : 5 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 4 Ingredients: Eggplant - 3, medium sized, preferably purple ones Coconut - 1 cup, grated Green chilies - 5-6, depending on taste Channa dal - 2 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Coriander leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped Cooking oil - 1 tsp Jaggery - a small pinch (optional) Tamarind - a small marble sized ball Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Turmeric - 1 pinch For Tempering: Cooking oil - 1 tsp Curry leaves - A few sprigs Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Asafetida - a pinch, powdered Method: • Wash the eggplants, make sure there are no holes on the outer skin, which means there might be bugs inside • Smear a few drops of oil over the eggplant • Switch on the gas and place these eggplants directly over the flame • Turn it around every now and then and ensure an even blackening of the outer skin. This will take around 2 minutes per eggplant. • Poke the back of a spoon or a knife to check if it is cooked soft inside. • Repeat this for all the eggplants and set aside to cool • Meanwhile, roast green chilies, curry leaves and chana dal in a few drops of oil till they change color • Grind the above with coconut, turmeric, salt, tamarind, jaggery, coriander leaves, adding a little water if needed • Transfer the ground chutney to a serving bowl • Once the burnt eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel the outer charred skin. A thick layer comes out easily. • Mash this slightly or cut with a knife to get small pieces • Add it to the ground chutney and mix well For tempering / tadka: • Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard and allow to splutter • Add curry leaves • Garnish with tadka Tips n Tricks: • Do not make the chutney too smooth – a little coarse consistency will give a better taste • You can just bake the eggplant in oven too. But make sure to prick some holes all over, to prevent it from bursting inside the oven!

Ubbu Rotti - Rice flour roties

Where was I all these days? Well I was right at home and at office but too tied up with lots of work and expectations. Well, the last month - Shravana masa as we call it will generally be quite hectic with me, with all those poojas and festivals. Though there were quite many special dishes cooked, I didn’t have any energy or enthu to click and blog. So just stayed back from blogging. Now here I am, back in full swing!

Coming to today’s dish, we have what we call Ubbu rotti - a roti made of rice flour, which just puffs up like poori when making, and is very soft and melts in your mouth. Not very difficult to make, though requires a little more time than the usual chapathis or so, but its really worth a try.This tastes great with some chutney, vegetable palya, esp any side dish made of brinjal/eggplant. The side dish recipe will soon follow.

Ubbu Rotti

Preparation time : 20 min Cooking time : 20 min Makes : 8-10 Ingredients: Rice flour - 1 ½ cups + for dusting Water - 3 cups Salt - ½ tsp, or as per taste Cooking Oil - 2 tsp Method: • In a heavy bottomed pan, boil water by adding salt and a few drops of oil • Once water starts boiling, add rice flour and let it remain for 10 minutes on medium low flame • At the end of 10 minutes, take a strong ladle and continuously stir, avoiding lumps • Cook for a couple of minutes more. The resulting dough should be similar to that of papad dough - soft, but non sticky • Let it cool for a couple of minutes so that it can be handled • Divide the dough into 3-4 parts and knead it well, smearing a few drops of oil. See tips and tricks below for easier ways. • Once the dough is kneaded well into a soft but firm dough, take big small lemon sized balls and roll it using rolling pin like a chapatti/roti. Use a little amount of rice flour if it feels sticky • Heat a griddle on high flame and cook the rolled rotti on both sides by flipping. Ensure not to brown the rotti. Appearance of light brownish spots indicates that it is done. • Repeat the same with rest of the dough • Serve hot with some palya/gojju/chutney Tips n Tricks: • To avoid your palms getting burnt while kneading the hot dough, fill it in thick polythene and cover it in a towel / thick cloth and knead it over it. This way a smooth and soft dough will be ready in a jiffy • It is easy to knead the dough when hot rather than juggling it when it gets colder • Knead it, make into balls before you start rolling. This saves time and effort, and it gets easier to roll and then cook simultaneously • The better you knead, the easier it is to roll. If the dough is not kneaded well, while rolling the rottis start cracking and gets difficult to handle Variations: • The same can be prepared with fine soji or maida instead of rice flour. But the one with rice flour is a far healthier one.