Masala Puri - Bengaluru style

Anyone from the Indian subcontinent will agree to one thing about food - there is nothing more tantilising and taste-buds satisfying than a spicy, tangy, fresh CHAAT!! Wheather it is a pani puri from the carts or gobi manchurian from a fancy restaurant or good old sev puri made at home, a good Chaat can bring a smile on anyone's face :) 

Every time we visit Bengaluru we make sure we indulge in one of our favourites, MASALA PURI. Being back home sweet home though, it was too tempting not to re-create that Masala Puri magic..so here it is, my version of the very famous Masala Puri, made in a quick and easy way!

Ingredients (for two servings): 1.5 cups of green peas, 1 potato, 1 red onion, 1 tomato, 2 carrots, corriander, few cinnamon sticks, few cloves, salt, chilli powder, chaat powder, 1 spoon tamarind paste, 1 spoon garlic paste, crisp wheat crackers or papdis (Indian wheat biscuits), sev.

Make: In a pan, lightly fry in a spoon of oil, chopped onion and garlic until golden brown. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves and fry lightly. Add the peas and chopped potatoes and 1 carrot chopped with half a glass of water. Add salt and cover. Simmer in low heat for 15 to 20 minutes and you should see the peas and potatoes have cooked well and become very soft. This can also be pressure cooked. Once cooked let it cool a little and transfer all of it except some cooked peas (which is needed later) to a grinder. Grind to a paste then add salt, chilli powder, tamarind paste, chaat masala, the cooked peas from before and mix well.

To assemble Masala Puri, in a plate, make a layer of crispy crackers broken roughly, then pour the masala all over generously. Make a another layer of grated carrot, chopped tomato, chopped onion and few more crackers. Top with corriander and sev. Not only will it look mouth-watering, it will taste amazing with the mix of spicy and tangy flavours!

Spicy Stuffed Eggplant - Badnekayi Ennegayi

Some old recipes need to be made exactly the way they were meant to be. This special eggplant dish is famous in South India for being itself! Just absolutely delicious and it looks as great as it tastes!

So here it is, my version of the BADNEKAYI ENNEGAYI (Spicy stuffed eggplant/brinjal/aubergine): 

Ingredients: 8 to 10 small sized eggplants, slit into 4 but not completely cut. Chopped onion, handful curry leaves, salt to taste, turmeric powder, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp brown sugar/jaggery, 1 tsp tamarind. 

For the masala, 1/2 cup grated coconut, 1 tbls channa daal, 1 tbls peanuts, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, a pinch of fenugreek seeds, few chillies. 

Make: Dry roast all of the spices & peanuts except grated coconut till golden brown. Next put roasted spices in with the coconut, tamarind & chillies and grind to a paste using a little water as required. Take the masala paste and stuff into the slit eggplants so it's overflowing with masala. It is also possible to just use chopped eggplants instead of stuffing.

In a non stick pan, put in some oil, add mustard seeds, turmeric powder then saute chopped onions and curry leaves. Now add in the stuffed eggplants by placing them neatly around in the pan (do not toss around). Sprinkle salt to taste and cover to cook. After about 10 minutes, add some water on top and slighlty move around the pan without tossing the eggplants. The masala will have cooked and become redder in colour, the eggplants will be roasted and cooked well. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. 

Serve hot with rice or roti! Enjoy :)