Brinjal Rice

Here is an awesome rice dish. Its aroma will make anyone’s mouth water!

Ingredients:

Rice     - 1 cup (100 gm)

Brinjal  - 3 medium size (250 gm)

Oil        - ½ cup

Mustard seeds  - ¼ tsp

Onion   - 1 small sliced

Curry leaves     - 1 sprig

Salt to taste

Tamarind          - a small ball, soak and squeeze

For masala powder:

Chana dal (Bengal gram)           - 1tbsp

White sesame   - 3/4tbsp

Udad dal (Black gram split and cleaned)           - 1 tbsp

Coriander seeds           - 1 tbsp

Red chilli          - 3, break into pieces

Turmeric powder- ½ tsp

Method:

-         Wash rice, add water and salt and cook for ten minutes. Drain and keep aside.

-         While the rice is boiling, roast the chana dal on low flame. After ½ minute, add udad dal, stir, then add sesame, broken chilli pieces, and coriander seeds.

-         When the dals brown and a good aroma comes, take off from the flame, cool and grind to a rough powder. Add turmeric powder to this and mix.

-         Cut brinjals into small cubes and add to ¼ cup oil in a pan on medium flame. Add a little turmeric powder and let it cook, stirring occasionally.

-         Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cut onion and curry leaves.

-         When the onion browns slightly, add the ground masala powder and tamarind pulp. Stir in fried brinjals and rice.

-         Mix well; keep for a few seconds on low flame, and remove from fire.

-         Serve with papad, pickle and raita.

Kalathappam/ Kalthappam

Kalathappam,  made from rice flour, jaggery sugar, fried onions and coconut flakes, is a Malabar (Kannur/ Kerala ) delicacy. Coming from the southern part of Kerala, I was not aware of this wonderful preparation, till a few months back, when a friend from abroad visiting Kerala told me that it was one of the best dishes he had ever had. And when I prepared it, I understood why he was all praise for it.

 'Kalam' in Malayalam means 'cooking pot' and 'Appam' is a kind of pancake prepared of rice flour. In olden days, Kalathappam used to be prepared in a kalam, hence the name.

Ingredients:

Raw rice           - 1 cup

Cooked parboiled rice  - ½ cup

Grated coconut - ½ cup

Jaggery - 200 gms

Coconut oil       - 3 tbsps

Cardamom       - a few

Baking soda     - a pinch

Salt      - a pinch

Jeera    - ½ tsp

Shallots            - 10 to 15, peeled and cut into 2 or 3 pieces

Fresh coconut cut into small pieces        - 2 tbsps

Water   - 1 cup

Method:

-Soak the rice for about an hour. Drain, grind it with ½ cup water, cooked parboiled rice, coconut scrapings, jeera and cardamom into a fine paste.

- Meanwhile, add jaggery to the remaining ½ cup of water and put on low fire. When it dissolves, sieve it and keep aside.

- Heat the coconut oil, fry the coconut pieces to light brown color and remove them.

- Put the cut shallots in the same oil and fry them to light brown color.

- Add salt, baking soda, and the melted sieved jaggery to the ground rice. Keep it on medium flame for a few seconds to warm it.

- Add ½ of the fried coconut pieces and shallots to the rice mix and stir.

- Put baking paper in a baking bowl, pour the remaining oil, and put the remaining half of the fried coconut pieces and shallots into the baking bowl.

- Pour the rice mixture into the baking bowl and bake at 170 degrees for about 50 minutes.

- Cool a bit, slice and serve as a snack or for breakfast.