Authentic tried and tested simple recipes in mainly Indian cooking, including traditional mangalorean, Goan, East Indian, North Indian recipes and much more…
Brinjals or aubergines or eggplants as they are called are a very versatile vegetable and a universal favorite, available roundthe year. They are delicious fried as pakoras, bhajias, stuffed with mince or green chutney masala (these recipes are in the book Mai’s recipes). The brinjal bharta and brinjal pickle are famous and so is the turkish recipe Imam Bayildi
Ingredients
6 medium brinjals (or two large)
1 ½ cups besan (gram flour)
¼ tsp. soda bircarb (optional)
1 tsp. carom seeds (ajwain)
2 tsp. chilli powder or to taste
1 ½ tsp. amchur (dry mango powder) or pomegranate seeds powder
1 tsp. salt or to taste
1 ½ cups water
Oil for shallow frying
Method
Slice the medium brinjals horizontally. If large cut into round slices.
Mix the gram flour, soda bicarb, ajwain, chilli powder, amchur, salt to taste and make a batter with 1 cup water.
Add some more water if batter is too thick.
Batter should coat the brinjals without dripping.
At the same time the coating should not be too thick.
Shallow fry to golden brown on both sides in hot oil.
Serve hot with ketchup, mint sauce, chilli garlic sauce or any sauce of your choice.
Make into sandwiches with bread or pita bread or rolled into a chapati for breakfast, packed lunch or a snack.
Extraordinary dishes prepared with ordinary vegetables!!
This recipe has been in my book since I was in school in the early 70’s, which was shared by Irene Vaz. In those days “Dalda” a brand of hydrogenated vegetable oil, was an household name for an affordable ‘ghee’ substitute, made famous by Lintas the company responsible for their advertising. One of their vigorous campaigns was a recipe contest and the winning recipes were published. A must ingredient in every recipe was Dalda! Have your ever seen a recipe calling for ‘Parachute’ rather than ”Coconut Oil’? But with Dalda it was the brand that was made famous rather than the product (vanaspati). Vanaspati is a thick vegetable oil NOT Ghee, but was commonly used instead of ghee.
Musallam Phool Gobi is from this recipe contest. Although I had it since the 70’s I tried it only in the 90’s when we invited two of our friends and their families over for Lunch as their parents were visiting Kuwait. The parents were strict vegetarians and wanting to impress them I prepared this dish, but they didn’t believe that it was home-cooked and kept insisting that it was certainly ordered from a restuarant. So that’s how delicious it turns out!
To prepare Musallam Phool Gobi, clean cauliflower and remove the leaves. Wash whole flower well and soak it in warm salted water to 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and rinse.
Immerse in salted water
Wash and cut tomatoes into fours. Slice onions finely. Grind the ingredients from garlic to salt. Heat 2 tbsp. ghee in a pan and fry the onions till golden brown, remove and set aside.
While the onions are frying, take a deep broad vessel and add 2 tbsp. ghee, when hot, add the cardamoms, cinnamon and bay leaves. Add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for five minutes. Then add the whole cauliflower, stem side up.
Cook on low heat till half done. Turn over and cook till tender and light brown. Do add any water. Garnish with the browned onions and serve hot with parathas or chapaties or any Indian bread of your choice.
Introduction: My interest in Mangalorean customs and traditions now takes me to “Marriage” customs and traditions and although not an expert in this genre, I have always aspired to know and learn more. Having done some research on this subject coupled with some of my life experiences, I have chosen to write on the “Mangalorean marriage customs and traditions” for the benefit of those who have limited knowledge and are seeking some guidance on this issue.
Marriage is a sacred institution, a blessing from God and this is a universal truth. Marriage customs and traditions however, differ from country to country, community to community and in India from culture to culture.
Indian weddings are extravagant and full of grandeur. The rituals in the olden days were far more elaborate than today where most of the customs are ignored or overlooked and weddings are shortened from the customary ten days to maybe two or three days maximum. The contemporary wedding receptions on the other hand are held on such a grand scale which more than makes up for the entire ten day celebrations of yester year.
Many today aspire to follow the traditional customs even with limited resources and in limited circumstances if only to define the rich mangalorean culture that we should all be proud of. Many of the customs are also similar to Goan marriage customs due in fact to our ancestral links.
In an effort to remind us of the old customs and to apprise of the modern day customs, I will briefly describe the Mangalorean marriage customs and traditions“Then” and “Now” and in the sequence they were performed.
N.B.: I am open to accepting research projects on Culture and Traditions. Please email me with your requests at Cecilia65@gmail.com.
Thank you.
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