Vyngana/Gulla Talasani (Eggplants Talasani)

Vyngana talasani / gulla talasani is one of my favorite recipes using eggplants / brinjals / aubergines. (Gulla is a special kind of eggplant that we get in India. Here We don't get gulla so I have used eggplants, known as vyngana in konkani. You can use either green or purple eggplants for making this dish. Here, I have used green eggplants).  It is very easy to make and gets ready in no time. Whenever I make this recipe, I remember the time when me and my sister used to fight to eat the seedless pieces of the eggplant :-)

Ingredients:

1 medium sized eggplant
1 drumstick, cut up into 2" pieces (optional but special)
2 tbsp oil
6-8 cloves of garlic
2-3 dry red chillies (adjust according to taste)
Salt to taste

Directions:

Wash and cut eggplants into 1"cubes. Immerse in water and keep it aside.
Break red chillies into pieces. Crush garlic cloves slightly. (You can either peel the skin off or keep them on).
Heat oil in a pan and add crushed garlic cloves and fry until golden brown.
Add broken red chillies and sauté until the seeds of the chillies change the color to light brown.
Drain all the water and add eggplant pieces, drumstick pieces and salt to taste. Add little less than 1/4 cup of water. Mix it well.
When the water comes to a boil, simmer and cover the pan and cook till the eggplant becomes soft and all the moisture evaporates. Serve hot.

talasani using purple eggplant and drumsticks

Gobi Masala

I tasted this dish for the first time at a friends place. She made this using cabbage. I made some minor changes to the recipe to suit the taste of my family. It goes really well with some roti, yogurt and pickle or with steamed rice and dal.

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 spring curry leaves
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust according to taste)
2 tsp coriander powder
1/3 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tomato, chopped
Salt to taste
Some coriander leaves, chopped

Directions:

Wash and cut cauliflower into small florets.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds.
Add onions and sauté until translucent.
Put ginger garlic paste and cook until the raw smell is gone, around 30 seconds.
Lower the heat and put all the powdered spices and mix well. Sauté for another 30 seconds.
Increase the heat to medium. Add chopped tomato and salt to taste.
Cook until the tomatoes turn mushy and oil leaves the side of the pan.
Add cauliflower and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of water and bring it to a boil.
Cover and simmer until the cauliflower gets cooked, stirring once in a while in between.
Add chopped coriander and mix well.
Serve hot with some more chopped coriander on top.

Panchmel dal / Panchratan Dal

Panchmel dal, also known as panchratan dal is a healthy and delicious Rajasthani preparation. This dal goes really well with rice or chapati but it is usually served with baati. Panchmel dal is a mix of five most commonly used lentils in Indian cuisine. You can also use split lentils with the skin on.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup chana dal
1/4 cup urad dal
1/4 cup moong dal
1/4 cup masoor dal
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil/ ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Pinch of asafetida
1-2 dry red chillies
1 med. onion, chopped
1" piece of ginger, grated

2 cloves of garlic, grated (optional)
 1-2 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

 

 

 

Directions:

Soak lentils for 30 minutes. Wash and pressure cook by adding salt and 3-4 cups of water for 4-5 whistles or until soft.
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add asafetida and broken dry red chillies. Sauté for few seconds.
Add chopped onions and sauté until golden.
Add grated ginger and slit green chillies (and garlic, if using) and sauté for a minute.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Mix well.
Add chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Cook until tomatoes turn mushy and oil separates.
Add garam masala powder and mix well.
Add cooked dal and adjust the consistency of the dal by adding water, if required.
Bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.