Vegetable Marathon:Egg Plant Round Up

Hello Guys,
Thanks for sending wonderful entries. Egg Plant is my fav vegetable n with this event, i got lot of varieties to try...I was so amazed with the varieties n i tried some of recipes already n  tasted delicious...Here i sorted the entries in the order i received  them...
Some of new bloggers i came across.
New Bloggers 
Smitha's Spicy Flavors  of Smitha
Priya's Culinary of Priya Ajay
Palate desires Of LK
I am sorting them in the order i received:


Egg Plant Masala from  My Recipes Diary of Kalai
Avatar Aubergine from Veggie Fare of Rachana Kothari 
Stuffed Egg Plant curry from Home of Anna of Annam
Brinjal Tomato Stir Fry from Salt And Spice of Lissie
Gutti Vankaya (Eggplants in tamarind sesame gravy) from Ruchika Cooks of Ruchika
Egg Plant Avial from Home of Anna of Annam

Egg Plant Fry from Home of Anna of Annam
Shukto/ A bitter vegetable curry in mustard paste from A Homemaker's Diary of Sayantani.
Healthy Gutti Vankaya Fry  from Anita's Kitchen of mine
Dahi Baingan (Eggplant in Spiced Curd) from Cook@Ease of Kamala Bhoopathy
Brinjal Rasavangi, Sampangi Pithlai and Kathirikkai Kothsu from Foodieshope of Asha

Hyderabadi Baghare Baingan from Foodelicious of Pari Vasisht
Bharleli Vaangi from Foodelicious of Pari Vasisht
Roasted Eggplant Pasta from Usha Nandini's Recipes of Nandini
Stuffed Brinjal with Peanut powder  from Smitha's Spicy Flavors  of Smitha
Egg Plant fry from Anita's Kitchen of Mine

Egg Plant salsa from A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine of Muskaan Shah
Eggplant with Ginger from Smitha's Spicy Flavors  of Smitha
Masala stuffed baby aubergines in gravy from Simply Food Of Nayana
Bharwa Baingan Stuffed Eggplant from A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine of Muskaan Shah
Bharli Vang - Stuffed Eggplant from Kitchen Gossip of Kanchan
Vankaya-Tomato Chutney from Priya's Culinary of Priya Ajay

Eggplant/Brinjal with Ginger & Chilly from Sumadhura of kiran
Stuffed baby eggplants from Palate Desires of LK
Eggplant Roll from Few Minute wonders of Srimathi
Vankaya Majjiga Kura from  kavya's Kitchen of Kavyanaimish
Brinjal raita   from My Spicy kitchen of Usha
Brinjal & Cluster Bean Curry from Nithu's kitchen of Nithu bala

Kathirikai Gosthu from Nithu's kitchen of Nithu bala
Masala stuffed Brinjal Fritters from Nivedita' s Kitchen of Nivedita
Two curries in 30 mintues: Tomato Rasam and Eggplant Stir fry from Zesty  South Indian Kitchen of swathi
Stuffed brinjal masala  from Nivedita' s Kitchen of Nivedita
Eggplant Curry with Koora Podi from Veggie Platter of Suma Gandlur

That's all Folks!!!!!


Please Email me @ anitakonasani@gmail.com if i miss any of your entries..


Another vegetable is in race for Vegetable Marathon
Its None another than--Beans. Here is the link for Event. Hope you guys will make it a success.. Those who want to host Vegetable Marathon please drop a comment here or send an email to anitakonasani@gmail.com

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Egg Plant Fry

Hello guys,
Lately i been busy with my work n unable to interact with u guys. Now, i am little bit free n  back with my Eggplant Fry..This egg plant fry is a regular dish in my kitchen. Every Tuesday or Wednesday, i will make this curry. Every Tuesday i go to wal mart, as they will have fresh vegetables on that day.. So, i always cook egg plant first after shopping..
This Egg Plant fry is so simple to make n tastes very gr8..

Ingredients:
Egg Plant: 1
Onion:1 big, finely chopped
Green Chili: 3, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste: 2 tsp
Gun Powder: 1 tbsp( Optional, but enhances the taste of curry n gives nutty flavor)
Turmeric: 1tsp
Red chili Powder: 1tsp
Coriander powder: 1tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil: 2 tbsp
Red chili: 3
Channa dal: 1tsp
Cumin n Mustard seeds: 1 tsp each

Preparation:
1) Wash the egg plant n cut it into 1 inch long n thin  pieces. Take a bowl with a water n add little bit salt. Immerse chopped eggplant pieces in water n keep it aside.
2) In a pan heat oil n add red chili. Add channa dal, cumin n mustard seeds. Fry for 30 secs.
3) Stir in onions n fry until light brown in color. Appx 7-8 mins
4) Add turmeric n ginger garlic paste. fry for couple mins.
5) Now with hands, press the soaked egg plant pieces  to remove water. Add little by little to fried onions by removing water.
6) Stir well. cover n cook for 3-4 mins on medium heat
7) Now remove the cover n cook for 10 mins on medium heat by stirring occasionally.
8) Add all spices according to your taste n cook for 1 min.
9) Now add gun powder n stir.
10) Switch off the stove n sprinkle cilantro. Cover it for 1 min..

Enjoy this delicious egg plat fry with Rice..

This is going to be a part of my own event Vegetable marathon-Egg Plant

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Healthy Gutti Vankaya Fry/ Brinjla Fry/ Egg Plant Fry

Today my kitchen is filled with all Indian veggies aroma. Yesterday we went to Indian grocery store n bought lots of veggies. Guthi vankaya is one of my favorite vegetable's. This dish is prepared with either small purple brinjal's or the green ones. The key to this dish is fresh tender brinjal's. You have to select tender fresh eggplants. The stem of the brinjal should be in thick green color. To be honest, i never made Guthi vankaya fry  with fresh tender brinjal's. I never saw fresh one's here, but i cant resist myself when i saw small brinjal's.

The original recipe calls for deep frying of brinjal's. But i don't like deep frying brinjal's, as they absorbs lots of oil. To avoid deep frying, i boiled brinjal's. You will save lot of calories by doing this without scarifying the taste of deep frying. After boiling brinjal's , i slightly roasted them for deep frying taste.
Guthi vankaya fry is made with  a variety of stuffings which varies from region to region. Today, i made this dish with Dry powder/Gun powder-which is made from  a variety of spices n dal's.

So, here is the recipe for healthy tasty Guthi Vankaya Fry:

Ingredients:
Small Brinjal's/Egg plants: 8
Onion: 2 big, finely chopped
Green chili's: 3-4,chopped
Cilantro: 1 bunch, finely chopped
Dry Powder/Gun powder/Pappu la podi: 1 cup
F, ennel seeds: 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste: 1tsp
Lemon juice: 1tsp
Oil: 1tbsp
Red Chili: 2
Channa Dal: 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds: 1tsp
Mustard seeds: 1tsp
Red chili Powder: 1tsp
Coriander powder: 1tsp
Salt: to taste


Preparation:
1) Fill water up to 3/4 of a deep vessel. Bring to a boil.
2) Mean while, wash eggplants and cut them in a plus shape, keep the ends intact. Starting from the round base make a slit towards the stem. Cut up to 3/4 length of the brinjal. Dont cut the brinjal all the way to stem.

3) Once water comes to a boil, add 1tsp salt n drop brinjal's carefully. Cover n cook for 8-10 mins or until brinjal's are fork tender. Don't over boil brinjal's.

4) Remove them onto a plate. Place them upside down, like round base down. So that if any water is there, it comes out.

5) Wipe the brinjal's with paper towel n stuff them with Dry powder.Pappu la podi/gun powder

6) For stuffing: In a bowl, mix powder n lemon juice. Don't make it watery.

7) You need to hold brinjal's carefully in your left hand. 

Now take a spoon n stuff the slitted brinjal.  Stuff two quarters of each slit at a time ( horizontal slit n vertical slit). Repeat the same process for remaining brinjal's. Don't break them,be careful with slits.

8) In a pan heat oil n add red chili,channa dal. Fry for 30 secs.
9) Add Mustard n cumin seeds. Fry for 30 secs.
10) Add onion n fry for 6 mins or until onions are tender. Fry them, until they got little bit crunchy.

11) Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chili's n fry for  2 mins.
12) Add the remaining dry powder,red chili powder,salt,coriander powder, fennel seeds n mix well. Fry for 2 mins on medium heat. Adding fennel seeds to the fry gives a unique taste n little bit sweet taste in middle. Dnt add fennel seeds before, as spices n oil may change the taste of seeds.
13) Push all the onion gravy to a side. Place stuffed brinjal's carefully in center of the pan. Now cover brinjal's with onion gravy n cilantro.
14) Cook n cook for 5min son medium -low heat.

Enjoy this authentic Andhra Guthi vankaya fry with hot rice..

Tip:U can fry green chili's in little oil for extra taste.

This is going to be a part of Siri's JFI-Fennel, event by Indira and to my own event Vegetable marathon-Egg Plant

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Vegetable Marathon:Event Announcement

Here i am with my second event--Vegetable Marathon. I started APS- Rice event with lots of doubts in my mind. As, i am a newbie to food blogging world, i thought that hosting an event is bit risky. But, i was so determined to host an event n took help from one o four blogger friend. I would like to say thank you to Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty recipes .  She encouraged me with her kind words, when i told her about my plans to host an event. 
So, with the success of my first event-APS-Rice. I would like to take a step ahead n host another event. This time i choose vegetables as my event theme. This event is going to be an interminable one, as each vegetable occupies each month. 
Source: My Pyramid.Gov
Vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed.
Any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as a member of the vegetable group. Vegetables may be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen, canned, or dried/dehydrated; and may be whole, cut-up, or mashed.
Vegetables are organized into 5 subgroups, based on their nutrient content. Some commonly eaten vegetables in each subgroup are:

Dark green vegetables bok choy broccoli collard greens dark green leafy lettuce kale mesclun mustard greensromaine lettuce spinach turnip greens watercress Orange vegetables acorn squash butternut squashcarrots hubbard squash pumpkinsweetpotatoes Dry beans and peas black beans black-eyed peas garbanzo beans (chickpeas)kidney beans lentils lima beans (mature) navy beanspinto beans soy beans split peas tofu (bean curd made from soybeans) white beans

Starchy vegetables corn green peas lima beans (green)potatoes Other vegetables artichokes asparagus bean sprouts beets Brussels sprouts cabbagecauliflower celery cucumbers eggplantgreen beans green or red peppersiceberg (head) lettuce mushrooms okraonions parsnipstomatoes tomato juice vegetable juice turnips wax beanszucchini

There are three definitions relating to fruits and vegetables:

• Fruit (scientific): the ovary of a seed-bearing plant,
• Fruit (culinary): any edible part of a plant with a sweet flavor,
• Vegetable: any edible part of a plant with a savory flavor.

So here comes the rules for participating in the event: 

1) Prepare any dish with vegetable as main ingredient. It can be either Vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
2) You can send as many recipes as you want.
3) I will accept the old entries, if they are updated and reposted with the logo n link back to Vegetable Marathon event. 
4) Vegetable Marathon is an interminable event.. So i would like to take help from my fellow  bloggers to host this event. If you would like to host this event starting from MAY 1st to end of this year. Please send an email to anitakonasani@gmail.com or drop a comment. I will update it regularly
5) Pls link your post to the event announcement and please feel free to use logo.. Post's without link back to this event would not be a part of the roundup.
6) Round up will be done after first week of event end date. 

So coming to this month's vegetable-- its Abergine/Eggplant/ Brinjal/Begun.

Eggplants belong to the nightshade family of vegetables, which also includes tomatoes, sweet peppers and potatoes. They grow in a manner much like tomatoes, hanging from the vines of a plant that grows several feet in height. While the different varieties do range slightly in taste and texture, one can generally describe the eggplant as having a pleasantly bitter taste and spongy texture. 

Egg Plant contains 10% of dietary fiber and it hosts minerals such as potassium, manganese, copper,Magnesium, folate n vitamins B1,B6,B3. In addition to featuring a host of vitamins and minerals, eggplant also contains important phytonutrients, many which have antioxidant activity. Phytonutrients contained in eggplant include phenolic compounds, such caffeic and chlorogenic acid, and flavonoids, such as nasunin. Source: wiki. pic from greenbytheday

This month's Vegetable Marathon- Abergine/Egg plant will start from February 11th. So entries will be accepted until March 11th

Send Your entries to anitakonasani@gmail.com with subject as Veg-Mar-eggplant with following details:
Your Name:
Blog's Name:
Blog's URL:
Recipe Name:
Category:Link to the Recipe or URL:
Snapshot of the Recipe:

I would appreciate a lot, if you name the picture of the dish by the dish name, and the category it belongs,that you are sending me in email. That makes things lot easier n no shuffling of recipes or images with other names. Thanks a lot.

 Recipes from those who do not blog are accepted. Pls do mail them to my email id-- anitakonasani@gmail.com with your recipe details n a picture of the dish.


*** Those who are hosting vegetable marathon, please announce the event 2-3 days before 10 th of every month and they need to publish logo on their blog.

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