BAIGANI (ବାଇଗଣି) - EGGPLANT FRITTERS

Baigani (ବାଇଗଣି ) or eggplant fritters are basically a different avatar of pakoras (ପକୁଦି). Pakoras (ପକୁଦି) are the perfect rainy day mate. In India the monsoon season usually starts around July and stays for a good month or two. The monsoon season is one of the most awaited of all and gives a relief from the intense summer. I remember in my childhood, summers would sometimes be as hot as 48 degrees celsius.  Odisha is usually hit pretty hard by the monsoon season as well. July is one of the wettest months, with some major flooding in the rivers. It is both a boon and a bane to the Odia farmers. 

"Baigani"(ବାଇଗଣି) is a deep fried eggplant dish which is often consumed as a snack with tea (ginger tea - mmmm). You can also make similar kind of pakoras using potatoes or zucchinis. Some people use baking powder in their recipe for baigani, but I like to keep it simple and straightforward. To fry the baignis, I've used a Kadhai. Kadhai (କଡେଈ) is a deep, thick-bottom circular dish, if you don't have one, just use any deep dish that you have, a wok would work fine. Speaking of kadhais, all households in Odisha and even other states have a "tela-kadhai" permanently in the kitchen [ତେଲ / Tela means oil]. Often mom's will whip up something fried if meals are a little plain jane, and specially during monsoon, the tela-kadhais work quite a lot ;) so they earn their respect in the kitchen. 

So let's get our hands oily ;) Oh and this time I've included some videos of the making process for your viewing pleasure.  So here goes...

PREP TIME	COOKING TIME	SERVES
5 minutes	10 minutes	2

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients	Quantity
Eggplant	I used half of a big sized eggplant. Depending on how many pieces of fritters you want, adjust your eggplant quantity
Chickpea Flour	5 - 6 Tablespoon (this might vary based on the size of the eggplant or the number of pieces you plan to make)
Green Chillies (optional)	1 - 2
Water	Double the amount of chickpea flour ; enough to make a thin semi-liquid paste
Oil (I used vegetable oil)	Enough for deep frying; if you don't want to deep fry you can shallow fry too
Turmeric	1/2 tea spoon
Ginger powder (optional)	1/2 tea spoon
Salt	To taste

PREP

• Cut the eggplant into circular pieces and put them in water (putting them in water makes sure they don't become discoloured while you complete your prep)

                          

• Put your wok on the stove and add sufficient oil for deep frying

PROCEDURE

• Take a wide bowl, put your chickpea flour and add water such that it's enough to make a light paste
• Add salt, turmeric powder and green chillies. You can also add ginger powder for added flavour. 
• After the oil is heated adequately, you can start frying the fritters by dipping the eggplant pieces in the chickpea paste so they form a thin but not too thin layer on the eggplant. [You can put a drop of the chickpea paste in the oil to test if the oil is hot enough, if it's hot the chickpea droplet will start to sizzle and bubble up like a really peppy song ;)]
• Fry them until they're golden brown on both sides

             

• After they're done, put them on tissues to get the excess oil out. They're now ready to be devoured. Don't tell me you forgot your tea, get that water boiling :)

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Serve hot with chutney or enjoy them without any condiments. Sriracha goes really well with these. 

Feedback and comments always welcome! 

ROTI NOODLES

We all want to eat healthy and be healthy but the truth is everything that's yummy isn't always the healthiest like cheesecake? (so yumm!) Anyways so my fight to find food that's healthy as well as yummy continues. I found this recipe from a blog that I follow - http://www.rakskitchen.net/. I modified it just a little and reduced the number of ingredients and it still turned out really delicious. 

I love noodles and pasta in all forms, shapes and sizes. I also love rotis (flat bread, made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour). This dish combines the best of both worlds. So here goes...

PREP TIME	COOKING TIME	SERVES
10 minutes	10 minutes	2

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients	Quantity
Cooked Rotis	2 - 3
Mixed Vegetables (I used onions, cabbage, broccoli and carrots)	1 cup
Onions	1 teaspoon
Green Chillies	1 - 2
Soy Sauce (I used this one)	2 teaspoon
Tomato Sauce	1 blob or to taste
Chilly Sauce (I used this one )	1 blob or to taste
Spring Onions (optional)	1 sprig
Water	1:2 ratio for Rice : Water
Oil/Butter	2 Tablespoons (I've used vegetable oil but you can use olive oil or butter)
Salt	To taste

PREP

• This dish works really well with left over rotis, but you can make fresh rotis too. 
• Dice the onions and cut green chillies into small pieces or slit them in the middle to make two long halves of each chilly
• Cut your vegetables the way you like it with your noodles. 
• Cut your rotis lenghthwise to make long noodle like strands. If you don't have rotis, try using tortillas.

PROCEDURE

• In a wok add oil, when the oil heats up add green chillies and onions. I have not used ginger or garlic for this dish but feel free to use them
• When the onions become a little brown, add your vegetables

• Fry them until they're almost done and then add the roti strands

• Add soy sauce, tomato ketchup and chilly sauce , mix it all up and fry for 4 - 5 minutes. The sauces are up to you, anything you like, splash them on. You can also not use any sauce and just add a dash of salt and pepper, making it super healthy and a low sodium treat.

• Sprinkle some spring onions and your roti noodles are now ready to be devoured. ;)

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Serve hot and enjoy :) If you like it even more spicy, Sriracha sauce is your pal. 

Feedback and comments always welcome! 

NADIA BARA (Coconut Cutlets)

Orissa (Odisha now) has a huge coastline stretched across Bay of Bengal on it's east and hence is privileged to a tropical weather almost all year round. Tropical climate = loads of coconut trees. As a child, I had instant access to coconut in all forms, tender coconut, coconut water, desiccated coconut etc. We had coconut trees in our house and coconut delicacies were a popular thing. So today I'll share a recipe which is deliciously coconuty. 

PREP TIME	COOKING TIME	MAKES
20 minutes	20 minutes	15-16 medium sized cutlets

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients	Quantity
Fresh Shredded Coconut/ Small pieces of coconut	1 cup
Boiled Potatoes	1 cup
Chickpea Flour	3 Tablespoon
Ginger	a small piece
Green Chillies	4 - 5
*Amchur powder (Dry Mango powder)	2 teaspoon
Soaked Chana Daal (Yellow split lentil)	3 - 4 Tablespoon
Salt	To taste

* If you don't have easy access to Amchur powder (dry mango powder), no need to panic :) substitute with 
drops of lemon/lime juice. 

PREP

1. Soak the chana dal in water for around an hour before you make the cutlets.  If you forget to soak the lentils, soaking them in hot water will help hasten the process. If you able to break them with your fingers, they are done.If you don't have easy access to this ingredient, don't worry your cutlets will still be super tasty.
2. Boil potatoes like you would make mashed potatoes

PROCEDURE 

• Make a slightly grainy paste of the soaked chana dal (yellow split pea), ginger, coconut pieces and chillies in a grinder or food processor. 

• Add little water if your food processor does not cooperate. Mine always needs a little water for it to run.
• Transfer this paste into a bowl, add potatoes, chickpea flour, amchur powder, you'll get a very fluffy mixture. Add salt to taste.
• Heat a flat pan (the kind you use for making crepes or rotis) on medium heat
• Now make small patties of the mixture. Put a little water in your hands and roll the mixture into balls, put the balls directly on the pan and flatten them with your hands.

• Roast them equally on both sides until they become golden brown. Add a little oil to prevent them from drying up too much.
• Serve hot with green chutney/Sriracha or any hot/sweet sauce. 

WHERE CAN YOU FIND THESE INGREDIENTS

If you are not in India, you can easily find all the ingredients at any Indian Grocery store. In Canada I do know that Loblaws, Food Basics, Freshco and even Farmboy carry almost all of these ingredients. 

Feedback and comments always welcome!