Shrimps, pumpkin and all you can find!

A quarter of a large brinjal, a 5 inch triangle of yellow pumpkin, handful of spinach leaves on the verge of wilting, a peeled potato, half a large tomato and a cup of defrosted shrimps. There was nothing I could do with them alone and I had no idea what to do with them together. If I dumped them back in the chiller, I did not have anything else, to churn out a decent dinner for three of us at home. Well as they say 'necessity is the mother of all inventions' and in this case the creator of something nice and new!!

Cut the Brinjal into large cubes, smear with oil and lay on a pan on slow fire to brown them well on each side....keep aside
Saute the shrimps with some chilli powder, salt and turmeric....keep aside
The pumpkin, potato and tomato cut into similar cubes but no grilling done
Heat half a teaspoon of oil, toss in some onion seeds (black jeera/ kalonji), break a chilli and add to it.
Wait for the smoky smell and put together the potato, pumpkin and tomatoes
Add a half a teaspoon of chilli & turmeric powder each, salt to taste, stir the veggies around, close the pan and leave on slow fire.
Add the spinach, half a cup of water and allow to simmer under a closed lid.
Once the vegetables are cooked and soft, add the grilled brinjal and shrimps.

Hot rotis/ Indian bread or steaming rice...the choice of accompaniment is yours.....





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lamb for a lazy sunday afternoon lunch

Sunday afternoons have been ‘lamb and rice’ lunch at my home ever since I can remember. And when I got married it, it was comfortable to know that there was a similar pattern there too. My mother’s lamb curry flavoured with  Indian spices and finished with coconut milk was as delectable as my Mother in law’s ‘Kosha Mangsho’ where the lamb was braised in a simple ginger garlic and onion gravy, until dark in colour and tender in texture. Lamb, or mutton which it is better known as in the Indian culinary arena, has always been a delicacy or a higher end meat than any other. It is interesting to note that, all festivities where any form of meat would be served, mutton was always called for. My earliest memories of mutton and festivities was of a ‘mutton curry and Idli’ breakfast on Diwali morning. Here I speak of a simple, easy to make, yet out of the normal recipe which my husband’s late aunt would always make when we visited her. It has a predominantly Bengali touch
Read more

Grandma's mushroom secrets

P ristine white crockery has been an all time favourite with me. Colours are eloquent on a white canvas. There is nothing like a clean white plates (let the shape be any)…that makes food speak out. They come alive and present such a pretty picture that eye appeal scores high. After an era of experimentation with colorful pottery, it is peaceful to see most food outlets using white crockery.  When speaking of white plates, I remember the ancient ones in my grandmother’s kitchen. They were more a gray than white though, due to lack of high quality glazing used today. I particularly remember the old fashioned white sauce boat perched on the crockery shelf, waiting to be taken out when special guests came for lunch…guests for dinner was a rarity or rather a non occurrence! I came by a similar sauce boat few days back in a run down shop in a market in the older part of the city. The nostalgia was so strong that I bought it without a second thought; so excited was I that I caused much
Read more

My tryst with the Momo

Image
After a number of trials I have finally mastered the art of making momos. These aren't really as perfect as the ones you would find made by the deft hands of ladies from tibet or nepal, but they were passable and did have quite the zing of the standard street fare. The recipe is quite simple and does not require learning much technicalities, but the route to perfection definitely lies in the precision and care taken while preparing each element. The kneading of the dough, its rest and the mixing of the filling all have a purpose to it which finally adds to the end product. Knead a cup of all purpose flour with cold water to a soft, smooth and pliable dough Leave the dough to rest under a wet napkin.....(the wet napkin is to make sure that the dough doesn't dry out) Mix about two cups of mince chicken along with two cups of minced onions, and a tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves......(substitute the chicken with mince of mushrooms, bean sprouts/ cabbage and carrots an
Read more