Lemon juice with Pudina

Recently I visited a friend who served me this  juice  and it was so nice especially in the Bangalore summer in April. Now that it is Summer in US I thought it will be useful to  blog this recipe. I am preparing this  juice regularly at home ,  as it is always  summer and rains in KL.

Ingredients :

1. Lime or Normal Lemon  2   ( what we call 'elumichampalam' in tamil and nimbu in hindi )   
2. Pudina or Mint leaves a small bunch.
3. Sugar  4 to 6 Table Spoons.
4. Ginger one small bit.
5. Salt little.

 Method:

Wash the Pudina nicely and take out each leaves without the stalk .  add the ginger and grind these leaves  with water  in the Mixer.

Take a strainer and strain the juice.  Once again put the leaves left in the strainer   in the mixer,   add water and grind it once again.  Strain it once again.  Add little salt to this and  keep this pudina juice  in a container in the Fridge.

Take out the juice from the two Limes.  ( I had to give so much explanation for the lime part as in US Lime  and Lemon are distinctly different varieties and  I never remember which one is which.... I use the round lime here not the linear one) Remove the seeds.  Use the strainer to take out the juice so that the seeds are left on the strainer.   add little salt.

Boil or Heat  a cup of water in the micro wave and add it to sugar in a different vessel and stir.    I add boiling or hot   water because the sugar dissolves in a jiffy ,  if you just stir.  Cool it and add  this to the lemon juice.  This you can make to about 4 to 6 cups depending on the lemon you are using.

  

What I do in addition  (which my friend did not do)  is take one stalk from the Aloe Vera plant in my garden remove the skin.   You get a jelly like thing which is almost colourless.  Clean this thoroughly about 3 to 4 times in water.  Cut these into small bits and add it to the lemon  juice.  Keep this juice also in the fridge.

While serving Take  two or three  table spoons of   pudina juice and add this to a glass of lemon juice with Aloe Vera and   serve or drink .   It is  refreshing just before meals or even in between meals.

This should be taken fresh.  I keep  Lime juice in the fridge for 2 days and the pudhina juice in fridge  for 3 days

Baingan Bertha

Even though  this is not a South Indian Dish,  I do prepare this as a sidedish for Chapathis.   So  the recipe may not be authentic to its origin.  But my kids love this,  the way I prepare and hence the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. One or Two big Egg Plant./ Baingan/Katharikkai.  (The variety available in US in Super Markets and in South India people buy this to make Thuvayal.)
2. Onions 2 medium sized
3. Tomatoes 3 medium sized.
4. Green chillies 1 or 2
5. Ginger  a small bit.
6. Oil 1 Table Spoon.
7. Red Chilli Powder   1 to 1 and half T spoons.
8. Turmeric Powder (Haldi Powder) little 
9. Salt to taste
10. Jeera 1/2 T spoon.
11. Coriander leaves  to Garnish

 Method:

Wash the Egg Plant and smear it with little oil.  Keep the whole egg plant on the burning stove.  Keep it on a wire mesh if you have one otherwise you can keep it directly on the fire.  Let the burner  be in medium position.  Keep turning the Egg plant so that all sides are burnt properly with  the help of  the reverse side of a steel ladle or  steel dosa  turner  which can act as a sharp stick to hold the vegetable when you turn .   (Prick the Eggplant and hold it and turn).

Olden days this was done in 'koyla' Coal stoves.

  If you do not have a gas stove you can use the Oven and the Egg plant can be grilled in the grill  but a proper aluminium foil has to be used so as  the juices of the vegetable  falls into the foil while it is being grilled.   I am not sure of the temperature but once or twice it did happen that the smoke detector alarm went off due to this grilling.  So do this if you have experience of grilling any other dish.

I have used Micro Wave oven also to do this Baingan Bertha  and it did come out quite well .  I cut the   Egg Plant  and put it in a Corning Ware dish and kept it for 12 minutes turning after every 4 minutes.  You can take out and check if the Eggplant is well cooked , if not  you can keep it for little more time.

Put the burnt Egg Plant in a container containing cold water.  Throw the water out once it is cool.  Remove the burnt skin ( cut the crown as you would have burnt the egg plant with the crown in tact )  and smash the eggplant nicely with a spoon,  adding little salt and turmeric powder.  Keep aside.

Cut Onions  into very small pieces. Cut Tomatoes into small bits.  Cut the green chillies and ginger .

Take the 'kadai' or a thick bottom vessel and pour the oil.  Put the jeera into it and once it splutters,  (it will not splutter like mustard seeds,  and  gets done faster) add the  green chillies, ginger and onion.  Keep turning till onion turns light brown and  add the cut tomatoes. add little turmeric powder, salt and Chilli powder. Once the tomatoes turn soft add the Egg plant which has been done and kept aside.  Add little water and keep it covered.  Cook this mixture for about  10 to 15 minutes till the Egg plant nicely cooked and mixed with onion and tomatoes.  Garnish with nicely cut coriander leaves and serve with hot chapathis or puris. 

Thengai Thuvayal

Today My Anu asked for this recipe and thought I would blog this.
This is kind of chutney made with Coconut but is eaten with cooked rice and not as a side dish to Dosa or Idli.
This will be very tasty when eaten with fried Appalams  (Tamilian's    Pappads)

Ingredients

1. Fresh Grated coconut 1 Cup  (  Gratings of one side of a medium size coconut)
2. Urad Dal  Ulutham paruppu  1 and 1/2 Table spoons.
3. Red (dried) Chillies   2 or 3 
4. Little Quantity of Asafetida   (Ing or perungayam)
5. Oil  just 1/2 to 1 t  spoon for frying
6. Tamarind/Imli/puli  very small quantity,  if paste less than 1/4 t spoon.
7. Salt to taste

Method.

Fry Urad  Dal, Red Chillies, and   Ing,      in  oil in a Kadai or a  thick bottomed vessel.

When Urad dal turns brown add the Imli and salt and switch off the stove.  (While frying Urad dal, you can add a t spoon of  Channa Dal  (kadalai paruppu,   but the colour of the Thuvayal will  be more reddish.)

Now Powder this in the Mixer and add fresh grated coconut to this , add little water and make it into a paste like consistency the consistency of chutney or Thuvayal. 

The dish is ready.     Remove from Mixer and Eat it  with Hot Cooked Rice.