My dad absolutely loves aubergines, so do I. We love aubergine but even more when you make Baigan Bhartha that tops it all. Baigan Bhatha is one of my favourite ways to eat aubergine. In my family mum and dad both used to make Bhartha, I have already posted Mum’s Baigan Bhartha with Spinach before. Both recipes are brilliant, and if you’re an aubergine crazy, you’ll love them both !
Baigan is for aubergine or eggplant and Bhartha translates Mashed. It’s roasted and mashed aubergine with spices, which has Smokey and spicy taste.
Bhartha is best with round and soft gujarati rotlis , Paratha , yogurt and salad.
you will need :-
For the garnish
- Handful of fresh chopped coriander
Method :- Grease the aubergine with a little oil, make slits all over the surface and cook over an open flame till it is soft. Cool and peel the skin. Mash the pulp thoroughly and keep aside. (I grind it in grinder, so there isn’t any lump in the puree) Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle add the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry again for a few seconds. Add the tomato, turmeric powder, coriander-cumin seed powder and cook till the oil separates from the masala. Now add half of the spring onion and cook just 1 minute. Add Add the mashed aubergine and cook 3-4 minutes, Add garam masala, amchoor powder and salt ,mix well. Turn off the heat. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and remaining spring onions.
If you are an Indian, RasGulla needs no introduction. ( soft, spongy balls of Indian Cottage Cheese ( paneer ) soaked in chilled sugar syrup, no doubt a favourite amongst all of us. They melt in your mouth and leave you wanting more. The Bengalis ( from eastern India ) sure know their sweet making!
Rasgulla ( Ras translate as Syrup and Gulla as round cheese balls ) are considered as a traditional Bengali sweet, however many argue that this dish is originally from Orissa not west Bengal. In earlier days, Oriya cooks were hired by Bengalis in Calcutta and that’s how it became popular in Bengal. It is one of the most popular Indian sweets all year round in India and abroad. The Bengali call them Roshogolla and are sold in clay pots in Calcutta, and highly appreciated in summer where they are served chilled.
Process of making rasgulla at home is not very difficult once you get hang of it, took me some time but with little patience and determination end result was good, and now most of the time we do get soft, spongy and yummy rasgulla to relish
You will need:-
- 2 cup home made Paneer
- 4 cup water
- 3 cup sugar
- Pinch of Saffron
Method:- First make sugar syrup, add sugar and water in a deep and wider pan, prefer flat bottom. Bring it to boil and simmer for 5-6 minutes and switch off the heat. Now knead the paneer until smooth and very creamy. I use my food processor to smooth out the paneer, you can knead the paneer with hand too. In half paneer dough, I added saffron threads . Once done, divide paneer dough into small portions and roll them into balls without any cracks on the surface. It has to be very smooth. Cover them with kitchen paper or clean cloth, so they don’t get dry out. Cheese balls will get double in size once they are cooked in sugar syrup. Now heat sugar syrup on medium heat and very gently and carefully drop only few cheese balls into syrup. If you have too many, better cook them in batches . Cover the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes, Rasgulla will be double in size. Test Rasgulla by doing this…take out one ball, drop it in a bowl cold water if floats it needs further cooking. Once each batch is done, remove rasgulla with little sugar syrup. After couple of batches, sugar syrup does get thicker, just add little boiled water to bring it back to the original consistency. When they all done, put all the rasgulla in the syrup, add saffron threads (optional ) and turn off the heat. Leave it to cool at room temperature. If you wish you can chill them in the fridge. Enjoy and enjoy the day ! Note:- Making Rasgulla is tricky, however it is an art and it comes with practise. Just in case any rasgulla left, you might want to make Homemade soft RasMalai with them.
