So when Priya and Tessy, of the young but vivacious blog called Drooolsss, were invited for a guest post and they presented me this Vazhuthananga Theeyal, I was over the moon. Seriously! Something I never knew about, so it's a chance for me to learn. Just look at the pictures, this theeyal is really drool worthy. I have to tell that they keep their promise to the name that they have put for their blog with each and every post of theirs. Hop onto their blog and you will be amazed. The first thing I do is to really "droool" over the pictures and then go ahead and read the recipe! Hehe... I guess without much more dialogues, let me pass on the honour to our guests for the day! :)
Hi,
Thanks a lot Rafeeda,
for making us a part of your beautiful blog. It was a cherished moment for us
when we got the invitation from you, to do a guest post in your space. We too
are getting an opportunity to be showcased on your special Saturday event.
Though it has been only a couple of months since we have entered into this
blogging journey, we had never expected in our faint dreams, that it would
fetch us so many amazing blogger friends like you.
About you Rafee
-Though Rafeeda assumes herself as a bit lazy, we have never ever felt so.
Inspite of being a busy working mom, she somehow finds time to feed her
blog, and that too with long descriptions, just as a diary entry with which she
makes us feel as if we have known her since ages and she does deserve an
applause for that. Moreover she fills us with positive energy with her comments
and quick replies.
Now, coming to us, we
are two friends - Priya and Tessy, from Kerala, currently residing in UAE, with
our families. We like, all the other food bloggers, love to cook, experiment
new recipes and share our recipes with others. We decided to treasure the
happiness we gained in the form of a smile we received from our dear and near
ones when our kitchen experiments tickled their taste buds and that was how we
started off with DROOLSS.... because we value friendship and tasty food and the
wonderful ambience it creates.
We have decided to post
a typical Kerala dish - Theeyal as our guest post. Theeyal, as most of the
Keralites out there know, is a spicy dish which can be made with any vegetable
or even with prawns. Here we have chosen brinjal as the hero of today's
theeyal. Most of the men(which includes our better halves) we have come
across are not fond of this vegetable, do try out this brinjal theeyal,
maybe, they will be after you asking for more:)
Vazhuthananga/Brinjal
Theeyal
Spicy food and monsoons go hand in hand for
me. Its raining cats and dogs outside, and sitting at home in the comfort of
the company of your dear ones is something that keeps you warm inside. To top
it, how about some spicy food from your mom's hand. Amma's food is
something that is irreplaceable. I am sure this is a fact which you all
will agree with me.
Here comes a typical Kerala spicy dish, which
my Amma cooked for us on a heavy rainy day. The aroma of the roasted coconut
and shallots made me literally drooooool; which is indeed a
very beautiful smell!!
Ingredients
3 long green brinjals sliced into thin semicircles
25 shallots peeled
3 tablespoons grated coconut
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 green chilli, slit into two
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 teaspoons coriander powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 garlic clove
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 gooseberry sized tamarind pulp, soak in 1 cup of warm water and extract
the juice
salt as required
4-5 tablespoons coconut oil
Method
·
Heat around 4 tablespoons of oil in a
kadai/cheenachatti. Add 20 shallots and fry until the shallots turn light
golden. Drain from the oil and keep aside.
·
To the same oil add the sliced brinjals and fry
well until the brinjals turn brown in colour. Drain and keep aside.
·
Heat another pan and add the coconut, fennel,
green chilli, garlic, remaining shallots, few curry leaves. Dry roast on a
medium low flame all these until the coconut turns golden brown in colour.
·
At this stage, add the coriander powder, chili
powder and roast for 2-3 minutes or until the raw smell of the the powders goes
off.
·
Switch off the flame. Once cooled, grind this
into a smooth paste, adding enough water.
·
Heat a kadai, pour the extracted tamarind juice
and the grinded paste. Add 1 - 11/2 cups of water, salt and allow it to boil
well.
·
Once it is brought to a boil add the fried
shallots and brinjal. Continue to cook until the gravy thickens.
·
Switch off the flame and garnish with a sprig of
curry leaves.
* You can season with mustard, red chillies,
few fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Just splutter all of these in a
little coconut oil and add it to the dish finally. Its optional. Here the
seasoning was not done but still it tasted yummy. But seasoning will make the
theeyal taste more yummy!!
It definitely looks like my kind of side, which I would love to eat more than the rice!!! Sheesh, I am forcing myself not to look at the color of the dish while typing up the finishing up... I guess I will stop it now, otherwise I will continuously droool for sure!!! :) :) Not to forget, the linking of this dish to the pouring rains back home too... How much I miss the rains...
Wish you all a happy weekend...