Brinjal gravy for Briyani

Best sidedish I prefer for Briyani is Brinjal gravy / Mirchi ka salan along with any type of raita. This sidedish adds more richness to Briyani. This Brinjal gravy goes well with Hot steam rice, dosa  & roti.

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 4 no

Ingredients:

Onion puree - 2 no (large)
Tomato - 2 (finely chopped)
Coriander - 1 cup (finely chopped)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 5 tablespoon
Tamarind pulp - 1/4 cup
Green chilli - 1 (large, slit)
Brinjal - 12 nos (washed & slit into 4)
Chilli powder -1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 3 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Jaggery powder - 1 tablespoon (grated)
Water - as needed

Whole Garam Masala:

Bay leaf - 1 no
Cloves - 3 nos
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Cardamom - 1 no
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Star anise -1 no

Method:

1. Heat oil in non-stick kadai and saute all the whole garam masala for a minute.

 

2. Add ginger garlic paste and onion puree to kadai and saute well until its raw smell vanish off.



3. Add finely chopped tomatoes, chilli, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and mix well until tomato smashes completely. Sprinkle little water if masala get sticks to kadai.



4. Add brinjal along with 2 tablespoon of oil and saute well. Once brinjal are partially cooked, add tamarind pulp and 1/4 cup of  water and check for spices. Cover and cook this gravy in medium- low flame.



5. Once gravy is done, add little jaggery and stir well. Add finely chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

Aapam

Aapam is very popular South Indian traditional breakfast. It is usually soft and spongy in middle and crisp at corner. It is very good for health and usually served with coconut milk. It is my 75th recipe I am posting in my blog :). Batter that is made for aapam and kuzhi paniyaram are same. Difference is batter consistency , thin batter is used for aapam along with aapa soda/ cooking soda. Palak aapam/ sweet aapam are the different varieties we can make.

Preparation time: 20 min
Soaking time: 4 -6 hrs
Cooking time: 5 mins
Serves : 4 nos

Ingredients for making batter:

Raw Rice / Sonamasoori  - 1 cup
Idli Rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 2 tablespoon
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Coconut milk - 3 teaspoon
Cooking soda/ aapam soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Aapa pan
Sugar - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Method to make batter:

1. Soak raw rice, idli rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds together for 4 -6 hours.
2. Grind it in mixer or grinder to thin consistency batter, little thinner than dosa batter.
3. Add salt to the batter and mix using hand and allow it to ferment over night.



4. Add coconut milk, sugar, aapam soda to the fermented batter, mix well and keep it aside for 10 minutes before making aapam, After adding aapa soda, you could see more air bubble in batter as shown below.



Method to make Aapam:

In traditional aapam are made using Iron skillet (Aapa chatti). I make use of non-stick aapa kadai.

1. Heat appam kadai and sprinkle little oil over it. Reduce the flame and add a laddle of batter in the middle( batter should be in thin consistency).
2. Holding both the sides of aapam kadai, rorate the pan in circular motion and ensure batter gets evenly spread  in circle as shown. Remaining batter settles down in middle, thats why aapam is soft and spongy in middle.
3. Close aapam kadai with lid and cook aapam in low flame.



4. Once aapam is cooked, edges turns little brown. Remove appam from kadai and serve it hot with coconut milk / vegetable stew.



Tips:

1. To make sweet appam, Mix 1/2 cup grated jaggery and 1/2 teaspoon elachi powder to 1 cup aapam batter and repeat the same steps to make aapam.
2. Sprinkle little oil and wipe it using cloth before making aapam everytime, this helps in spreading oil evenly and aapam doesn't get stick to kadai.