Vaangibaath, tambuli and hagalkayi kosumbri!

Today is again a classic from Bangalore - Brinjal - Capsicum rice with bittergourd salad and mint and pepper flavoured yoghurt! It can perfectly serve as your lunch/dinner menu :)

Let's start with the masala for the rice. This is a hot favorite among all kannadigas because it is versatile and flavoursome. The use of this powder is only curtailed by your imagination! For the purpose of this post, I'll call it vaangibaath powder, but otherwise you can add it to other dried curries and rice preparations as well :)

Vaangibaath powder -

For this you will need -
Take any cup as a measure.

2 tspn - Oil for frying the spices, grams
1 Cup - Urad dal (Deskinned black gram)
1 Cup - Chana dal (Split Chick Peas)
6-7 Nos - Dried Red Chillies
1 tbspn - Coriander Seeds
1 inch - Cinnamon Stick
1 - Marat moggu ( I have no idea what it is called in English)
 It looks like this  -

If you are keen on reading a little more about this unique spice, here's an interesting link -

http://forumhub.com/southfood/29959.03.01.08.html

Great! So once you have all the ingredients, heat the oil in a wok and add the dals. Fry them till they emit a wonderful aroma and then add the rest of the ingredients. Continue frying til they turn golden brown.

Cool and grind to a powder. You can store this for upto two weeks.

For the vaangibaath -

300 gms - Rice (cooked)
250 gms - Brinjal (Sliced lenghtwise)
100 gms - Green Capsicum (Cut into cubes)
5-6 nos - Curry Leaves
1 tspn - Mustard Seeds
1 tspn - Turmeric Powder
Salt as per your taste
1 tbspn - Oil
A handful of coriander leaves
2 tbspns of the masala
1/2 - Lemon

Heat the oil in a wok, add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to splutter, then add the curry leaves. Then add the veggies and salt and turmeric. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, till the veggies are done. Then switch off the gas, add the masala. Give it a good stir and then add half the coriander leaves, fine chopped and finally squeeze the lemon.
Take the cooked rice, when it is hot, in a big bowl. Add 1 tbspn of oil, 1 tbspn of the masala and 1 tspn of salt. Give it a good mix. To this add the prepared veggies and mix it really well. Taste for salt and sourness, if you feel like add more. Garnish with the remaining corinader leaves.

TAMBULI is a yoghurt based salad that is cooling and absolutely delicious. One can eat it just like that! It is traditionally made with doddipatre leaves. The scientific name is coleus aromaticus but yeah I have no clue what it is called in English :) Here however, I have used mint. Next time I get the doddipatre, I'll post that. The recipe is the same, just substitute the leaf!

For this you will need -

2 tspn - Cumin Seeds
2 tspn - Black pepper
1 tbspn - Fresh Grated Coconut
2 tspns - Ghee (Clarified butter)
A handful of mint leaves - chopped
Salt to taste
1 Cup - Yoghurt

Method -

Heat the ghee and add the cumin and the black pepper. Fry for a minute and add the chopped leaves. Fry another minute. Turn off the gas and add the coconut, so it just becomes hot in the pan. Once cooled, grind to a fine paste. Add this to the yoghurt, add salt and mix well!

BITTERGOURD KOSUMBRI -

For this you will need -

2 medium sized - Bittergourds
1 tbspn - Fresh grated Coconut
1 tspn - Tamarind paste
2-3 Nos - Dried Red Chilli
1/2 tspn - Fenugreek Seeds
1/2 tspn - Asfoetida
1 No - Onion ( fine chopped)
1 tspn - Turmeric Powder
1tbspn - Oil
Salt as per taste

Fine chop the bittergourd ( grate away the peel if you don't want extra bitterness ). Marinate this in salt and turmeric for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, grind the coconut, tamarind, chilli, fenugreek seeds and asfoetida into a fine paste.
Heat the oil and add the bittergourd. If you want to further reduce the bitterness, squeeze the pieces and throw away the liquid. But I love the bitterness and always add the liquid too! Fry the pieces for about 5 minutes. Then add the ground paste. Fry for another 2 -3 minutes. Switch off and just before serving add the chopped onions. They give a great crunchy texture and an awesome flavour to the whole dish :)