Pumpkin and Eggplant Curry

A while ago, I saw a recipe for eggplant and pumpkin/butternut squash curry on Suganya's blog and have been wanting to make it since. Well, I finally got around to making it with my own modifications. In my frantic rush on the night I made this, I totally forgot to add mustard seeds and urad dal to season it. I had originally thought to do this, but it was great even without these! Thanks, Suganya, for the inspiration!

I chose to use some of the curry powder that Cham sent to me as the main flavoring to this dish. The end creation was a vegetarian dish that gives you the same satisfaction as eating a non-veg dish. (I think carnivores understand what I mean, right?)

I will qualify this by saying that if you're not a fan of pumpkin to begin with, this dish might not convert you to being a pumpkin lover. However, combining it with another vegetable, and adding spices definitely cuts the sweetness and makes it taste great. So, I'd still urge you to try this out. If you really hate pumpkin, you could try using potatoes or other types of squash instead for a different flavor.

Ingredients:

Yellow pumpkin - 1 cup, diced
Baby eggplant - 1 cup, diced
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Green chillies - 5, chopped (or to taste)
Tomato - 2 medium, chopped
Cham's curry powder - 1 tbsp (you can use your favorite curry powder or sambar pwdr)
Black pepper powder - 1/2 - 1 tsp, per your taste
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt to taste
Oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan until it's extremely hot.

2. Add the eggplant and saute it on very high heat so that the edges char a bit and the eggplant softens slightly. Remove from the pan and cook the pumpkin in the same way (char it slightly on very high heat and remove from the pan).

3. In the same pan, heat a little more oil. Add the onions, green chillies, and curry leaves. Fry until the onions brown a bit.

4. Now, add the tomato and curry powder. Fry until the tomatoes soften and the raw smell of the masala goes away.

5. Add the cooked vegetables, salt, half a cup of water and cook on medium low until the vegetables are fully cooked and have absorbed the flavor of the masala.

6. Turn off the heat, add pepper powder, check seasoning. If desired, you can add a squeeze of lime juice to heighten the flavors. Suganya used coriander leaves at the end, but I had none on hand that day. Feel free to use them if you like!

Tastes great with any roti, chappathi, etc.

Dinner anyone?

Curried Chicken Burgers and Spiced Oven Fries

As I mentioned in my last post, I received my surprise ingredient from Cham, of Spice Club. She sent me her homemade curry powder which smells out of this world!!

Ok, so you might be wondering what I made with Cham's curry powder. Well, my twisted brain was at work again and I came up with this idea to use it in a burger... My initial thought was to use ground lamb, but I didn't have any on hand and just couldn't get to the store. So, I thought it would still work with ground chicken. Boy, did it ever work!! Paired with oven fries, also using the same curry powder, this made one spectacular meal!



Cham, you are such a dear to send me your curry powder. I am so glad to have received it and to have used it to make such a delicious burger! I do have a more "normal" use also in store for it, but will post that later.

Curried Chicken Burgers:


Ingredients:

Ground chicken - 1lb
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Garlic - 5 cloves, grated
Green chillies - 10, or to taste, chopped
Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp, chopped
Cham's curry powder - 1 tbsp
Pepper jack cheese - 8 small slices (1 slice per burger)
Salt to taste
Oil
Small buns - 8 (figure 1-2 per person, depending on appetite)

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together and let soak for about 1/2 hr.

2. Form into small patties (I was able to make 8 small patties) and place into skillet on medium heat. Cook on both sides until browned and cooked through.

3. Place cheese on top of the burgers, cover loosely with foil, and allow to melt while keeping the pan on low heat.

4. Toast buns.

Place burgers and desired toppings (lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, etc.) on buns and enjoy hot! You can use any desired dressing or sauce on these as well (ketchup, chutney, etc.) We used a green olive spread (crushed green olives, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and crushed red pepper) as our dressing, but ketchup or chutney would be equally delicious!

If you have leftovers, don't worry... They taste even better! I just had the last of them for lunch and it was awesome!! :)


Spiced Oven Fries:



Ingredients:

Potato (russet) - 1 medium, chopped into sticks
Sweet potato - 1 medium, chopped into sticks
Cham's curry powder - 1 tbsp, or to taste
Salt - to taste
Olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. Toss potatoes and sweet potatoes lightly in oil and spread on lightly greased cookie sheet or sheet pan.

3. Bake at 425 F for 25-30 minutes. Lower the heat to 400 F and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

4. Once cooked, remove from oven, toss with salt and curry powder. Serve with burgers and enjoy!


I will be passing on the love to Revathi of En Ulagam, and Mansi of Fun and Food. Get your creative juices flowing, ladies! Am looking forward to seeing your dishes!

Mystery Ingredient!

What is Arusuvai? It is the brainchild of Latha and Lakshmi of the The Yum Blog – the Arusuvai Friendship chain is, in Latha 's own words,

"about sending along a surprise ingredient as a gift to your friends for them to prepare something tasty with it, share the recipe, and pass on other surprise ingredients to more people. Arusuvai means six tastes (aruu = six, suvai=taste) in Tamizh and is used to refer for Tasty preparation with six tastes - inippu/ thithippu (sweet), orappu/ karam (hot), kassappu (bitter) , pulippu (sour), uppu(salt), tuvarpu (tastes that one gets in raw leaves).”

Latha, of Masala Magic, has started the arusuvai chain here in the US. I am just so happy that I've been able to participate in the fun!

I was so excited when Cham, of Spice Club, contacted me to ask if I'd like to receive a surprise ingredient from her! Would I like to receive something?? Was that really a question? Of course I'd love to get something!! :)

When Cham told me that she'd sent the package, my eager, impatient side set in. I couldn't wait to see what she had in store for me. When I opened the package, she had enclosed a sweet card that said, "Good Luck" in huge letters on the cover... Was she trying to tell me something? *laugh* Inside was a pair of cute earrings and a packet with the secret podi (spice powder).



The smell was just divine... I could smell fennel, black pepper, and cardamom for sure. Maybe some cloves, too, I thought. So, I consulted with her and found out what it really is.

Mystery Powder!

Turns out, this is Cham's own curry powder blend. She actually went through my blog, saw that I had a lot of non-veg dishes, and thought I might like this particular podi! I can't thank you enough, Cham!

So, what did I make with this wonderful podi? Stay tuned for my next post!