Flavors from different parts of India - Yummies from Blogosphere!!!

I am so happy to post two recipes for this week's edition of Yummies from Blogosphere...they can be served as a neat combo in a meal. The greatest thing about these two recipes is that, they represent two very diverse sides of Indian cuisine...and they also represent, I think, the essence of the blog that they were originally posted on...A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine...the dynamic duo, Muskaan and Sadhana, who are the creators of that blog, use their space to present the best flavors from Western and Southern Indian cuisine.

So I decided to try out two wonderful recipes from those two cuisines that could be paired together, last weekend...the result...a wonderful, flavorful meal that represented some of the best flavors from Indian cuisine!!!  After this successful meal, my family has urged me to do this kind of combo more often...pairing up dishes from different cuisines and cultures...shakes up things and a departure from the normal, humdrum routine is fun...dont you think???

I chose to make Vaghareli Rotli, a wonderful yoghurt gravy dish from Gujarati(western Indian) cuisine and Eggplant Gothsu, a tangy Southern Indian side-dish...I served this combo with hot rotis(Indian bread)...it was heavenly!!!The best thing was that this flavorful meal was not only tasty but also extremely simple to make...no prep-ahead...no sweat-ahead:)))

Of course, I followed the original recipes as closely as possible...but you know me:)) I did make some minor changes...thats just me!!! For the Vaghareli Rotli...I added some fennel seeds(saunf) and fenugreek seeds(methi seeds) to the items for seasoning...and to the Eggplant Gothsu, I added some tomatoes, for some additional tanginess.

Here are the original recipes as posted on A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine for Vaghareli Rotli and Eggplant Gothsu...Enjoy!!! Thanks, Muskaan and Sadhana!

Recipe for Vaghareli Rotli:
Ingredients:

6 Leftover Roti (Whole Wheat flat bread)
1 C Yogurt, preferably sour
2 tsp Besan ( Bengal gram flour)
Water to dilute
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp coriander-cumin (dhana-jeeru )powder
lemon juice according to taste if yogurt is not sour
1 Tbsp Cilantro, Chopped
Salt to taste.
For tempering:
1 Tbsp Olive / Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Slit Green Chillies
Few Chopped Curry Leaves
1/4 tsp Hing (Asafoetida)


Method:
1. Mix yogurt and besan (gram )flour & add approximate of 1 Cup of water to dilute this mixture, whisk it nice to avoid lumps.
2. Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds, as it spluters, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, then pour above yogurt + besan mixture to it, while constantly stir it.
3. Bring it to boil, add the rest of the ingredients, stir it, and now with your fingers tear apart the flat bread you made (leftover roti) into medium small pieces just like size of potato chips, and put it in this boiling yogurt sauce.
4. Once you add flat bread pieces into this sauce, stir it and put the flame off. Let it sit for a while, as these bread pieces will soak up all the sauce, leaving behind some gravy. Thats perfect consistency.
5. Its ready to serve hot, with some sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

                      
Recipe for Eggplant Gothsu:
Cooking Time: 20 min

Preparation Time: 10 min
Serves – 4


Ingredients
Egg Plant (small) - 4 to 5
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Onion (medium) - 1
Curry leaves - few
Green chilly - 2 to 3 or to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - small piece
Tamarind - goose berry size ball.
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Rice Flour - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste.
Garnishing:
Chopped Cilantro – 2 tablespoons
This is normally made by roasting the egg plant and peeling the skin and using the pulp inside. The eggplant I had was too small to roast and I didn’t have the time to bake it and peel and take the pulp out.


Method
1) Soak Tamarind in water.
2) Heat Oil and add mustard seeds, once they splutter well add urad dhal, channa dhal, and asafoetida.
3) Once the dhal browns a little add green chilly, chopped ginger, onion pieces and curry leaves.
4) Cut the egg plant into small pieces and add it to the above.
5) Now add turmeric powder and salt and cover it for a while till the egg plant gets cooked.
6) Once it is cooked squeeze out the tamarind pulp from the soaked tamarind using water and add it to the egg plant mixture.
7) This should be in-between consistency of rasam and sambhar, so add water accordingly.
8) Once the tamarind water boils well and the raw smell is gone, mix the rice flour in little bit of water and add the paste to this mixture.
9) Simmer for a minute or two till the gravy thickens and is not very watery and switch of and garnish serve with Pongal or Idli.