Andhra Meal on Christmas Eve

Wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

I made a traditional Andhra meal for our Christmas eve dinner. I just wanted to try some recipes from "Cooking at Home with Pedatha" and since I had the time and ingredients, I made three recipes last night.

Since I'm a eggplant fanatic, I made 2 types of Vankaya pachadlu (eggplant chutneys) and to keep us warm in this freezing temps, I made theeyati charu(Sweet Rasam). Very delicious meal, I have to say. Here's the picture of my plate:

Clockwise: Rice, Potato-Carrot Curry, Version1 Eggplant Chutney, Version 2 Eggplant Chutney, Rasam & Onion Pakoras

Eggplant Chutney - 2 ways

Version 1: This is a tangy, spicy chutney with tamarind, green & red chillies. I baked one large eggplant in 400F oven for 35-40 minutes and used half of the eggplant for each of the chutneys.

Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1 large
Tamarind pulp - 2tbsp
Salt - to taste

For Tempering:
Urad dal (Minapappu) - 1tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 2tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Red chillies - 3
Green chillies - 3
Curry leaves - 10-12 (I didn't have these on hand)
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped (didn't have these)
Asafoetida powder (hing) - 1tsp

Method:

• Roast the eggplant directly on low flame till the skin turns black and starts cracking. Alternately bake it in the oven until well cooked through. Scrape the skin and mash well with a fork and set aside.
• In a small sauce pan, heat 2tsp oil; add dal and as it turns golden, add the mustard and then the fenugreek seeds. Switch off the flame and with the browning of the fenugreek, add the red chillies. As they turn bright red, stir in the remaining ingredients for tempring.
• Let this cool a bit and grind along with the tamarind pulp and salt into a coarse paste. Do not add water while grinding.
• Add this paste to the eggplant pulp and mix well.

Serve with steamed rice and a dollop of ghee.

Version 2: Milky Eggplant Chutney (Iguru Pachadi)
This version has milk in it and is very mild and delicious.

Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1 large
Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste

For Tempering
Urad dal (Minapappu) - 3/4tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chilies - 3, slit
Ginger - 1/2 tsp, grated
Coriander leaves - 1tbsp, chopped fine
Curry leaves - 6-7

Method:

• Roast the eggplant; mash well and keep aside.
• When the pulp has cooled, ad the milk and mix well.
• In a small sauce pan; heat 1tbsp oil; add dal; as it turns golden, pop the mustard. Switch off the flame and add remaining ingredients for tempering.
• Mis this tempering into the pulp. Add salt just before serving so that the milk does not curdle.

Serve with steamed rice.

Theeyati Charu (Sweet Rasam)

Ingredients:
Toor dal (Kandi pappu) - 2tbsp
Tamarind - medium lemon sized ball
Jaggery - 2tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2tsp
Ginger - 2" piece, crushed
Garlic - 3 cloves, crushed
Ground coriander - 1/2tbsp
Ground Pepper - 1/2tbsp
Ground Cumin - 1/2tbsp
Rasam powder - 1tsp (optional, I used Ambika brand Rasam pd)
Salt - to taste

For Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder (Hing) - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Grind toor dal into a fine powder.
• In a medium sauce pan, add all the ingredients along with ground dal and 4-5 cups of water. Bring to boil. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Heat 1tbsp ghee in a small sauce pan; add tempering ingredients and once the seeds start to splutter, pour the tempering into the charu. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with steamed rice or enjoy as a soup.

This post is part of Recipe Marathon that kicks off a countdown to the new year. Nupur @ One Hot Stove has gathered 29 bloggers to participate in the marathon. This week is going to be packed with yummy recipes in the blogosphere.
As a bonus I gave you 3 recipes instead of one today :-) Hope you enjoy these Andhra dishes as much as we did.