Pulihora ** Specialty recipe **

I thought I better put this down before I forget. Of course, there was plenty of rice left in one of the potlucks, and I had to make something out of it. And the dish was pulihora. I have made this so many times, that I feel like I have perfected it (tamarind rice). There are variations to how you can get the sourness from, e.g., lime, mango, etc. I haven't had success with them yet.

Preparation of rice:
Method 1 (there is no cooked rice)
1. Add some turmeric & some oil along with your regular way of cooking rice.
2. Once the rice is cooked, spread it in large trays so the rice is as separate as possible.

Method 2 (there is already cooked rice)
1. To the cooked rice, add some 'turmeric + water' and sprinkle some oil & microwave.
2. Once the rice is cooked, make sure it is separate and not sticky.

Pulihora preparation:
3. Fry oil in a skillet and add mustard and peanuts.
4. Mix tamarind paste in water or make tamarind water from tamarind. Mix it thoroughly. The water should be as little as possible. Just enough to make the tamarind liquidy. (1 cup of tamrind water : 2 cups of uncooked rice)
5. Add green chillies or red chillies to the skillet. Add curry leaves too if you wish. (Better flavor.)
6. Once the peanuts are fried enough, take the skillet aside and add the tamarind water.
7. Add salt to the skillet and mix.
8. Mix the above paste to the prepared rice and mix thoroughly. Done!

Where can you go wrong?
1. Too much water will make the taste diluted.
2. Roasting peanuts for too long might land the dish in trouble.
3. Mixing the tamarind water while still frying might burn the tamarind paste and other ingredients.

Recipe 6 - Mango Lassi!!

Preparation of one glass of mango lassi, from pulp:

Ingredients
6 tbsp yogurt
4 tbsp mango pulp
5 tsp sugar
1 pinch of salt

Mix the above ingredients in a grinder until you are comfortable. :)

Yum.. glug glug!
[no pictures avlbl]

P.S.: This recipe is optimized over iterations.. tried and tested on us by Shraddha. :)

Recipe 5 - Baingan Bharta

So, this I attempted for the potluck on my birthday. And.. I only started making it. I let the guests take over the cooking part. Me bad host. Nevertheless.. this is what we did. (Well some parts I missed like forgetting to add cumin seeds to tadka till the end, but the intention was to do what is outlined below.)

1. Neatly wash and dry the eggplants that you want to make.
2. Poke holes* using a fork or a skewer if you have one.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350C.
4. Wrap the eggplant in aluminum foil and bake it for ~45min. It needs to be well cooked. Not too soft, but soft enough.
5. While the eggplant is getting roasted, cut your onions and tomatoes and keep them aside.
6. Fry onion in the oil till medium brown. Add cumin seeds and add ginger & garlic.
7. Now, add the cut tomatoes and fry them.
8. On the side, remove the baked eggplant & start peeling the skin. **
9. Once the skin is pealed, mash the eggplant using your hands and add it to the gravy and cook for a few more minutes on low heat.
10. Add salt*** to taste.
11. Garnish with coriander if you please. Ready to eat!!

Comments:
* Poke holes to cook better
** Now, this is a lengthy process, so, make sure you time it properly, or put aside the gravy that you were prearing.
** I read somewher that applying oil on the eggplant before baking will make this step 8 easier.
*** When the quantity of the curry is large, I normally mix the salt in some water and add the salt water to the curry for consistency.



Sorry, if the picture doesn't live up to your expectations.. but the bharta tasted yum!! :)