Brinjal Curry (ಮಟ್ಟಿನ ಗುಳ್ಳ ಹುಳಿ)

 Traditional way of cooking Brinjal Curry. Gulla (in Kannada language - Karnataka) means Brinjal or Egg plant.
Mattina Gulla or A special variety of Brinjal curry is a gravy dish and one of the side dish. Mattina Gulla is a special variety of Brinjal grown near a particular place called " Mattu" near Udupi Karnataka. This variety of brinjal is available in certain months of the year. It is some thing different from the normal brinjal, cooks out fast and it has got its own taste. Different types of dishes are prepared using these brinjals.

Ready to Serve  Brinjal Curry

Lets see some benefits of having brinjals in our diet.
Brinjals are known as the king of vegetables. It is very good for weight loss because they contain very low calories. They are full of fiber. Brinjals help to control blood pressure diabetic and blood sugar.They contain good amount of antioxidant properties.They help to lower the cholesterol level. They are rich in fiber, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B-6.

This curry has sweet and sour taste. I used jaggery, coconut, spices and tamarind. Little fried urid dal is used for thickening the curry. The fresh coconut oil is added at the last stage. Since we are from South Canara ( Udupi - Mangalore side) , we love the aroma of coconut oil. I fried the spices with little (1/2 Teaspoon) Safola green corn oil and at the last step added 1 table spoon of coconut oil. It not only adds to the taste fresh oil is good for health. (Not too much of course). Brinjal curry goes well with almost all main dishes. It is one of the yummy dish mixes well with plain rice, idli, dosa, chapatis, roti, poori and rotti and other main dishes as I said earlier.
No Onion or No garlic Recipe 

Things Needed :

1) To Cook 
Brinjals : 2
Jaggery : 2 Tablespoons
Green Chilly : 1
Salt : to taste
Turmeric Powder : a pinch

2) The spice used for frying and grinding
Red chilly : Byadagi (or any) : 4 to 6
Urid Dal : 1 Teaspoon
Coriander Seeds : 1 Tablespoon

Ingh : a pinch
Tamarind : One marble size
Coconut : 3 to 4 Tablespoons

3) For seasoning :
Methi seeds( Fenugrik seeds) : 1/4 Teaspoon

Mustard seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Curry leaves : 5 to 6
 Adding at the last step :
Coriander leaves : 1 Tablespoon

Coconut oil or Ghee : 1 Tablespoon

Method :

1. Wash and cut brinjals into big pieces and put in a big bowl of water for at least 10 minutes.

2. Wash and cut coriander leaves and keep it aside.
3. Grate fresh coconut and keep it aside.
4. Keep a small pan and put a drop of oil and fry urid dal till red. Add coriander seeds, red chilly, little ingh. (Fry for 1 to 2 minutes).

5.Let it cool. Grind this fried mixture with coconut and tamarind till paste. (Use little water while grinding).
6. Remove from the mixi jar and keep it aside.

7. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Add 1 tea spoon of oil , mustard seeds and methi seeds. Let mustard seeds splutter.
8. Add ingh and curry leaves. Squeeze out the water from cut brinjal pieces and add this to a splutter mixture.

9. Stir slowly and add turmeric powder. Add a cup of water and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

10. Add salt and jaggery once the brinjal is half cooked. (just after 1 minute).

11. Now add ground masala and cook for another 2 minutes. (Let all the spice mixture mix it well. Stir in between)

12. Once it is done add coriander leaves and put the ready brinjal curry to a serving bowl. Add a table spoon of fresh coconut oil or a tea spoon of fresh ghee.

Note : 

You can add 1 teaspoon of soaked raw rice instead of urid dal(used it while frying the spices). Adding onions and garlic is purely optional. Adding a green chilly gives good aroma. You can add little garam masala if you are using this curry to chapatis or pooris
You can also add any dal to this curry. (Toor or Moong dal but the taste differ). I have not added. If you use dal reduce coconut quantity, You can prepare any type of brinjals. But the round green brinjals taste better. Using coconut oil is optional. Do not use the old coconut oil. The curry smells bad and you may not be able to eat the food. (Make sure the oil is fresh). We use freshly bought coconut oil from our village. You can use a teaspoon of ghee instead of coconut oil. I used Safola green for seasoning and frying the spice.
Time : 10 minutes.
Serves :  3 to 4

Almonds - Raisins Laddu

Almonds - Raisins Laddu is a sweet dish and it can be munched at any time of the day.It is one of the healthy, nutritious laddu with less ghee and its good for all age group

Ready to serve Almond -Raisins Laddu

Almonds are known for its healthy values. I have used almonds, raisins, roasted channa (hurikadale - Kannada language) and little cashews . Added jaggery for sweet taste. A tablespoon of ghee for nice flavour. Raisins are dry grapes.. (It is also called as Currents or Sultanas). 
Lets see some benefits of having Almonds and Raisins in our diet.
Almonds are packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. They are associated with a number of health benefits. One handful of almonds, around one ounce, contains one - eight of our necessary daily protein. Almonds are source of vitamin E, copper, magnesium. They contain high levels of healthy unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. They are good for diabetes, lowering the cholesterol and control blood sugar in our body.
Raisians are rich source of energy, vitamins, electrolytes and minerals. They are rich in fiber, vitamins and anti oxidants. They help and lower the cholesterol and blood sugar levels. They act as anti cancer agents.They helps to ease the constipation problems. They are free of gluten, toxin and good alternative for people who suffer from gluten allergy. Raisins are rich sources of minerals like calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc. They also filled with healthy electrolyte potassium. It is good source of some B - Complex Vitamins.

Ready to serve Almond -Raisins Laddu

 Lets see the recipe now :

Things Needed :

Almonds : 1 Cup
Raisins  : 1 Cup
Roasted Channa (Hurikadale ) : 1 Small Cup ( 4 Tablespoons).
Cashew Nuts : 2 to 3 Table spoonsDry coconut  (Copra) : 1 (Small one )
Jaggery : 3/4 Cup
Cardamom :  5 to 6 pods.
Ghee : 2 Tablespoons.

Method :

1. Dry roast almonds slightly and dry grind coarsely. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee and fry cashews and raisins. Keep it aside.
2. Cut dry coconut and dry grind it nicely. Remove the outer cover of almonds and keep the pods aside.

3. Dry grind channa and cardamom into powder and keep it aside.

Roasted Channa (Hurikadale)

4.Keep a big pan on the fire and heat. Put jaggery and 1/2 (half) cup of water.

5. Let it melt on low flame. It starts to form bubbles. Check the consistency. It should be one string consistency.

6. Add dry ground almonds, dry coconut, channa powder mix, ghee fried cashews - raisins. and 2 spoon of ghee.

Adding dry ground coconut

Adding dry ground Almonds and fried cashews -raisins

7. Stir nicely and let it mix nicely. Put off the fire and pour the mixture into another big bowl.

Adding Roasted Channa dry ground powder

8. Take a handful of nut mixture and prepare laddu.

Add caption

9. If you find it difficult to form laddu, add warm milk or hot ghee on the top of the mixture and try to prepare.

After mixing every things.

Preparing Laddu

Ready to Serve Laddu

Note :

The jaggery syrup consistency should be exactly one string consistency. Or Laddu may turn hard or you may not be able to prepare laddu. (it may not be firm). Adding more ghee is optional. It adds to the taste. Remember the laddus prepared using warm milk may get spoiled within two days.Better keep them in fridge.
Preparation Time : 10 Minutes
Cooking Time : 2o Minutes
Total Time : 30 Minutes
20 to 25 Laddus can be prepared.