Cilantro Stuffed Eggplants

Gutti Vankaya Kothimera Karam.

Cilantro stuffing is prepared with cilantro, coconut, ginger and green chiles. Eggplants are stuffed with the cilantro mixture and cooked on low heat till done. It is then stir fried with leftover stuffing mixture till golden brown in color.
Makes: 4 Gutti Vankaya Kothimera Karam.

Ingredients:

Baby Eggplants 4 medium
Green Chiles 3 – 4
Ginger 3 (1 inch pieces)
Grated Coconut 2 tbsps
Cilantro 1 1/2 Cups Packed
Salt to taste

Talimpu:

Urad Dal 1/4 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
Mustard Seeds 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Curry Leaves 6
Oil 1 tsp

Method of preparation:

Clean, wash and roughly chop cilantro.
Remove stems, wash and roughly chop the green chiles.
Peel and roughly chop the ginger.

Wash thoroughly and pat dry eggplants.
Remove stems if you prefer and slit twice vertically keeping one end intact.

Grind cilantro, coconut, green chiles, ginger and salt into smooth paste with least amount of water.

Stuff around a tbsp of the prepared cilantro stuffing into each eggplant.
Keep the stuffed eggplants onto a place the reserve any leftover stuffing mixture for later use.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add all talimpu ingredients in order.
When urad dal changes color, slowly place the stuffed eggplants.
Fry briefly and pour half a cup of water and cook covered for 5 – 10 minutes until the eggplants are soft.
Once the eggplants are cooked properly, uncover and fry till the skin turns light golden in color.
Stir in leftover cilantro paste and stir fry on high flame till most of the moisture is gone and the paste sticks to the eggplants.
Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice or with roti.
Notes: Make sure the insides of the eggplants are cooked properly.

Suggestions: Adjust the cooking time according to the size of the eggplants. If the stuffing becomes too runny, add more cilantro and coconut and grind to make the stuffing thick.
Variations: check out the other eggplant recipes here.
Other Names: Cilantro Stuffed Eggplants, Gutti Vankaya Kothimera Karam.

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Mint Cilantro Rice

Pudina Kothimera Annam.

Mint cilantro rice is prepared by frying the mint and cilantro leaves and grinding them into fine paste with spices. The paste is then cooked briefly with garbanzo and mixed with steamed rice. Serve mint cilantro rice with raita of your choice.
Makes: around 3 Servings of Mint Cilantro Rice.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice 1 1/2 Cups
Mint 2 Cups loosely packed
Cilantro 1 1/2 Cups loosely packed
Curry Leaves 10
Grated Coconut 3 tbsps
Green Chiles 4 – 6
Tamarind 1 – 2 inch sized Ball
Cashews 15
Cumin Seeds 2 tsps
Jaggery 1 inch Block (optional)
Turmeric powder a pinch
Asafoetida a big Pinch
Boiled Garbanzo / Chickpeas 1 Cup
Salt to taste
Oil 1 tbsp

Method of preparation:

Wash rice and soak in fresh water for half an hour.
Cook the rice with 2 1/2 cups of water till rice is soft and all the water has been absorbed.
Soak tamarind in few tablespoons of water for some time and extract all the pulp.

Remove stems, wash and roughly chop green chiles.
Clean, wash and roughly chop mint leaves, cilantro leaves and curry leaves.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add cashews and fry them till they turn light golden brown.
Remove cashews and add all the chopped leaves to the remaining oil and fry till they wilt.
Remove from heat and cool the leaves to room temperature.
Grind the fried leaves with coconut, tamarind pulp, half of the cashews, half of cumin seeds, jaggery (if using), green chiles and salt into smooth paste adding sufficient water.

Heat remaining oil in a pan, add remaining cumin seeds, turmeric powder and asafoetida.
Fry briefly, stir in chana, cashews and salt.
Fry the chana for few seconds, stir in ground mint paste.
Add few tbsps of water if necessary and cook on low for 2 – 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in steamed basmati rice.
Thoroughly mix everything and serve mint cilantro rice with tomato raita or boondi raita.
Notes: Make sure not to overcook once the paste is added to the oil.

Suggestions: If the paste is overcooked, the coconut might turn strong and the leaves lose the aroma. Adjust the spice with green chiles. Add more jaggery or tamarind according to preference.
Variations: You can also check the variation of rice here.
Other Names: Mint Cilantro Rice.

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