Todays lunch is pumpkin paratha , chutney and fruits(strawberry, grapes and pear).
I tried pumpkin paratha for the first time today. Was very tempted by it when I saw the pictures in Madhuli’s blog .
The Konkani name of eggplant is “Vayngana”, ‘n’ is pronounced by nose, but usually while typing, I have seen it is written as ‘Vaygana’. The name “bajji” is a bit confusing as this is not the normal deep fried fritter. I am yet to find out the significance of this name.
This dish is a kind of “Baingan ka bhartha”, but the Konkani ‘bhartha’ or ‘bharth’ has the ground coconut chutney in it. For ‘bajji’ we do not grind coconut. Both have exact same ingredients, but the preparation method makes them taste very different. But there are few people who call this dish as ‘bharth’.
This dish is usually served with a kind of rice rotti prepared on banana leaf. This rotti is called “mumbri” or “cholkya vayli rotti” . This is my favorite breakfast combination. Alternatively, this can even be served as a side dish with rice and papad.
Bajji is also called ‘Karmana’ and when this is prepared with the green eggplants called “gulla”, this is called “gulla karmana”.
Ingredients: Eggplant 1 big Coconut 1/2 cup Green chillies or red chillies 3-4 Tamarind 1/2 tea spn Asafoetida a pinch Salt
If the eggplants available in India are used, increase the number. After smoking, at least 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of pulp should remain. 1/2 cup of chopped onions can also be included in this dish. But I prefer the version without onion.
Method: Smoke the eggplant as explained here . Peel the skin and put the pulp in water.
Keep it in water for 5-10mins and discard the water. Mix coconut, green chilies, tamarind, onion(if using), asafoetida and salt with hand.
Now add the pulp and mix well. Add 1-2tbl spn of water if required. Serve with rice rotti (mumbri) .
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 15mins
PS: Will post the mumbri recipe tomorrow.
