Apple Halwa

Ingredient:
6 Apples
¼ cup of cashews
1 tbs butter
2/3 cup of sugar

Method:
1) Clean the apples and peel the skin and cut the apples into small pieces (removed the seeds while cutting).
2) Take a heavy bottom frying pan (I prefer steel pan) and take the butter and heat it and fry the cashew pieces till golden brown and keep it aside.
3) Take the apple pieces on the same frying pan and sugar and cook till the apple pieces gets soft keep stirring. It will take about 5-7 minutes.
4) Add the cashew and your apple halwa is ready to serve.

Baigan Bhurta with green pea

Ingredient:
1 big Eggplant (about 1/2 lb)
1 can green pean (12 oz)
1 medium size onion chopped
3-4 green chilli chopped(optional)
1 tbs sambar powder
1 tbs mustard seeds
1/2 tbs turmeric
a pinch of hing
2 tomatoes chopped (about 1 ans 1/2 cup)
3-4 tbs oil

Method:
1. Brush Eggplant with oil and poke few places with a fork and roast them. Either a)You can roast it directly on the gas burner, keep turning at regular intervals, until the skin becomes black or
b) You can take the eggplant on a plate and microwave it for 10 minutes and peel the skin and mash it properly.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan add hing, mustard seeds in medium heat until it finished cracking. Add chopped green chilli and chopped onions and stir over medium heat and cover the lid and leave it for a minute.
3. Add chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder and stir-fry until the oil floats on top.
4. Add mashed baingan ( eggplant) and stir-fry for 1 minute. Now draint he water from the pea and add to the eggplant and salt and sambar powder and mix it properly and cover it and let it cook for another 1 minute.
5. Serve with any roti, I prefer this with chapati (indian roti).

Eggplant Tomato

This recipe is like eggplant sambar, but cooks differently and it goes with rice. This is my mom's recipe and I love it.

Ingredient:
1 Medium Eggplant
4-5 medium size tomato chopped
A pinch of hing
½ tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs mustard seeds
2 green chillies
1 clove garlic
1 red chilli
4 tbs oil
Salt as per taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
1)Clean the eggplant and make 1-2 inch long slices.
2)Make a paste of the mustard seeds, green chilli and garlic with 2 tbs of water and keep it aside.
3)Take a flat frying pan and 2 tbs of oil and stir fry the eggplant slices till little brown and keep it aside.
4)Take another frying pan with 1 tbs of oil and add hing when it’s hot add the chopped tomato pieces and let it cook till tomatoes gets soft about 4-5 minutes.
5)Now add a big glass of water and let it boil and then add the mustard paste to the frying pan and stir it properly.
6)Add the eggplant pieces and salt to the frying pan and let it boil for a min ot till eggplant pieces gets cook properly and keep it aside.
7)Now add takda: Heat 1 tbs of oil and add the cumin seeds and red chilli and switch off the gas when you see the color of chilli changes and add this to the eggplant tomato and garnish with coriander leaves.
This dish is ready to serve with Rice. It goes well with rice.

Aloo Baigan Curry

Ingredient:
1 big Eggplant cut into 3-4 inch square
2 medium potatoes cut into 1-2 inch square
2 medium size tomatos chopped
2 big onions chopped
1 tbs coriander powder
½ tbs turmeric
1 tbs red chilli powder (you can adjust as per your need)
½ tbs cumin seeds
3-4 tbs oil
Salt as per taste

Method:
1)Take a frying pan and heat with 1 tbs of oil, add the cumin seeds and then chopped onions and stir it for a minute.
2)Add chopped tomatoes, coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric and mix it properly.
3)Now add the chopped eggplant and potato and 1 glass of water, mix it properly and add salt and cover the lid and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes till all the water evaporated and eggplant and potatoes are cooked properly. If it’s not cooked then add more water and let it boil till it gets soft.
4)Now add 3 tbs oil on it and let it cook in medium heat for about 2 minutes and it’s ready to serve with your choice of roti or rice.

Eggplant Raita

Ingredient:
1 Big Eggplant
1 cup yogurt
½ cup grated coconut
3 red chilli
1 tbs mustard seeds
1-2 clove garlic
2 tbs oil
½ tbs lemon juice
Salt as per taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
1)Roast the Eggplant on the oven till soft or microwave it for about 10 minutes and peel the skin and mash it properly.
2)Beat the yogurt with a spoon and mix it with the eggplant pulp and add the lemon juice and mix it thoroughly.
3)Make a paste of the grated coconut, 1-2 red chilli, garlic, salt and mustard seeds with few spoon of water and mix it with eggplant pulp.
4)Add the tadka: Heat 1-2 tbs of oil in a frying pan and add the mustard seeds and 1 red chilli and allow the mustard seeds to finish cracking sound and then add this to the eggplant pulp and garnish with coriander leaves.
5)It’s ready to serve with rice.

Kathie’s Nut Snuggles

This is not my recipe, this is Kathie’s recipe. 2 years back once during Christmas someone from my office got this to the office and it was just so yummy that I requested for the recipe. This was his wife’s recipe. In picture didn't come that good, just try it yourself…

Ingredient:
1 cup butter softened
1 egg yolk
¾ cup sour cream
Dash of salt
2 cup all purpose flour
Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
2 tbs cinnamon

Method:
1)Mix all ingredients together except for filling. The dough will be sticky.
2)Chill dough over night( or at least for few hour)
3)Divide dough into 3 parts.
4)On a well-floured board roll out 1 dough part into a circle, till thin.
5)Sprinkle on 1/3 of filling
6)Cut into 16 wedges shaped pieces (looks like pizza)
7)Roll wide end first towards canter
8)Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tan in a 400 deree oven. (baking time may vary in different oven)
9)Remove from baking sheet to cool.

Eggplant Curry

Ingredients:
1 lb eggplant (cut into 3-4 inches of pieces, if eggplant are small in size then cut to 4 pieces with stem intact)
3-4 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp Jeera(cumin) seeds
2 tsp Peanut
2 inches of Ginger chopped
3-4 cloves of Garlic chopped(optional)
3-4 green chilli
A pinch of hing
1 tbsp Curry masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
3 Tomatoes chopped (3 tbs tomato paste)
1/4 cup of yogurt
A pinch of saffron and 2-3 green cardamom (optional)

Method:
1)Make a paste of peanut, ginger, garlic and green chili, curry powder and make another paste of tomato and yogurt.
2)Heat oil in a pan and fry eggplant properly and keep it separate.
3)Now take a pan and heat oil and add hing and cumin seeds and let the seeds to pop and then add the peanut paste first and stir it for few sec and then add the tomato paste and keep stirring in low flame till you see the oil coming out from paste.
4)Add half glass of hot water and let it boil, than add fried eggplant and salt and stir it properly and cover the lid and let it cook in low flame for another 5 minute.
5)Optionally you can add crushed saffron and crushed green cardamom for nice smell.
6)It’s ready to serve with your choice of Roti or Rice.