Two favourite Telugu dishes

Half my family is Telugu Brahmin and their food is all about spice and more spice. Now despite the many years of being part of the family I still have tears pouring down my face with all the spice and salt. So I have identified some of my favourites and added my own twist to it. Not suprisingly I have served it up to the family members and met with critical acclaim so her are my list of favourites.

The humble ridge gourd....dice after removing the hard ridge. Heat oil in a pan,add mustard seed let it crackle,add Urag dhal,hing,dried red chillies and salt,to this add the ridge gourd and cover and cook for three minutes then toss around till all the liquid evaporates . The ridge gourd releases a lot of water when cooked.

Most gourds can be made in this way and it's great to taste and healthy to boot.

Stuffed brinjal

Now this is a speciality with a difficult sounding name so we shall just describe it by it's ingredients .

Mustard seed-2tbs

Urag dhal-2 tbs

Channa dhal-2 tbs

Dried red chillies- 4(more if you want it spicy )

Jeera seeds-1tbs

Fenugreek seeds-1tbs

Tamarind-1small ball

Turmeric-1/2tsp

Salt to taste

Curry leaves and mustard (tempering)

Small brinjals-15

Heat oil in a pan and add all the ingredients except the tempering ingredients. Fry till the are brown but not burnt. Pulse in a blender till it's a course powder. Cut the brinjals cross wise and stuff with the powder just made. It it's too powdery add a bit of oil. When all the brinjals are stuffed,heat some more oil ( about two tbs) throw in mustard and curry leaves,then the stuffed brinjals making sure they don't crowd each other. Toss once and then cover with a shallow bowl filled with water. The water will help it steam and cook. Keep the heat on low and toss once or twice during the cooking process. Getting that lid off with the water is a bit of a pain but if one is real lazy then any lid will do and the water treatment can be dispensed with. When the skins of the brinjal take on a roasted look, continue to cook with the lid off until they are soft to touch and well cooked but not mushy. This is like one hell of a tasty dish.