AAA dinner: An Andhra Anniversary dinner

A few weeks back was our 4th wedding anniversary, and we decided to celebrate at home on the day. My husband's from Andhra Pradesh, and it had been a while since I made some traditional Andhra meals at home and so came to be our AAA dinner! I have to give credit to "Pedatha" for inspiring me to learn Andhra food. Her book has been indispensable in my learning. These 2 recipes are from her book.

I rarely make eggplant at home! Its just something I don't really like. However, my husband does and so I decided to go for it. The menu for the night: Brinjal (Eggplant) Roast or Vankaya Vepudu in Telugu and Red Gram with Spinach or Palakoora Pappu. Here are the recipes:


Brinjal Roast
This one's a super easy dish to make. You can substitute the brinjals/eggplants with potatoes, bitter gourd (make sure to soak it in a dilute paste of turmeric, tamarind and salt for 20-30 mins) and even okra. Honestly speaking, I didn't taste it but the better half said that it was pretty good. So, we'll just have to go by that.

Ingredients:
Eggplants, 2-3 medium sized
Red chilly powder, 1 tbsp (please adjust as per your preferred spice levels)
Oil 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Tempering:
Urad Dal/ Split black gram 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves 6-8

Cut the eggplants into 2 inch pieces. In a wok, heat oil for tempering. Add the black gram and as it turns golden add the mustard. Lower the flame and add the remaining ingredients for tempering.

Add the vegetable and allow to roast on a low flame, stirring once in a while. After about 8-10 mins, as the eggplants turn a light brown, and salt and chilly powder. Continue cooking on a low flame until well done. In almost all recipes with eggplants such as Bharta, bababghanoush hummus etc., slow roasting is key. It helps bring out the flavor of the vegetable better.

Red Gram with Spinach
Ingredients:
Spinach Leaves 1 large bunch
Split Red Gram 1 cup
Fenugreek Seeds 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Tamarind Pulp 2-3 tbsp
Asafoetida Powder 1 tsp
Green Chillies 3 slit
Curry Leaves 1 stem
Coriander Leaves 1/2 cup chopped fine
Ghee/Oil
Salt

Tempering:
Mustard Seeds 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds 1 tbsp
Red Chillies 8-10

Add the fenugreek seeds and turmeric to the red gram and pressure cook in 3 cups of water. Mix well.

Chop the spinach roughly. I also added some kasturi methi and mint leaves to the spinach to add another taste profile.

In a wok, heat the oil - pop the mustard and then add the fenugreek for tempering. Lower the flame, and add the red chilles when the fenugreek starts turning brown. Add the spinach (an other leaves if using), cover and cook till well done (nicely wilted!!).

Add the tamarind pulp, asafoetida, and simmer for 5-7 mins. Add the cooked gram, 1/4 tsp turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves, salt to taste and continue to cook. Do adjust the # of green and red chillies if you are not a big fan of spice. Add some ghee before switching off.

Here's the final meal which was served with white rice. I had some fried crispies or vadams at home which I added to the meal.