Apple Ginger Jam

Ingredients:
Apples: 1 kg
Sugar: 1 kg
Ginger: 50 gms
Limes: 2
Citric acid: 1 tsp
A few drops of colour if desired

Method:

Core apples and cut into small cubes, scrape and clean ginger and chop fine. Pressure cook these with a little water for 8 mins. ( You can also cook these in Microwave)
Extract puree by passing through a fine strainer or mesh. You can also use a crusher and then strain to extract the puree.

Add sugar, citric acid and lime juice to the puree in a thick vessel and boil rapidly, stir with a wooden spoon and remove scum from the top of the mixture. When the setting point is reached remove from fire, add colour and KMS ( optional). Bottle while still hot in a clean dry glass jar. Don't forget to keep the bottle on a wooden surface lest it cracks when hot jam is poured.

To test if the jam is done, drop a blob of jam in a bowl of cold water and if done it will remain as a shiny blob, if not it will start dissolving.

Bhaghara Baingan (Brinjals)

©ashashenoyfineart

Ingredients:
Step-1
Fry the following on slow fire to light golden brown:
Groundnuts            : 3 Tbsp
Til seeds                 : 2 Tbsp
Coconut scrapings  : 3 to 4 Tbsp
(or roast 1/4th dry coconut /copra roast on flame,
poke a fork into the coconut and turn on flame)
Cool the above, make a coarse powder in the mixie, add water and complete the grinding, remove the paste and keep in a bowl.

Step-2
Eight to ten small, fresh and tender brinjals.
Wash and wipe dry the brinjals. Remove the stalks. Slit the bottom of each brinjal into 4 sections at right angles till a little before the stalk
In a kadai (thick pan) pour oil. Keep on stove and heat the oil till very hot (drop a tiny piece of brinjal, it should pop up in the oil immediately and not sink and stay at the bottom) but don't over heat.
Drop the brinjals one by one and fry till the color changes, you can reduce the flame slightly to avoid over frying. When done remove with a frying ladle and place in a colander to drain the oil.

Transfer the oil used for frying from this pan, leaving behind about 6 Tbsps oil.

Now take two medium size onions. Poke a fork in the onion and tun over a medium flame till the onions turn translucent. Now slice the onions and blend in a mixie. Keep aside.

Step-3
Ingredients
Mustard seeds:  1 tsp
Black til    : 1/2 tsp (kalonji)
Red chillies:  2
Methi seeds:  8 numbers
Karbev: 10 leaves
Onion paste: as in Step-2
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp
*Salt: to taste

Dhania powder: 1 level tsp
Jeera powder: 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder:  1 tsp

Lime-sized tamarind, wash well add water and extract thick juice.


Now heat the oil in the pan, and drop one by one of the above ingredients up to salt*. Fry well on a slow fire and then add dhania, jeera, chilli powder. Fry again and then add the paste made in Step -1, mix well fry again, add oil if necessary and 1/2 cup water to blend. Keep frying till oil leaves the sides of the pan. Now carefully place the fried brinjals, add tamarind juice, and cook for 10 mins slowly turning the brinjals in the masala. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes on slow fire. Put off the flame and add chopped coriander leaves. Bhagara baingan is ready to serve!!