Category: Cilantro

Brinjal Cilantro (Vankaya Kottimera Kura)

An authentic Andhra dish to be eaten with Sona Masuri rice or sorghum roti, this superb recipe came with high recommendation from Lakshmi chinnamma. She has been following my vegetable harvest updates and when she saw the fresh and familiar brinjals, she highly recommended I cook this recipe and I did. What a joy it was to rediscover the forgotten taste. Chinnamma, you are my muse, thank you.

Brinjal and Cilantro

Brinjal Cilantro (Vankaya Kottimera Kura)
(for one or two meals for four to two)

    8 palm-length, fresh and firm pinkish mauve colored brinjals
    2 cups, finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
    4 green chilli, Indian or Thai variety, finely chopped
    1 tablespoon, grated fresh ginger
    1/4 teaspoon, turmeric
    1/2 teaspoon, salt or to taste

    For tadka: 1 tablespoon, peanut oil and
    from masala dabba: tadka ingredients (cumin, mustard seeds and few fresh curry leaves)

Brinjal: Fill a bowl to half with water. Add a teaspoon of salt and mix.
Remove the ends and cut the brinjals lengthwise thinly and then crosswise to about one-inch length pieces. Drop the pieces into salted water. This old-Bharath technique is to prevent brinjal bitter-browning.

Cilantro: Take cilantro leaves, chillies and ginger in a mixer or mortar. Add a pinch of salt and blend them to coarse paste. (Or, if you prefer, skip this step and add the three ingredients as they are.)

Brinjal-Cilantro: Place a wide skillet on stove-top and heat. Add oil and when oil is hot, add and toast curry leaves, a pinch each – cumin and mustard seeds to fragrance. Add brinjal pieces. Sprinkle turmeric and salt. Cover the skillet partially and cook the brinjal pieces to soft on medium heat. Add the cilantro paste at the end. Stir-fry for few minutes until the home is filled with wonderful cilantro scent.

Serve Vankaya Kottimera Kura warm with rice or roti and dal or dahi. Soft brinjal pieces with rich, jari like cilantro accent taste spicily silk. Imagine an edible Dharmavaram silk. This could be it.

Vankaya Kottimera Kura (Brinjal-Cilantro Curry)
Vankaya Kottimera Kura ~ For Meal Today

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Home as a Hobby ~ Cilantro Bouquet

Every kitchen garden needs a healthy combination of both herbs and vegetable plants, and nothing beautifies the homestead like flowers. Cilantro is a great annual herb with memorable fragrance, flavor, and flowers. This old-time herb sprouts from coriander seeds, grows compact, flowers prolifically, sets seed gladly and reseeds with ease, offering a perpetual, perennial-like performance in the kitchen garden. The whole cilantro plant, from fresh leaves, flowers, root to seeds have valuable roles in the kitchen and many culinary uses.

I noticed that cilantro loves warm and humid Houston weather. I let my cilantro bloom this spring and then fruit. When seeds are plump, I removed the plants and arranged them in a flower vase to air-dry. They made a beautiful arrangement and filled the home with wonderful coriander fragrance. It makes me happy to think that in about a week when they are dried, I could harvest home-grown coriander seeds.

Cilantro in Bloom
Cilantro in Bloom

Fresh Dania (Coriander Seeds)
Cilantro with Plump, Green Dhania (Green Coriander Seeds)

Cilantro with Seeds
Cilantro with Coriander Seeds

Cilantro Bouquet
Celebrating Mother Earth’s Generosity with Cilantro Bouquet

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Cilantro Soopa (Coriander Rasam)

Cilantro Soopa
Cilantro Soopa ~ for Jihva:Cilantro

Coriander flavor in full force, this cilantro soopa is a scintillating spicy preparation that would soothe the hunger pangs and mitigates the migraine pains. Natural ingredients pure flavor in full display, this original recipe from me is a dieters delight and tasty alternative to cream/butter/flour filled western soup preparations.

Cilantro Soopa
(makes about 2 servings)

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorn
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp – soaked in a cup of water and juice extracted
1 tablespoon – crushed jaggery
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon oil and tadka ingredients

Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin and black peppercorn in a small cast iron skillet. Powder to fine in a spice grinder, without adding any water.

In a vessel, add a teaspoon of oil. Heat. Add a sprig of curry leaves, pinch of mustard seeds and asafetida. Sauté few seconds until leaves start to brown.

Add tamarind juice, crushed jaggery and coriander powder. Also salt and about two cups of water. Bring to boil. Add cilantro leaves. Simmer for few minutes until leaves wilt. Switch off the heat. Serve warm. Excellent to sip or drink without rice.

******
Soopa=Sanskrit for rasam/chaaru like preparations.
© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari

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Cilantro Omelette

We had a busy weekend. More than usual, because we are expecting my in-laws this Thursday. I am excited about their visit and the possibility of learning more from them. They are my gurus and great persons in general. Counting the hours…

If my posts read out of touch with current fads of food blogosphere, contact elusive (what’s new, right? :)) in the coming months, you know the reason.

Naturally, the home is going major upside-down cleaning ritual. So l needed an easy meal for lunch. An omelette filled with cilantro and some steam-cooked vegetables. Cilantro omelette, is what made me fell in love with cilantro. Even though it’s quite ubiquitous growing up, I used to have no opinion about cilantro, but one hungry day during college days similar to the one I had today, I made this. Boom… it’s been a technicolor Jai Ho for cilantro from then on. If this is your first time with cilantro, or looking for something new with cilantro, try this egg based recipe. You would love cilantro and always fondly remember the flavor it brings to the eggs.

Cilantro on Egg
Cilantro on Egg

Cilantro Omelette
(for two adults, for a light meal)

5 eggs of good quality
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup, finely chopped red onion or shallots
1 green chilli – finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

Break eggs into a big cup. I always remove yellows because of their overtly chemical taste and smell. Keep them if you are immune/ accustomed. Add salt and lightly beat. Add cilantro, onion and green chilli. Mix well.

In a cast-iron skillet, heat a tablespoon of oil or ghee over medium-high heat. Add eggs mixture and gently swirl to spread eggs to the edge of skillet. When omelette is lightly brown at the edges, turn opposite side. Cook for couple of minutes to pale red. Serve hot.

For light meal, steam cook vegetables. Cut avocado to slices. Place them on a plate with omelette. Add tomato chutney or salsa for little bit of zing. There you go, a light meal that won’t take long to prepare and helps to keep the energy up.

© Recipe and Photos Copyright 2009 Indira Singari

Cilantro Omelet
Cilantro Omelette with Avocado, Steamed Vegetables and Tomato Chutney ~ Meal Today

This is my entry to lovely food blogger Cilantro’s Cilantro Jihva Event.

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