tofu and eggplant 65 or shall i say tofu and eggplant chilli

I had some leftover tofu and ever since i saw preeti's tofu and mushroom 65 ,i had to made that one but i didnt had any mushroom and saw some thin ,long lebanese eggplant and thought why not give it a try,as wanted to use my tofu that very day or else would have to throw it in rubbish ,and had no time to go out and get mushrooms,i wasnt sure etall that how will it taste with eggplant but still wanted to give it a try and it really turned out superb,more or less the taste was of paneer chilli and we loved eating this as an appetizer ,my daughter enjoyed wating the fried tofu very much ,while making this recipe i was happy as i managed to declutter my fridge by using the sauces and tofu which were quite close  to their expiry dates,sending this over to nupur's BB-4 event.I have used the same recipe just some few changes here and there and also shallow fried in 1/2 cup oil and made the sauce in the remaining leftover oil instead deep frying them.

ingredients for marination :

200 gms  cubed tofu 

1 tbsp corn flour

1 tbsp plain flour / maida

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli pwd

salt to taste

1-2 tbsp water 

 ingredients for the sauce :

2  sliced eggplant ( mushrooms were used in the original recipe )

1 chopped onion

2-3 broken curry leaves

3-4 chopped green chillies ( adjust more or less according to your taste )

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp red chilli  sauce ( optional,i added though it is not in the actual recipe )

2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp grated garlic

1 tsp black pepper pwd

pinch of red colour ( i didnt add though it is highly recommended )

salt to taste

1/2 cup oil for frying /oil for deep frying

method :

Cut the tofu in cubes,mix cornflour,plain flour,salt,ginger -garlic paste,red chilli pwd with little water just make a thick paste,add the cubes and dip evenly and keep aside for half an hr. ( i had refrigerate it for half an hr )so that tofu is well marinated.Carefully and gently roll over the tofu in the paste and  fry in a medium flame,just make sure they dont break and strain aside on a paper towel.( i took 1/2 cup oil and shallow fried the tofu cubes and in the remaining leftover oil i made the sauce ,you can deep fry the tofu chunks and can use 1/4th cup oil to make the sauce .)In the remaining oil add cumin seeds,onions,ginger,garlic ,green chillies,curry leaves and fry for few mins.Add the egg plants,vinegar,soya sauce,tomato ketch up and chilli sauce and food colour,mix well and fry for 2 mins or till the eggplant are tender enough.Add tofu,pepper pwd,chilli pwd,salt and mix well,fry for 2-3 mins and serve hot.

baked samosa

Now a days many of my friends are going back to india and settling down there and few are gone for a month's vacation,so all of them have handed me their leftover pantry stuff ,i guess they know that im a big foodie and now that i have started blogging ,i try many new dishes and they were very confident that i would make good use of it rather than wasting and throwing such useful nutritious and expensive stuff ,and so these days my kitchen is full of different kind of mix groceries though in small quantities ,one of my friend gave me her home made maharashtrian kala masala,which is just mind blowing and tastes just perfect,this time when i was making samosas i added this masala and to my surprise they tasted awesomely good .Actually  this masala is very useful and handy while making amti,kala chana,masala bhaat etc,many people still make this at home though its a bit long process and requires umpteen number of spices but let me tell you its worth it,and i was quite lucky to recieve this ready made from my dear friend sheetal ....miss you yaa :(

ingredients : 

2 ready rolled store bought  puff pastry sheets

2 potatoes boiled and cubed

1/2 cup boiled fresh peas or thawed frozen peas soaked in hot water for few mins.

2 tsp home made maharashtrian kala masala ( you can find the recipe here ) or if u dont have it use garam masala instead ( adjust according to your taste )

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp red chilli pwd

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 broken curry leaves

1/2 tsp amchur pwd / lemon juice to taste

salt to taste 

chopped corriander leaves

2 tsp oil

method :

Heat oil,splutter cumin,curry leaves,add potatoes,peas and all the masalas and mix well.Let it cool down.Thaw the pastry sheets for 5-10 mins,take one sheet and cut in any desired shape ,spoon a potato and peas filling and seal the edges with water ,grease a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200 c for 10-15 mins or until brown in colour ( pls keep an eye as different oven may vary the temp.).I luv using puff sheets in  different shapes ,so i made the filling and tried using it in various shapes ..serve hot with tamarind chutney without any guilt feeling ;)

some more Awards ...

Thank you jyoti of panchpakwan for passing me these tag awards,im just loving it :D ,it really made my day when i saw your msg to collect my award in my comment box ,i am so very happy to recieve them again ( 2nd time ) from you.It's really an inspiration to blog more and more with these lovely awards...happy blogging friends..As per the rules i have to share my favourite pic and tag other blogger friends,so i would like to share these awards with all my other fellow bloggers who visit my blog....please do pick them up.

above is a koala's pic munching his fav eucalyptus leaves,koalas are very cute and this is one of my fav pic which i took in STEVE IRWIN'S AUSTRALIAN ZOO in GOLDCOAST ( australia ) .

tomato salsa

I just love tomato salsa ,i still remember first time i had tomato salsa in my life was 7 yrs back in a multiplex  ( pvr cinemas ) in bangalore while watching one of my favourite sharukh khan movie ;) before that i really never new what is salsa ,during intervals in movie hall i use to grab 2 boxes of chips and dip and literally   lick up the whole small conatiner of salsa,my husband use to make faces and lol ,everytime we use to plan for a movie i would make sure that i only go to pvr  just becoz to have my fav mild tomato  salsa :D

ingredients :

1 finely chopped deseeded riped tomato

1 tbsp tomato paste ( i used store bought )

1 tbsp finely chopped capsicum

1-2 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

1 tsp olive oil

salt to taste

lemon juice to taste

method :

Mix all the above ingredients together and mash  them to make slightly  pulpy yet chunky,refrigerate for an hr before  serving with chips.