Semolina Cake

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 Cup semolina
1/2 oz Unsalted butter
A pinch of mustard seeds
A pinch of chopped curry leaves
2 Chopped green chillies
Salt (to taste)
3 Cups water
3 Eggs
1/2 lb bread crumbs (preferably Panko)
Oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Heat a frying pan on a gas burner and dry roast the semolina for three minutes, stirring continuously. Take care that the semolina does not become brown or gets burnt. Put aside to cool.

2. Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add butter and melt. Next add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start crackling, add the chopped curry leaves and stir. Add water and salt.

3. When the water starts boiling, add the semolina. While you add semolina stir the mixture continuously with a whisk so that there is no lump formation. Whisk till the semolina is cooked.

4. Remove the mixture from the pan and cool it for 20 minutes. Make 20 equal-sized semolina patties and flatten them slightly using your palm.

5. Beat the eggs in a bowl, adding a little salt. Dip one patty at a time in the beaten egg, then into the bread crumbs.

6. Refrigerate the bread crumbed patties for at least 10 minutes.

7. Deep fry the patties at 350F for 3 minutes or bake them at 350F for 6 minutes. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or any hot sauce.

Note: If you don’t want to use egg, you can substitute it with a thin batter of all-purpose flour and water.

Stuffed Eggplant

Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Eggplant (Medium -sized) – 4 nos
Salt – 2 tsp (to apply on the eggplant)
Zucchini (Small) – 2 nos
Tomatoes (large) – 2 nos
Onion (large) – 1
Garlic – 2 cloves
Red bell pepper – 1
Parsley – 1/3 oz
Olive oil – 20 ml
Thyme (dry) – 1/2 tsp
Black peppercorns (crushed) – 1/2 tsp
Melted Butter – 20 ml.
Parmesan Cheese (grated) – 1 oz
Salt – to taste (for the stuffing)

For the garnish:
Tomatoes (small) – 1
Black olives – 4 nos

The accompaniments:
Green vegetables
Potatoes.

The preparations:
1. With a sharp knife cut the egg plant into half, lengthwise.
2. Sprinkle the halves with two tsp of salt and leave them to disgorge on kitchen paper towel for half an hour.
3. Wash and chop the zucchini.
4. Wash and chop the tomatoes after discarding the tops and the centers.
5. Peel, wash and chop the onion.
6. Peel, mash and crush the garlic.
7. Wash, remove seeds and chop red bell pepper.
8. Discard stems and finely chop parsley.
9. Wash and slice tomatoes for garnish
10. Wipe moisture from the eggplants with kitchen paper towel. Hollow out the centers with a spoon and chop them.

Method:
1. Heat oil over moderate heat in a large frying pan. Add onions and garlic and fry till the onion become light brown.
2. Add zucchini, bell pepper and chopped eggplant. Stirring occasionally, cook the mixture for five minutes.
3. Add chopped tomatoes and further cook for five minutes. Now add parsley, thyme and crushed black pepper corns.
4. Correct the seasoning, spoon the mixture into the eggplant wells.
5. Place the stuffed eggplant on a shallow ovenproof dish.
6. Pour the melted butter over the stuffed vegetables. Sprinkle with cheese and keep slices of tomatoes and black olives for garnishing.
7. Place the dish in the pre-heated oven to a temperature of 350º F. Bake until the vegetables are tender.
8. Remove the dish from the oven and serve immediately.