Brinjal and Courgette Chilli Bites

These chilli bites, also known as Bhajias or Pakoras, are simple to make and simply delicious as a snack or served as a vegetable dish with a curry. The aroma when cooking the vegetables in the oven is enough to draw crowds and it’s hard to wait for the little morsels to be fried in their batter. Golden and crispy, they crunch with every bite and everyone comes back for more.

Ingredients:

500g baby finger brinjals, stems removed and cut lengthways.

500g baby courgettes, topped and tailed and cut in half lengthways

*** If the brinjals or courgettes are longer than 3 inches, cut them into 2-3 inch lengths.

45-60ml olive oil (or sunflower oil)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Hanneica’s Steak and Chops seasoning

Cayenne pepper or red chilli powder

1 packet Chilli Bite Mix

Oil for frying

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Soak the brinjal in salted water for 20-30 minutes to remove any bitterness. Rinse and dry on absorbent kitchen paper or on a clean tea towel.

Place the brinjal with the prepared courgettes in a large mixing bowl and pour over the oil. Mix them around to ensure all the pieces are covered with oil. Spread the vegetables over a baking tray and season with sea salt and black pepper. Sprinkle over steak and chops seasoning and cayenne pepper or red chilli powder. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes; the vegetables will be just cooked, but not too golden. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile make up your chilli bite mix by adding sufficient water to create a batter of the consistency of pancake batter, whisking to ensure the batter is not lumpy. When the vegetables have cooled, add them to the batter and mix through gently so as not to break up the pieces. With a spoon, select pieces one by one and drop them in hot oil to fry. This will need to be done in batches; don’t be tempted to add to many at once as this will drop the temperature of the oil and the bhajias will sauté, rather than fry crispy. Once the chilli bites are golden and crispy, remove them from the oil to a plate lined with absorbent kitchen paper to drain. Repeat the frying with consecutive batches in the oil until all the vegetable pieces have been made into chilli bites.

Serve hot and crispy as a snack with a dipping sauce or chutney, or as a side dish to a curry.

Moroccan Braised Brinjal and Chickpea Salad

I LOVE EXPERIMENTING!

On Sunday evening we smoked some chicken on the Weber Kettle Braai. 

Needing a vegetable dish to compliment the chicken I looked for something to do with chickpeas,

Something Mediterranean that would be a bit spicy and warm for a winter evening.

I came up with this idea with finger brinjals (small long aubergines) and carrots with Moroccan spicing,

Not too hot but with a bit of a kick...

It's a meal on it's own, but if you prefer a vegetarian option,

 then use vegetable stock instead of the chicken stock I have used.

Normally I'd have used apricots, which are commonly used in Moroccan cuisine, but didn't have any, so I left them out and just used raisins. 

It was absolutely delicious and definitely worth repeating!

Give it a try.

As for the chicken, we will have to make that again also;

when we do I'll take photos and share the way to do it with you all.

Ingredients:

30ml olive oil

2 onions, each cut into 8 wedges

6-8 finger brinjals, cut in 1cm thick slices

5ml ground cumin

2.5ml turmeric

2.5ml cayenne pepper or ground chillies

7.5ml ground coriander

5ml ground cinnamon

300ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian option) 

2 carrots, sliced

125ml raisins

125ml dried apricots, chunky chopped (optional)

60ml flaked almonds

I x 410g can chickpeas, drained

60ml couscous

60ml chopped fresh coriander

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onions and brinjals and fry over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened and the brinjal has taken a bit of colour. 

Add the spices and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Stir in the stock, carrots, apricots (if using), raisins and almonds and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Wash and drain the chickpeas and add them to the vegetables, stirring to mix the chickpeas through. Cover and return the pot to the boil and allow to cook for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle in the couscous, fold it in and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Season with salt and pepper and fold in half the coriander. Serve sprinkled with the remainder of the coriander.

Yellow Dhall with Brinjal

For a midweek, meat-free supper or as an accompaniment to a main course curry, this is an easy to make vegetarian dish.

Ingredients:
500ml yellow split peas
1.5 litres hot water
5ml salt
1 cube vegetable or chicken stock
5ml turmeric
60ml ghee
5ml cumin seeds
5ml mustard seeds
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 dried chillies, chopped fine
1 onion, finely sliced
1 large brinjal (aubergine), cut into cubes
1 large tomato, deseeded and finely chopped
5ml curry powder
5ml sugar
a sprig of curry leaves for garnish
15ml vegetable oil
chopped fresh coriander leaves for garnish
750ml cooked rice

Method:
Place the split peas into a fairly large pot with 750ml of the hot water and the salt and stock cube. Bring to the boil. Add the turmeric and simmer until a thick sauce is formed. Add the remaining water as required.
Heat the ghee in a frying pan and add the cumin and mustard seeds, frying over medium heat until the seeds begin to pop. Add the garlic slices, the chopped chillies and the onion and continue to fry until the onion begins to take on a bit of golden colour. Add the brinjals, the chopped tomato and curry powder, lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the brinjal is soft.
In a clean frying pan, heat up the vegetable oil and fry the curry leaves for 30 seconds to a minute, just to crisp them and bring out their wonderful aroma.
Combine the brinjal mixture with the split peas, then blend in the sugar. Serve over the cooked rice, garnished with the curry leaves and fresh chopped coriander.