Two in a row...

Breakfast and Dinner...nothing in between!

I had a nice day today! I say so 'cos I got some real good 'me time' today. First, I went to the beauty salon and pampered myself. Then, I did lots 'n' lots of (uninterrupted) window shopping, what fun! I also bought some little trinkets and girly stuff and felt so content. In fact, so content was I that I fell asleep on the train ride back home :) A whole day of strolling in the mall and trying on a hundred tops must've been more like it I guess. Anyways, that meant I did not cook lunch today. I treated myself for some yummy bhel puri for lunch :) Was trying to eat low fat food. Low fat, schmo fat - was so exhausted and weak by the time I was nearing home that I called M from the train and asked him to put the kettle on for a nice cup of hot tea!

Once the spicy ginger tea calmed me down, I set about making dinner and both M & I thoroughly enjoyed the result :)

Here are two recipes that I incorporated today -

For breakfast, we had Strawberry Pancakes -

• 
• 4 fresh strawberries, finely chopped
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ (I thought I'd add some fibre into it and make it healthier)
  
• 1 tbspn sugar
• 1/2 tbspn honey
• 1 cup milk (or enough to make a smooth batter)
• a pinch of cooking soda
• 1 egg (optional)

1. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix until you get a smooth batter (no lumps).
2. Heat a small pan and grease it with some butter.
3. Pour in a ladleful of pancake batter and cook on both sides.
4. Serve hot with a dollop of honey or fresh cream.

Note that this is best eaten hot. You can replace the milk with buttermilk or light coconut milk if you wish. I also added some shredded chocolate bits, just for some excitement! You can even add dessicated coconut. Of course, you can use other berries too, it's totally up to you.

I'm sending this picture to Divya's Show me your Breakfast event.

And for dinner I made Baingan Masala (Eggplant Curry) for 2 -

• 6 baby eggplants (the small round ones)
• 1 cup fresh grated coconut
• dry masala powders - 2 tspns dhania powder (coriander), 1.5 tspns jeera powder (cumin), 2 tspns red chilli powder, 1/2 tspn curry powder, 1/2 tspn amchur powder (dry mango), 1/4 tspn garam masala powder, 1/4 tspn turmeric powder, 1/2 tspn sugar
• 1 large tomato (pureed)
• 1 large onion (blend into a paste)
• some curry leaves
• 1/s tspn jeera (cumin seeds)
• a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
• fresh coriander to garnish
• salt to taste

1. First, cut off the crowns from the eggplants (ouch!) and slit (not cut) into quarters.
   
2. In a bowl, mix the grated coconut and all the dry masala powders with salt.
3. Then, fill the prepared masala mixture into the slit eggplants gently. Fill in as much as you can without separating into pieces.
4. Now, heat oil in a pot and add jeera, hing and curry leaves.
5. Next add onion paste and saute for a few minutes.
   
6. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a few more minutes.
7. Add tomato puree and cook till the oil separates.
8. Gently put in the stuffed eggplants and tip in any extra masala.
9. Pour enough water to cover and cook on low flame till the eggplants are soft.
10. Check salt and other flavours and adjust accordingly.
11. Lastly, garnish with chopped coriander and serve with hot basmati rice.

This was yummy and M & I ate in silence (!), totally enjoying the hot meal on a cold, winter night, brrrr!