Eggplant Slices

These batter fried eggplant slices take me back a long way. My mum makes these for us. They were my all time favorite way to enjoy eggplant. But mum never made these too often because they were fried. But when she did, my brother and I couldn’t get enough. If you have trouble getting your kids to eat eggplant, you may want to try this out. You never know, they may enjoy it. If you are going to serve these to kids, make sure you adjust the amount of spice that the chilly powder adds to it. In a short while, you’ll be sitting down to some lovely crunchy, not to mention really tasty, eggplant slices.

Eggplant Slices


Oil, for shallow frying
1 large round eggplant

Wash the eggplant, cut off the stalk and cut into slices and as you slice the eggplant, put the slices in a bowl of salted water (enough water to cover all the slices and 1/2 tsp salt dissolved in it). This will prevent any discoloration off the slices.

Let it stand in the salted water till you make the batter.

For the batter:
1 cup chickpea flour / besan
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 -1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp. carom seeds / ajwain
Salt, to taste
A little water

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and gradually add water to make a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter shouldn’t be too think and neither should it be too thin. It should coat the back of a spoon when you dip it in.

Heat some oil in a pan. Dip the slices into the batter and carefully place them on the pan. Let them cook on a medium flame till they are a nice golden brown.

Turn the slices over and brown the other side as well.

Drain on some absorbent paper towels to get rid of the excess oil.

Serve hot.

This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Meatless Mondays
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays

Prawn Cocktail

This is one knock out treat that I usually save for an occasion like a birthday, an anniversary or guests coming over. Just the other day, I felt that we deserved a treat, for no particular reason, but just because I felt like it. I am a little funny that way. When I get fixated on something, I usually end up doing it. Very seldom do I change my mind. Exception to the rule being, if I don’t have the necessary ingredients at home. Then, off course, I have to improvise and work with what I have at hand till I can get to the store and stock up again. Anyway, back to the prawn cocktail. This beauty is a hit every single time. It is ridiculously easy to make and you can make it a little ahead of time. Get ready to wow your guests with this one.

Prawn Cocktail
(Serves 2)

1/2 cup iceberg lettuce, cut into strips
10-12 prawns, cleaned, de-veined and boiled with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp tomato sauce
 A few drops of Tabasco sauce (I used a combination of pepper sauce and smoked jalapeno – both Tabasco products)
A pinch of crushed black pepper

In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, tomato sauce and Tabasco sauce. Add the pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. If you want it more tart, add some more tomato sauce. If its too tart, add a little more mayonnaise to balance it. Up the spice levels with the Tabasco sauce.

Tip in the prawns and mix till well coated. You should typically have more cocktail dressing than whats needed to simply coat the prawns.

To serve – 
If you’re serving individual portions as a starter, place some of the lettuce at the bottom of a cocktail glass and top it off with the prawn cocktail dressing mix. Garnish with a prawn placed on the rim of the glass.

If you’re serving it more like a salad that people need to help themselves to, place a bed of chopped lettuce on the plate. Pour the prawn cocktail dressing mix over.

This recipe is linked to –
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
What’s On the Menu Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
What’s Cooking Wednesday

Chicken Mayo Sandwich

Here’s a quick way to deal with hunger pangs after a day at work using just a few things that most of us will be able to assemble at any point. The humbly chicken mayo sandwich. What I love about sandwiches, is that like salads, they are extremely versatile. You can use a number of ingredients or leave out certain ingredients according to what you like or dislike and you can literally do no wrong. So even those of you who have never cooked before will be able to put this together. Serve it with a piece of fruit or some yogurt and you have a decent packed lunch. Honestly, I love a working lunch like this rather than having a fussy meal. I don’t mind something more elaborate for dinner.

This sandwich is really simple to put together if you keep a few things at hand. For example, having some leftover grilled or roasted chicken is a life saver. But even if you don’t here’s what I do. I simply marinade a chicken breast, cut into smaller pieces with some salt, a dash of lime juice and some ginger garlic paste for about 15 minutes and I add some water (not too much) and boil it till its done. You can then keep this refrigerated till you need to use it.

Chicken Mayo Sandwich


2 tsp Homemade Mayo (you can add more if you like)
Some shredded chicken
A couple of leaves of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 tomato, sliced
Salt to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
2 slices of sandwich bread

Mix the mayo, chicken and lettuce and spread this on one of the slices of bread.

Placed the slices of tomato on the other and season with some salt and pepper.

Place one over the other and enjoy.

This recipe is linked to –
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Real Food Wednesdays
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
A Little Birdie Told Me