The secret to making a glammed up eggplant curry

Eggplant is one vegetable that you can either hate or love but never ignore. For all my childhood, I was an eggplant hater, may be even allergic to some varieties. Nothing life threatening, just this crazy itching in my mouth when I ate some types of eggplant. Then for years I was a fence sitter. Okay, "this is made for lunch so I will eat the tiniest bit, just to keep you happy" kinda fence sitter. And then I discovered cooking this versatile vegetable and while I wont call myself an eggplant lover, I am now a fan. 

Baingan Bharta, Vangi baath, Baba Gannoush, stuffed eggplant, gosh I have quite a list of favourite recipes with this vegetable. This recipe is an easier variation of the stuffed eggplant. You still have to roast the spices and grind them, but no painstaking stuffing involved. This is the smarter way to enjoy the tastes of a stuffed eggplant. This dry curry goes well with rotis and great with rice and sambar. I have used the large round eggplant for this recipe, which is the kind I prefer because it has fewer seeds and cooks faster. But it should work well with any kind of eggplant. Make sure the pieces are uniformly chopped so they cook evenly. This coarsely ground spice powder is the secret to glamming up any boring vegetable or any vegetable you don't know what to do with.


Recipe for Spicy Eggplant Curry
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
pinch of asafoetida
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 large globe eggplant cut into wedges or thick batons, soaked in water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp amchoor powder or 1 tsp tamarind paste

Ingredients to grind for the spice mix:
3 large dried red chillies
2 tbsp chana dal
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp udad dal
1 sprig curry leaves
1 bay leaf

Directions

In a large wok / kadai, dry roast all the spices together, until the chana dal and udad dal turn golden brown. Remove, cool and grind to a coarse powder.
In the same wok, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add the asafoetida and then drain and squeeze out all the water from the eggplant pieces and add them to the oil.
Add salt and turmeric and stir the eggplant till well coated. Lower the flame, add a little water at a time, around 1/4th cup, cover and cook the eggplant till nearly done. Don't cook to a mush.
Add the coarse spice powder, amchoor and coat the nearly cooked eggplant with the spices by stirring well. Cover for another 5 minutes with a sprinkle of water if required and let the eggplants cook completely while soaking up the flavours of the spices. The coarsely powdered dals give the vegetable a nice crunchy texture.
Serve hot with rotis or with dal & rice.

Note:
If you don't find a big eggplant, use 8-12 smaller sized eggplants for this, cutting each into wedges. This spice mix works for other vegetables like bottle gourd, snake gourd, capsicum, potato, sweet potato etc. Follow the same method of sauteeing the vegetable until nearly done, adding the spice mix, stirring to coat well and then cover and cook for 5 mins till vegetable is fully cooked and infused with spice flavours.

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Eggplant salad with spicy greens - From garden to plate

Brinjal Blooms - I like these more than the vegetable :)

There are people  you love at first sight and you can't wait to know them more and spend more time with them. Then there are others who you can't decide about. But you wouldn't mind meeting them once in a while. And finally, the third type, whom you dislike right from the world go, but funnily when you keep running into them and get to know them better, they grow on you and you wonder how you ever disliked them in the first place. My relationship with eggplant / brinjal / kathrikkai is exactly of the third type.

As a child, this was the one vegetable I had exemption from as it would make my throat itch whenever I ate it and I promptly declared to my family that I had a brinjal allergy. The fact that I disliked this vegetable, made me convince myself and others even more vehemently that I was allergic to this one. The reverse also happens. When you like something, you are very hesitant to admit that you are allergic to it, especially if the allergy is a mild one. For example, walnuts give me a slight itch in the throat, but that has never made me refuse a walnut brownie, ever!

So coming back to my relationship with eggplants, I first forayed into the world of roasted eggplant recipes like Bhartha ( I make a mean one), Baba Ganoush (always a star in the Mezze platter) and Kathrikkai Pachidi.

Then came the other entries like Brinjal in Sambar, Rasavaangi (this is a most delightful Tambram recipe with freshly ground coconut based masala) and Yenna Kathrikkai. And now, I am eating this vegetable, sliced and lightly grilled on a stove top grill pan in salads! And totally surprising myself with that.

Brinjal was the first to get planted in our terrace vegetable garden and was the first to flower and fruit. My dad even mocks me that people who come to your house for lunch with get Brinjal curry with Brinjal Sambar and Brinjal Pachidi. (Recipe follows)

I'm not one to go to such extremes though. I pluck off those ready for harvest and if i am not cooking with them, I pass it on to friends or relatives who can enjoy home grown, fresh, organic bounty. There's something about slicing a just plucked tender eggplant, thinly slicing it and placing it on a grill pan greased with olive oil. A minute per side, you get these lovely grill marks and they are done. Ready to be tossed into a salad or had as a starter with some pesto on it. I do the same with long slices of zucchini. 

Salad Patch

Growing spicy salad greens like arugula (rocket), mustard etc. (Spicy salad mix from Burpee seeds thanks to Nupur) has made me realise how lettuce is the most boring, tasteless of all salad greens. Especially the wilted stuff served in most restaurants. Every leaf in this mix has a bold taste, spicy, pungent, bitter - each of them come with a personality. 

I make this salad for my dinner at least twice a week. To make it heartier and more filling, add some boiled chick peas / grilled tofu / grilled chicken / paneer / cooked whole wheat pasta to the salad before tossing. 

Dressing - Red Wine Vinaigrette

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp Coleman's mustard paste

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp sugar

3 small cloves of garlic - finely grated or mashed to a paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1 fresh red chilli deseeded and finely chopped (or green)

Add all the above to a small empty jam jar, shake it up and keep aside.

For the salad

3 small eggplants or half a large eggplant

1 medium cucumber, thick slices into half rounds

2 cups mixed salad greens, washed and dried, torn roughly

1 small red onion, finely sliced (optional)

Add any of the extras given above if you want to have this as a meal.

Handful of mixed fresh herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, sage

Slice the eggplants thinly, not necessarily paper thin. Keep a stove top grill pan on heat. Brush with some olive oil. Arrange the slices in a layer. After one minute you'll see grill marks on the heated side. With a pair of tongs turn all the slices to grill and cook the other side.

Remove onto a plate. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the grilled slices with cucumber, torn salad greens and onion.

Give the jam jar one final shake and pour over the salad just before serving, reserving a few spoonfuls to drizzle over the top just before eating.

This makes one big salad or for 2-3 people as a starter to a meal.

Bangalore Shopping guide

Red Wine Vinegar from Nilgiri's Whitefield

Good quality Mixed salad greens at Namdhari's

Excellent fresh herbs at Namdhari's

Stove top grill pan - I have the Premier brand but there are quite a few in the market nowadays. If you don't have a grill pan, by all means use the Tava for this.

Coleman's mustard - Most supermarkets

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Eggplant-Mushroom-Cheese Melt -a Quick Dinner

Shaking off my ( Hyderabad heat induced ) lethargy, I have finally made a Fan Page for Saffron Trail blog. If you are on Facebook (really, who isn't??) I would really love it if you joined me there. 

Right now I am sharing some toddler food recipes that my toddler seems to enjoy as well as some interesting must-try bookmarked links from other bloggers. It will be fun to interact with you there. If you've liked my blog but been too bored to comment or Blogger hasn't made things easy for you - then join the fun on Facebook - I'd love to see my readers delurk :)

Here's yesterday's dinner in today's post - for you! :)

This is the kind of dish that comes together when one want to use up an overdue eggplant, a pack of fresh mushrooms that one doesn't want to go bad, a handful of beans leftover from the weekend's dinner and then throw in some bread to round it off. This Italian style of cooking it is really making me a fan of eggplant. Earlier it was strictly - "Thanks but no thanks" to eggplants of all shapes and sizes. Then it came to "I am okay with the big roasted ones converted into a tasty 'bharta'". Later it turned out that I'm so much in love in the caponatas of the world. Now, even if its roasted eggplant puree on a pizza, I am like - "Bring it on, baby!!" And when I brought out the 'Roasted eggplant soup' on the blog, fellow foodies must have shaken their heads and said 'Boy, is she losing it or what!'.

But this dish is not as crazy as the soup. Stir in some vegetables (peppers, eggplant, squash, mushrooms, onions - all work fine here) with garlic, tomato puree and herbs - bake it over moistened slices of bread and you have an Italian main course ready without even putting the pasta to boil. You can call it a mock lasagna. I have two packets of lasagna lying in the kitchen and I haven't brought myself to try out the real stuff yet. In the mean while making myself happy with this...Try it - I am sure you'll love it. And so will your kids!

Eggplant hater? No problem, just use the other vegetables I've listed above.

Recipe for Eggplant-Mushroom-Cheese Melt

Time taken – Under 30 minutes

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1 cup eggplant cubes

200 grams mushrooms – washed, wiped dry and quartered

¼ cup of any cooked beans like kidney beans or black eyed peas (optional)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

½ cup tomato puree

½ tsp chilli flakes or powder

½-1 tsp salt

¼ cup grated cheddar or mozzarella

3-4 slices whole wheat bread

½ cup milk

Directions

1. In a wok, heat the oil and sauté the garlic for a few seconds.
2. Add the eggplant cubes and stir on medium heat till half done – around 5 minutes, sprinkling some water if required.
3. Then, add the mushrooms, and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Add the cooked beans, herbs, chilli flakes and salt along with tomato puree at this stage. Mix well to combine, cover with a lid and let it simmer on low heat for 3-4 minutes until the eggplant and mushroom is cooked.
5. Stir in all but 1 tsp of the cheese.
6. Line the base of a baking dish with slices of bread dipped in milk and squeezed gently. I had to use 3 slices to cover a roughly 10 X 6 dish.
7. Spread the mixture on top of this, sprinkling the reserved tsp of cheese on top.
8. Bake / grill for 8-10 minutes. Remove each serving with the bread and the topping.
9. Serve hot.

I'd consider this a relatively low carb, high protein dinner as the main source of carbs here were there 3 slices of whole wheat bread shared between two of us, and mushrooms, beans, cheese are all high in protein. Taste wise, it was really high on flavours - if you store packs of tomato puree at home and cans of beans, it can be put together in a jiffy even for a weeknight dinner!

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Saraswat Lunch Menu from Rasachandrika

Regional Indian cooking has such variety that it's mind-boggling. Every culture has had it's cookbook bible that it trusts to preserve the heritage and authenticity - Meenakshi Ammal is one such great lady who put down traditional Tamil cuisine in three volumes. Such books are not only wonderful to discover in our kitchens the kind of food that is hardly ever available in restaurants, but also to give a great insight into the other cultures in our country. I can say the same about some of the food blogs :) Rasachandrika, written by Ambabai Samshi is one such cooking bible for Saraswat community - and  I was glad to buy it a few months ago - this showcases Chitrapur Saraswat cooking.

What I loved about this book is the emphasis on vegetables and the numerous ways of preparing each one, not to mention the simplicity of ingredients and directions. Suppose you are stuck for how to prepare snake-gourd for example, just open the chapter on this vegetable and see which recipe you want to prepare. The quantities for most veggie recipes will be good for small families.

This is how I used up the cut beans, kovakkai and brinjal - selected a dal from the dal section and I had a whole Saraswat meal ready.

 

Menu

Beans Talasani

Kovai Butti - The masala used for this curry, I found very similar to the one we grind for mor kozhambu. This was probably the best tasting kovakkai (ivy gourd) dish I've ever had.

Recipe for Kovai butti

1/4 kg tender kovai

1 tbsp ground nut oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

pinch of asafoetida

salt and jaggery to taste

small ball of tamarind

5 red chillies*

1 tsp coriander seeds*

1/2 tsp black gram dal*

a few fenugreek seeds*

4-5 garlic cloves*

1/4 coconut gratings - roasted

*fry in a little oil

Wash and slice the kovai into rounds.

Heat oil, temper the mustard seeds and asafoetida. Add sliced kovai, salt, jaggery - stir well, sprinkle water, cover and cook till tender.

Grind the coconut, fried spices and tamarind to a paste, adding some water if required.

Add this paste to cooked kovai and let it simmer till nearly dried out.

 

Brinjal bhareet - A very simple dish made by roasting and mashing a large eggplant. The recipe called for adding green chillies, ginger and coconut as is into the mash, I preferred to temper them in oil before use.

Recipe for Bhareet

1 large brinjal

Oil to coat the brinjal - 2 tsp or so

handful of coconut gratings

chopped coriander leaves

6-7 green chillies

1 small piece ginger

salt to taste

3-4 tbsp curds or lemon juice

Apply oil over brinjal and roast on open flame turning on all sides, till completely soft inside. When cool, peel and slice checking for worms. Mash with a fork.

Crush the chopped chillies, ginger, coriander leaves and salt, add to mashed brinjal with coconut gratings. Mix in curds or juice of half lemon in the end.

Dali tuaykadi - One of the traditional lentil preparations, the fresh ground masala gave it a unique taste.

Recipe for Dali Tuaykadi

1/2 cup tur dal

1 cup water

1 small marble sized tamarind / 3-4 kokum rinds / 1/2 raw mango cubed

To fry in oil -

1 tbsp grated coconut

3 red chillies

6-8 cloves garlic

6-7 pepper corns

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

Pressure cook dal with turmeric and water with soft.

Mash dal well with salt and tamarind juice and simmer.

Grind the fried ingredients to a paste, add to simmering dal and boil.

Garlic is optional.

Limited preview of the book available here

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Eggplant Caponata - My version

From an erstwhile eggplant hater to making so many dishes with eggplant is quite a progress for me. I think eggplant is quite an adult taste and the smoky taste of roasted eggplant, even more so. I hardly know anyone who liked eggplant as a kid. Both S and me LURVE anything to do with a char grilled eggplant, and I can list at least 10 recipes in my regulars that start with this step. One of them is a caponata.

Though traditionally, it doesn't call for roasting the vegetable, I like using a mix of one roasted eggplant and one chopped as it is. I usually use this as a filling inside a hot dog roll to make a sub-like sandwich - along with either tomatoes or pickled jalapenos and cheese if I'm feeling very generous. If I don't have bread on hand, I like to toss this with penne and that tastes quite good too.

Here's my version of eggplant caponata, which is somewhat different from the original recipes, but it tastes good all the same.



Time taken - Under 30 minutes Makes enough for 12-14 sandwiches or in pasta for 8 people You may halve the recipe, but leftovers will stay in the fridge for around a week and you can have quick fix meals with this on hand.

Ingredients
2 large eggplants
3 tbsp olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup chopped whites and greens of spring onions (scallions)
3 large tomatoes chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
4-5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
Handful of fresh basil

Directions
Place on eggplant on the flame of a gas stove directly. Keep turning the sides until the skin is charred all over. Do not overdo this because we want to chop the flesh later and not mash it - so the eggplant should still be able to keep its shape somewhat. Once this cools, peel off the skin and roughly chop this into cubes. Keep aside. This will be used towards the end as it needs no further cooking.

Chop the other eggplant into small cubes with the skin on. Keep aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil and throw in the minced garlic. After a few seconds, add the chopped spring onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until wilted.

Add the chopped raw eggplant first, sprinkle salt and saute along with the garlic and greens. After 3-4 minutes, keep this covered for 5 minutes or so until the vegetable is almost cooked. Add the tomatoes, herbs, chilli flakes balsamic vinegar and on a medium flame let this cook till tomatoes soften down and the vegetables come together.

Add remaining salt, chopped roasted eggplant and fresh basil. Toss well and check for salt and chilli, adding some more if you prefer so.

To assemble the sub, slice the hot dog roll in the middle, but keeping the two slices attached. Spoon a generous quantity of caponata between the two, stuffing it tightly. Also stuff in a couple of slices of tomato or pickled jalapeno and some bits of sliced cheese and grill on a hot buttered skillet or in a hot oven till crispy outside.
You can even have this as a cold sandwich. Makes for a good couch dinner and leftovers make a filling breakfast.

[if you are wondering what took me so long to come back on my blog, please read post below :)]

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Baba Ganouj- and this is no godman

The first time I came across Baba Ganouj ( Pronounced "Ga-NOOSH" )was in BASHA, a Greek restaurant in Rochester, NY-where they had accidentally brought this onto our table instead of Hummus. One taste of the stuff and I knew that it was surely smoked brinjal and not chickpeas that I was tasting.



Baba Ganouj is a classic Mediterranean eggplant dip. It's silky, smokey and bursting with flavour. Here goes my version :




Ingredients:
1 mid-sized eggplant / brinjal
2 tbsp sesame seeds- roasted
4 fat cloves of garlic
2 tbsp thick yogurt
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp freshly minced parsely / coriander



Directions



1. Roasting the brinjal- Doing it on a direct flame or the grill gives the best smokey taste.
Place the brinjal on a medium flame, and rotate regularly so that the skin gets evenly blistered. It will take about 10-12 min for the entire brinjal to get roasted and soft from within.

However you can roast it on a lightly greased baking sheet by slitting it in half lengthwise at 350 F. I prefer to broil rather than bake, for that browning effect.

Peel off the blistered skin, chop roughly and keep aside.


2.Assembling the ingredients- In a blender, roughly grind the roasted sesame seeds. Then add the chopped roasted brinjal and all other ingredients except parsely/ coriander and olive oil. Blend to a smooth paste.



3. Finale-Remove the paste onto a shallow dish. Mix in the olive oil. Garnish with minced parsely / coriander and a swirl of some more olive oil.






Serving suggestion-
Serve the chilled Baba Ganouj with warm pita bread brushed with olive oil. If pita bread is not readily available, you can either serve it with toasted slices of a whole wheat bread / foccasia or whole wheat crackers.

Last evening, I served it to my guests with wedges of garlic bread toasted till warm. They loved it!

Note-
The original recipe calls for Tahini, which a sesame seed paste in olive oil. Since Tahini is not easily available in grocery stores in India, I ground roasted sesame seeds along with other ingredients. I did not find much of a taste deviation from the original.


(2011 update)
Al Fez brand of Tahini is now available in most supermarkets in cities, such as Nature's Basket.

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