Another Culinary Adventure …

Another new book arrived a couple of days ago - India: Food and Cooking – An Evocative Culinary Journey, with 200 Recipes (Pat Chapman).  

I love Indian food but know very little about which types of food come from which areas in India and this book is perfect for gaining that kind of knowledge. Part 1 of Pat Chapman’s book traces the evolution of Indian cuisine and describes the culinary characteristics of the different regions; Part 2 is an in-depth coverage of the utensils, spices, herbs and other ingredients used, as well as basic recipes and preparations common to the cuisine. Finally, Part 3 contains 200 recipes taken from all the regions. The recipes consist of best-known regional dishes as well as some most modern ideas and include everything from snacks and street food to meat, fish and vegetable main courses, rice and dals, chutneys, pickles and desserts.

If I was to pick one negative point about this book, it is the lack of photographs; not essential but it’s always nice to see what your meal is going to (or should) look like.

After pottering around the kitchen and searching through the vegetable basket and pantry I decided to cook Hyderabadi Spiced Aubergine (Baigan Ka Salan) for dinner last night.  

It was utterly scrumptious but slightly too oily, a very easily fixed issue though so no big complaint to be made about it.  

I also had some sweet potatoes lurking at the bottom of the vegetable box so decided to throw those in too.  I’m very glad I did, I think without their addition the aubergines would have made a good side dish but would have been a bit dull for a main course.

The spicing was deep and pungent yet no one flavour overtook the others.  

I served it with some plain boiled rice and that was the perfect base to soak up all the rich creamy sauce.  

A definite keeper recipe.

 

• 8 small purple oblong aubergines, about 75 g each after the stem is removed (I used two large aubergines as that is all I had available)
• 4 sweet potato, diced (additional extra if wished)
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pureed
• 2.5 cm piece of fresh root ginger, shredded
• 200 g caramelized onions
• 400 ml water or stock
• 10-12 dried or fresh curry leaves (optional)
• 175 g natural yogurt 
• 1 tablespoon tamarind puree
• 1 or 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon greed pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon yellow pepper, thinly sliced
• salt to taste

Masala:

• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 20-25 g raw cashew nuts
• 50 g desiccated coconut
• 1-2 teaspoons chopped dried red chillies

1. Roast the masala in a dry wok or frying pan until fragrant, transfer to a pestle and mortar and leave to cool.  Once cool grind to a fine powder.
2. Slit each aubergine lengthwise about three quarters of the length without separating the flesh at the stem end.  Carefully discard the pith and seeds in the centre.  (I then diced them due to the size).
3. Heat the oil in a wok or karahi.  Fry the aubergine (and sweet potato) lightly then remove and set aside.
4. Using the same oil, add the masala and stir-fry for about 15 seconds.  Add the garlic and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, add a few spoonfuls of water if needed to prevent sticking.  The add the ginger and  onions and fry for one minute more.
5. Add the aubergines (and potato), add the water, curry leaves (if using), yogurt, tamarind, chillies and peppers to the pan and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
6. Season with salt and serve.