Showing posts with label Eggplant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eggplant. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Eggplant Indiana -- the baked Imam Bayildi
It is uncanny how I often repeat a recipe after years and yet it is around the same time of the year that I last cooked.
Yesterday, I bought these lovely eggplants from Costco. Wondering what to do with them, I remembered Imam Bayildi. Guess when I had made Imam Bayildi last? 8 years back just before Big Sis was starting Grade 1.
It has been eight years since. Yes E-I-G-H-T. And Big Sis is starting high school next week. What are the chances that I will be making the same eggplant recipe, at the same time of the year, after a gap of 8 years? And this when Big Sis will not even eat eggplant. Uncanny right?
When I read my old post I realized next week there will be no uniform. I will not have to worry about sewing buttons or hems. I will not even decide what she wears to school. But there will be lots more to worry, things far worse than "buttons"!
So anyway, yesterday when I looked up the Imam Bayildi recipe, I didn't want to fry the eggplants like the original recipe. Instead I decided to do the whole thing in the oven. Like a faux Imam Bayildi.
Now, as you know Imam Bayildi, is a classic Turkish eggplant dish, and it calls for quite a large quantity of Olive Oil. The phrase Imam Bayildi translates to "the Imam fainted" and often the joke is that the Imam probably fainted seeing the amount of expensive olive oil that his wife used in this dish.
This version that I made in the oven is way lighter and the Imam would probably never faint seeing it. He could faint from the heat of my eggplants though.
In fact seeing all the green chilies, Big Sis named it "Eggplant Indiana", which seems to be a more apt name for this dish.
Monday, June 09, 2014
B is for Beguni, Begun Bhaja and Bori
For the next letter in the A-Z of Bengali Cuisine, B, most of the readers said Beguni, a very popular Bengali snack, where slices of eggplant are dipped in a chickpea flour(besan) batter and deep fried.
Beguni -- a very popular bengali snack
Eggplants or Brinjals are known as begun in Bengali and so all things that are cooked with begun came a close second and third in the B-series.
Begun Bhaja -- slices of eggplant shallow fried in oil.
Begun Pora -- Roasted eggplant Bengali style
I could not leave Bandhakopi'r Ghonto out of the B series though no one really mentioned it. But trust me, this cabbage dish is very much a part of the Bengali culture and household.
Borar Jhol -- Lentil fritters in a gravy is another of my favorite dish with the letter B.
Another important part of Bengali cooking that starts with a B is "Bori". Bori is a sun-dried lentil dumpling made of ground lentil paste. The ritual of "preparing bori" called "bori deoa" is (or rather was) an age old custom among Bengali women during the autumn and winter months when the sun was warm and strong but not scorching. Women of the household led by the most senior member would bathe early at dawn and then immerse themselves in the task of bori making. It was a ritual made almost sacred with its demands on sanctity.
Large quantities of lentils were ground on the sil-nora, then seasoned and whipped early in the morning. Then large expanse of a washed and dried cloth, usually a washed and dried sari would be set out on the terrace, its edges secured by rectangular pieces of red brick. On this cloth, the women would put scoops of the lentil paste, ensuring a peak at the center of the dumpling. The couple of times I have been involved in this activity dates back to the times my grandmother was around. I remember her telling us to make boris with sharper center peaks, the incentive being that the one whose bori had the sharpest peak would have a sharp nosed husband.
For us children, the main task however was to keep away the birds and crows from pecking at the dumpling while they dried in the sun. Once the dumplings had soaked in the autumn or winter sun and dried to a crispy brittleness, they were gently picked from the cloth and stored in containers. On days when fish or other vegetables were rare, these boris would be fried a crispy reddish brown and served as a side with dal or dunked in the broth of "jhol".
I have never tried making them at home and always depend on the stash that friends carry from India. My Mother will never ever carry "bori" or "pickles" during travel as she thinks it brings bad luck during journey!!! But a blogger friend KichuKhon makes them in the oven and it might be a good try for anyone attempting it at home
Bori in the Oven from KichuKhonn
In some regions of Bengal, bori making is more of an art than a mere ritual. The patterns and designs are so exquisite that these are called "Goyna Boris" or "Noksha Boris" as the lentil dumplings have beautiful patterns like jeweleries. There is more about these boris in the blog Homemaker's Diary-Goyna Bori.
Beguni -- a very popular bengali snack
Eggplants or Brinjals are known as begun in Bengali and so all things that are cooked with begun came a close second and third in the B-series.
Begun Bhaja -- slices of eggplant shallow fried in oil.
Begun Pora -- Roasted eggplant Bengali style
I could not leave Bandhakopi'r Ghonto out of the B series though no one really mentioned it. But trust me, this cabbage dish is very much a part of the Bengali culture and household.
Borar Jhol -- Lentil fritters in a gravy is another of my favorite dish with the letter B.
Another important part of Bengali cooking that starts with a B is "Bori". Bori is a sun-dried lentil dumpling made of ground lentil paste. The ritual of "preparing bori" called "bori deoa" is (or rather was) an age old custom among Bengali women during the autumn and winter months when the sun was warm and strong but not scorching. Women of the household led by the most senior member would bathe early at dawn and then immerse themselves in the task of bori making. It was a ritual made almost sacred with its demands on sanctity.
Large quantities of lentils were ground on the sil-nora, then seasoned and whipped early in the morning. Then large expanse of a washed and dried cloth, usually a washed and dried sari would be set out on the terrace, its edges secured by rectangular pieces of red brick. On this cloth, the women would put scoops of the lentil paste, ensuring a peak at the center of the dumpling. The couple of times I have been involved in this activity dates back to the times my grandmother was around. I remember her telling us to make boris with sharper center peaks, the incentive being that the one whose bori had the sharpest peak would have a sharp nosed husband.
For us children, the main task however was to keep away the birds and crows from pecking at the dumpling while they dried in the sun. Once the dumplings had soaked in the autumn or winter sun and dried to a crispy brittleness, they were gently picked from the cloth and stored in containers. On days when fish or other vegetables were rare, these boris would be fried a crispy reddish brown and served as a side with dal or dunked in the broth of "jhol".
I have never tried making them at home and always depend on the stash that friends carry from India. My Mother will never ever carry "bori" or "pickles" during travel as she thinks it brings bad luck during journey!!! But a blogger friend KichuKhon makes them in the oven and it might be a good try for anyone attempting it at home
Bori in the Oven from KichuKhonn
In some regions of Bengal, bori making is more of an art than a mere ritual. The patterns and designs are so exquisite that these are called "Goyna Boris" or "Noksha Boris" as the lentil dumplings have beautiful patterns like jeweleries. There is more about these boris in the blog Homemaker's Diary-Goyna Bori.
Friday, June 06, 2014
Beguni -- ar Ashare Goppo
This post was first posted in 2010. It is being reposted.
The rain had started out strong, not meek like other days. Huge blobs of water, hit the warm earth rapidly, with an urgency to quench out its parched dryness. The rain was now hitting down hard on her window, with that drumming sound, she loved about rains.
Outside the windows, the world seemed painted by Monet. She could hardly make out anything, even the Krishnachura by Bubai's house with all its red flowers was barely discernible. She sighed and returned to the open pages of the Resnick-Halliday, trying to figure out the resonant frequency of some stupid string of length L while the rain drummed on merrily on her windows.
"I will put these up for drying in your room", Ma said, a pile of still wet clothes on her arm, droplets of water clinging on to her jet black strands. Not waiting for a response, Ma started putting up a makeshift clothes line, right above her study desk. As the fan whirred slowly trying to dry out the clothes she sat beneath Dada's dancing pajama legs still trying to figure out the string.
She could hear Ma in the kitchen now, the pots clinging, the whoosh of water down the sink. And then she could feel the sharp smell of Mustard up her nostrils. The hot oil now hissed as something hit and then there was the familiar sound of "chyank-chok", repetitive it went, the same rhythm, a "chyank" followed by a "chonk". Ma was making Beguni, brinjal slices dipped in a chickpea flour batter and fried crisp. There would be Khichuri and Beguni for lunch, a rainy day staple. She hated brinjal and didn't care much for a Khichuri. But Ma would make an omlette for her, even one for Dada, she knew and smiled to herself.
"PING"!! The sound startled her.
She looked up and outside the huge glass window, the rain had trickled down to a drizzle now. The lights on the Empire State building glowed against the gray slated sky.
She looked back at her computer. Her husband was on the IM.
He wrote, " So shall I get some eggplants? what about Beguni and Khichuri tonight ?"
Smiling she gathered her laptop and her belongings. She didn't want to miss the 6:15 subway home.
***********
This is my first attempt at Food Fiction inspired by the fantastic tales of Kalyan@Finely Chopped. I often write about the past in my posts. The past is not perfect, the present more not so. While I write my regular posts, I stick to the reality, the truth, I don't transcend the fine line from reality to fiction. But this category of Food Fiction, lets me mingle my memories with bits of imagination, so the emotions and the nostalgia is still there but also there is a little bit of the author's creative mind in play.
*Ashare Goppo == Monsoon Tales.Depending on its usage it also means "made up tales"
Beguni or eggplant slices dipped in a chickpea flour batter and then deep fried is a long time Bengali favorite. Actually anything deep fried is a popular Bengali or for that matter popular Indian snack. With Bongs, the thing is they adore their eggplants and so not being satisfied by Begun Bhaja alone they go a step ahead to make Beguni.
The Beguni is a popular side kick to the Khichuri on rainy days and that is how we had it last week amidst pouring rain. If it is a high-dry day and no one wants Khichuri, Beguni is still very much welcome as an evening snack with muri aka Puffed Rice or as one of the fried veggies accompanying Dal for Lunch.
Read more...
Beguni -- Batter coated eggplant fritters
Makes about 20 small begunis
What You Need
Eggplant ~ Eggplant chopped in thin rounds or semi circles. Depending on the kind of eggplant you are using, chop about 20-25 mini rounds and semicircles
Chickpea Flour/Besan ~ 1 cup
Water ~ 3/4 cup
Baking Powder ~ 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder ~ 1/2 tsp
Rice Flour ~ 1 tbsp
Salt ~ to taste
Chaat masala -- for sprinkling on the fritters(optional)
Oil ~ for deep Frying
Update: As one of the readers said, instead of Rice Flour you can also add 1-2 tsp of poppy seeds to the batter for a crunch. Also a little Kalonji/Nigella seeds in the batter may be added for an alternate version.
How I Did It
Wash the eggplant well and chop in thin rounds or semi circle. Smear with turmeric and salt and keep aside for 10 -15 mins
Make a batter of chickpea flour with all the ingredients listed under batter. Add water gradually to make a batter as thick as a Pakoda batter.
Heat Oil for deep frying in a Kadhai
Dip the eggplant slices in the chickpea flour batter so that it is uniformly coated and then gently slide into the hot oil. Fry till golden brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
Sprinkle some Chaat Masala on the Beguni for that additional zing.
Similar Recipes:
Alur Chop ar Muri -- also has a khichuri recipe in there
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Aloo-Begun-Bori-BokChoy er Jhol -- Bengali soupy vegetables
Broccoli, Eggplant,Bok Choy,Potatoes |
"Kolkata te ajkal BokChoy paoa jaay", said my Mother. "Ar oi beguni bandhakopi, the purple cabbage". (You get Bok Choy in Calcutta these days. Also that purple cabbage)
"Where do you get all these weird things ?" I asked
"Reliance Fresh," said my Mother with an air of someone who is not astounded by a BokChoy or surprised by a purple cabbage.
"But why would you buy it? You get enough Bangali shaak as it is," I said.
"Arre, your Baba bought purple cabbage the other day. It had absolutely no taste. But Namita buys it all the time. She also buys basil, broccoli and zucchini," continued my Ma, her voice brimming with pride for her neighbor, Namita, who undoubtedly was a global food connoisseur.
Then my Mother went onto further elaborate about her very Bengali neighbor Namita, who makes pasta with sausage and fresh basil for dinner, sautes bok choy in olive oil and has no idea how to make a patishapta or kochuri.
Musur Dal er Bori |
It was my turn to be surprised. Not by Namita. I care less if she cooks pasta and outsources patishapta.
But by BokChoy's entry in India. Bok-Choy had come into my life only 7 years back via Asian Farmers Market in the US and had started featuring regularly in the menu only in the last two years. The foremost reason I buy a bunch of baby BokChoy these days is because it hardly needs any chopping like other greens and also tastes pretty decent. Even then, I am not sure if it has enough merits to take over a culture rich with greens like Palong, Pui, Note, Methi etc. etc. I knew about the Broccoli taking over Indian market but even Bok-choy ? Really? I hope they grow them locally and don't fly it in from China like they do the garlic these days.
Fried Bori |
But then again why not ? I think. If I can eat potol by the Atlantic why not BokChoy by the delta of the river Ganges.
After all the world is getting flatter and everyone is eating everything.
The only difference is unlike Namita, I make a jhol, a light soupy gravy with my BokChoy, just like the Alu-Begun-Bori'r jhol that my Ma makes. That Alu-Begun-Bori'r jhol is awesomeness by itself, or awesomeness with a squeeze of lime. And it is not at all necessary to add Bok Choy to it.
Many summer afternoons, some potol and fish would be added to this very staple jhol in our home. Come winter, it was sweet peas in their pods and cauliflower's turn to grace the soupy gravy. The Dal Vadi or Bori would make it extra special. There were these larger sized bori called jholer bori which tasted fabulous when soaked up in the soupy vegetable gravy. The jhol had minimal spices and just a dash of mustard paste towards the end to add some zing. Since Bok Choy and also broccoli is easily available and I like it for the reasons stated above, I tend to add them to this jhol. The jhol tastes as good.
Do try this, very quintessential Bengali dish. Healthy, flavorful and simple, it is the perfect example of how simple home cooked dishes can hold their own against rich curries and enevelop you in that warm fuzzy feel of home.
Alu-Begun-Bori-BokChoy er Jhol
What You Need
Baby Bokchoy -- about 2-3 bunch. Washed and chopped roughly, including the softer part of the stem. I discarded the tougher part of the stem
Broccoli -- 1 small head cut into large florets
Potatoes -- 2 medium cut in thick slices along the length
Eggplant -- 1 Japanese eggplant cut in 2" lenghts
Vadi or Bori(optional) - few, say about 8-10 small ones and 5 of larger ones
PaanchPhoron -- 1 tsp
Green Chilli -- 4-5 broken
Jerra or Cumin Powder --- 1 tsp
Mustard paste -- approx. 1 tbsp Mustard Powder mixed with 1 tbsp water to make a paste or 1 tbsp of fresh mustard paste
Mustard Oil -- 3-4 tsp
How I Did It
Heat 3 tsp of Mustard Oil in a kadhai
When oil is hot, add the bori and fry them brown and crisp. Remove and keep aside.
Add a tsp more oil if needed to the kadhai and temper the oil with
1 tsp of PaanchPhoron
4-5 green chilli broken or slit
When the spices sputter add the potatoes. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder and saute the potatoes for a minute
Next add the eggplant and toss with potatoes. Fry for couple of minutes until skin of eggplant starts softening. Now add about 1/4th cup of water, cover the saucier/kadhai and let the potatoes cook a little.
Now goes in the broccoli which you saute along with potatoes and eggplant. Follow with chopped bokchoy. Toss everything together gently and keep sauteing until you see the bokchoy wilt.
Now add
1 tsp cumin powder
1" ginger grated
salt to taste
and about 2 cups of water.
Mix everything well and add
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
the Mustard paste
Cover the saucier/kadhai and let it cook. In between, remove cover and check the water. You need a soupy gravy so add little more water if necessary. Once the vegetables are cooked, taste and adjust for salt.
Add the fried vadi or bori and let the gravy simmer for a minute
Serve with steaming rice and a quarter of lime
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Bharela Baingan -- Eggplants stuffed with Peanut masala
This bharela baingan or stuffed eggplant is our Gujarati Auntie's recipe.
The Aunty who is the current babysitter but babies not being babies anymore who also helps me a little with housework. She makes some of her vegetarian Gujarati dishes and we are sold. Kadhi has always featured in my comfort food list, right there with alu posto-musurir dal and Thai red curry and now there is Lobia jostling for space with Cholar Dal and begun shorshe with a Gujju style stuffed eggplant.
So Aunty is going on leave and all the husband-man has to say is
"Did you learn to make the stuffed eggplant from her?"
"What about the bhindi kadhi ?"
While all I can think of is "folding the laundry", a chore which is not my idea of entertainment and which I had successfully palmed off to her while she watched "Ghar ghar ki Kahani" or something similar called "Punarvivaha".
It will be a while that Auntie will be gone and I might not really need to hire her or any babysitter by the time she comes back. I would have loved to hire a "laundry folder" though.
Several years back when I arrived in this country(the US of A) we lived in an apartment which did not have an in-apartment laundry. Those days most apartments had a laundry in the basement to be shared by say several residents. In our case it was 4(or maybe 8) -- each block had 4 apartments and there was one laundry in the basement for the 4 of us.The laundry had two pairs of washer and dryer, each coin operated.
I had come from a land of ample sunshine, clothes lines, house helps and colorful washing machines that were just catching up. My parents did not have a washing machine then. We, the newly married, had bought one for our Bangalore home and only because it was part of a deal which included a TV and refrigerator. That all of those three worked given the deal price now seems amazing to me.
We kept the washing machine and the dryer unit in the verandah. On the washing days, the house help would drag it to the bathroom, fit the pipe to the faucet and wash the clothes there. The clothes were then set out to dry on clotheslines which spanned the length of the verandah. The dryer did a shoddy job and was never used. I think we used it as a soiled clothes hamper. The next day, it was the "same Amma" who folded the dried clothes now crisp and crackling like microwaved Papad and kept aside the set to send to the istiri wallah for ironing.
Compared to that, doing laundry in a dungeon type basement, in humongous washing machines which worked only when 4 quarters were placed correctly in their slot was very exciting. I don't know about you but even until a few years back, the act of pushing a coin through a slot was mighty exciting to me. The only part I was finicky about was using the same machine to wash my floral shirt which neighbor in Apt# 11 2D had used for his Tommy underpants.The first few washes, I spent 4 extra quarters and 30 minutes to run a light rinse in an empty washing machine. Only after the machine was cleansed did I do my laundry. That habit did not last long though. Arranging for several quarters on weekends became increasingly difficult.
Back then even the part about folding the laundry did not seem too bad. I was in love with Bounce Fabric softeners and smelling "mountain breeze", whatever it was, in the folds of warm cottons from the dryer gave me a lot of pleasure.
Gradually however I started losing interest in washing machines and their slotti-ness. I also became lax with folding clothes. The husband-man who shared the job also seemed to lose interest in folding. When we moved to our own home with our very own laundry room, after BS was born, I found renewed interest in the washing part and ran multiple loads -- children, white, non-white, children white, children colored. It was a joy to walk few steps on the same floor and run a wash.
The folding however loomed large as the monster to be avoided. The futility of the act -- of folding something which has to be unfolded to be used -- stared me in the face. I started using the spare bedroom as a dumping ground for dried clothes.I found that putting clothes out of the dryer and immediately onto hangers saves ironing as well as folding. I found that watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" while folding tiny onesies reduced the pain a little.
I found all loopholes to avoid folding or to make it bearable.
So after LS was born and I was hiring babysitters, I sneakily put in the "laundry folding" as a requirement. However M Didi who was with us until last year was as averse to folding as me and often had her excuses to not do so. I would grudgingly trudge along, folding a t-shirt and trying to find a sock pair, roping in BS for whom it was more exciting.
It all changed and I was finally totally free of "folding" when K Auntie started her job. She gladly folded the clothes while I cooked dinner. I couldn't have asked for anything better.
My days of happiness are now numbered though and I have to go back to my dull job soon. I might just dump the dried clothes in the spare bedroom again. If you are visiting me, please call a week ahead.Yes, I need all that time to fold.
But at least I have learned to make the Gujarati style Bharela Baingan -- eggplant stuffed with spicy peanut and besan. I love regional Indian cuisine and I am so glad that I learned this gem. It is really good. Also way simpler than it sounds. If you know me, you would know, I don't cook complex meals and I don't like folding clothes. So if I am doing a stuffed eggplant, it must be easy.
I totally freaked the poor lady out by taking pictures of eggplants in every step of their life but this recipe is worth all that and more.
At the very beginning go to the nearest grocery store and get the small round eggplants. Buy 10 small round eggplants
Wash them well and dry them
Next trim the stem of the eggplants and slit them crosswise at the bottom. The slits should not separate the eggplant and it should be joined at the base
Next, take 1/2 cup of peanuts, the ones without skin, dry roast them for about 4 mins at medium heat. Cool and then powder coarsely in your spice grinder.
Make a paste of
4 hot green chillies
1" ginger
3 fat clove of garlic
Now in a wide mouthed bowl put
3/4 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour
the peanut powder
2 tbsp Coriander powder/Dhaniya powder
3/4 tbsp Kashmiri Mirch
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
salt
the ginger-garlic-chilli paste you made
2 tbsp oil
Mix well with your fingers till you get a moist crumbly stuffing mix. Taste to see if anything is missing and adjust accordingly.
Again using your fingers stuff each eggplant with this spiced-gram flour stuffing mix. Press them down so that they reach all the way to the bottom. There should be some stuffing left
Arrange all the stuffed eggplants on a microwave safe plate. Sprinkle with the stuffing that is left. Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil. Cover with a perforated MW cover or a cling wrap with perforation. Put in the microwave and cook for about 8 mins. At the end of this the eggplants will look soft and kind of settled down. They are almost cooked by now.
Next heat some more oil in a frying pan, say about 1tbsp. Temper the oil with 1/4th tsp of cumin seeds. When the spices pop, gently put in all the part-cooked eggplants and their stuffing. Toss gently and then cover. Cook till done
Serve with chapati for best effect.
The Aunty who is the current babysitter but babies not being babies anymore who also helps me a little with housework. She makes some of her vegetarian Gujarati dishes and we are sold. Kadhi has always featured in my comfort food list, right there with alu posto-musurir dal and Thai red curry and now there is Lobia jostling for space with Cholar Dal and begun shorshe with a Gujju style stuffed eggplant.
So Aunty is going on leave and all the husband-man has to say is
"Did you learn to make the stuffed eggplant from her?"
"What about the bhindi kadhi ?"
While all I can think of is "folding the laundry", a chore which is not my idea of entertainment and which I had successfully palmed off to her while she watched "Ghar ghar ki Kahani" or something similar called "Punarvivaha".
It will be a while that Auntie will be gone and I might not really need to hire her or any babysitter by the time she comes back. I would have loved to hire a "laundry folder" though.
Several years back when I arrived in this country(the US of A) we lived in an apartment which did not have an in-apartment laundry. Those days most apartments had a laundry in the basement to be shared by say several residents. In our case it was 4(or maybe 8) -- each block had 4 apartments and there was one laundry in the basement for the 4 of us.The laundry had two pairs of washer and dryer, each coin operated.
I had come from a land of ample sunshine, clothes lines, house helps and colorful washing machines that were just catching up. My parents did not have a washing machine then. We, the newly married, had bought one for our Bangalore home and only because it was part of a deal which included a TV and refrigerator. That all of those three worked given the deal price now seems amazing to me.
We kept the washing machine and the dryer unit in the verandah. On the washing days, the house help would drag it to the bathroom, fit the pipe to the faucet and wash the clothes there. The clothes were then set out to dry on clotheslines which spanned the length of the verandah. The dryer did a shoddy job and was never used. I think we used it as a soiled clothes hamper. The next day, it was the "same Amma" who folded the dried clothes now crisp and crackling like microwaved Papad and kept aside the set to send to the istiri wallah for ironing.
Compared to that, doing laundry in a dungeon type basement, in humongous washing machines which worked only when 4 quarters were placed correctly in their slot was very exciting. I don't know about you but even until a few years back, the act of pushing a coin through a slot was mighty exciting to me. The only part I was finicky about was using the same machine to wash my floral shirt which neighbor in Apt# 11 2D had used for his Tommy underpants.The first few washes, I spent 4 extra quarters and 30 minutes to run a light rinse in an empty washing machine. Only after the machine was cleansed did I do my laundry. That habit did not last long though. Arranging for several quarters on weekends became increasingly difficult.
Back then even the part about folding the laundry did not seem too bad. I was in love with Bounce Fabric softeners and smelling "mountain breeze", whatever it was, in the folds of warm cottons from the dryer gave me a lot of pleasure.
Gradually however I started losing interest in washing machines and their slotti-ness. I also became lax with folding clothes. The husband-man who shared the job also seemed to lose interest in folding. When we moved to our own home with our very own laundry room, after BS was born, I found renewed interest in the washing part and ran multiple loads -- children, white, non-white, children white, children colored. It was a joy to walk few steps on the same floor and run a wash.
The folding however loomed large as the monster to be avoided. The futility of the act -- of folding something which has to be unfolded to be used -- stared me in the face. I started using the spare bedroom as a dumping ground for dried clothes.I found that putting clothes out of the dryer and immediately onto hangers saves ironing as well as folding. I found that watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" while folding tiny onesies reduced the pain a little.
I found all loopholes to avoid folding or to make it bearable.
So after LS was born and I was hiring babysitters, I sneakily put in the "laundry folding" as a requirement. However M Didi who was with us until last year was as averse to folding as me and often had her excuses to not do so. I would grudgingly trudge along, folding a t-shirt and trying to find a sock pair, roping in BS for whom it was more exciting.
It all changed and I was finally totally free of "folding" when K Auntie started her job. She gladly folded the clothes while I cooked dinner. I couldn't have asked for anything better.
My days of happiness are now numbered though and I have to go back to my dull job soon. I might just dump the dried clothes in the spare bedroom again. If you are visiting me, please call a week ahead.Yes, I need all that time to fold.
But at least I have learned to make the Gujarati style Bharela Baingan -- eggplant stuffed with spicy peanut and besan. I love regional Indian cuisine and I am so glad that I learned this gem. It is really good. Also way simpler than it sounds. If you know me, you would know, I don't cook complex meals and I don't like folding clothes. So if I am doing a stuffed eggplant, it must be easy.
I totally freaked the poor lady out by taking pictures of eggplants in every step of their life but this recipe is worth all that and more.
Before going onto the recipe, let me just tell you that the book, "Bong Mom's Cookbook" is getting great reviews and if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know that. The book is now available on Amazon at a great price and also on Flipkart. More on the book page
Bharela Baingan -- peanut masala stuffed Eggplant
At the very beginning go to the nearest grocery store and get the small round eggplants. Buy 10 small round eggplants
Wash them well and dry them
Next trim the stem of the eggplants and slit them crosswise at the bottom. The slits should not separate the eggplant and it should be joined at the base
Next, take 1/2 cup of peanuts, the ones without skin, dry roast them for about 4 mins at medium heat. Cool and then powder coarsely in your spice grinder.
Make a paste of
4 hot green chillies
1" ginger
3 fat clove of garlic
Now in a wide mouthed bowl put
3/4 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour
the peanut powder
2 tbsp Coriander powder/Dhaniya powder
3/4 tbsp Kashmiri Mirch
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
salt
the ginger-garlic-chilli paste you made
2 tbsp oil
Mix well with your fingers till you get a moist crumbly stuffing mix. Taste to see if anything is missing and adjust accordingly.
Again using your fingers stuff each eggplant with this spiced-gram flour stuffing mix. Press them down so that they reach all the way to the bottom. There should be some stuffing left
Arrange all the stuffed eggplants on a microwave safe plate. Sprinkle with the stuffing that is left. Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil. Cover with a perforated MW cover or a cling wrap with perforation. Put in the microwave and cook for about 8 mins. At the end of this the eggplants will look soft and kind of settled down. They are almost cooked by now.
Next heat some more oil in a frying pan, say about 1tbsp. Temper the oil with 1/4th tsp of cumin seeds. When the spices pop, gently put in all the part-cooked eggplants and their stuffing. Toss gently and then cover. Cook till done
Serve with chapati for best effect.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Miri's Gosthu(Eggplant in a tangy tomato gravy)
For the next couple of days, I will do a series of posts which were actually intended for February. I had planned to do them the week of Saraswati Puja because she being the goddess of knowledge and art and art and creativity was what my posts were going to celebrate. But things often don't go according to plan. Well actually things NEVER go according to plan. So instead of February, I will do the posts over the next few days.
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The entire month of February, I thought of Miri. Off and on. Off and on. I would go to one of my older posts and her comment would be right there. I browsed through her blog , going through her older posts, expecting new ones. And then I thought it was only befitting that I share the Goshtu recipe that she had sent me. The post was there on her blog but not the recipe and I had asked for it in the comment. She had promptly sent it by e-mail.
Hey there Sandeepa!
Hope you had a great Diwali...
here's the recipe I used - didn't want to post it because its Blog Bites and you are supposed to link to the original!
I had actually been looking for an eggplant dish, I had tasted way back in an Office cafeteria in Bangalore and the Goshtu though similar had Dal which the cafeteria eggplant did not.
So I said
"Dear Miri
Thanks so much for the recipe. Now that I read it, I realize though that this wasn't the cafeteria eggplant, this is like the one a Tam colleague used to get here. I have had this and really liked it. The cafeteria one had no dal as far as I remember."
That is what I decided to make, a variation of her Goshtu
But for a long time, I did not make it. It was one more of those recipes you treasure but don't always cook. Today I made it and it tasted delicious. Why was I waiting, I thought ? But we all do that. We wait and wait and wait until the moment has passed and things are not as they used to be. And then a known flavor, an unknown scent reminds us of what could have been.
Today Miri lived in my home through her food that she had shared many months ago and I wish her and her family the best always. I am not posting a pic of the finished dish because hers looked infinitely better than mine, the eggplants in my dish were not as soft. I rather we remember the dish as it looks on her blog post. Perfect.
This post is dedicated to Miri and her Gosthu and also to all my blogger friends who continue making this blog world richer, colorful and appetizing with the aroma of their home-cooked food. Joining Manisha of Indian Food Rocks for the same
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The entire month of February, I thought of Miri. Off and on. Off and on. I would go to one of my older posts and her comment would be right there. I browsed through her blog , going through her older posts, expecting new ones. And then I thought it was only befitting that I share the Goshtu recipe that she had sent me. The post was there on her blog but not the recipe and I had asked for it in the comment. She had promptly sent it by e-mail.
Hey there Sandeepa!
Hope you had a great Diwali...
here's the recipe I used - didn't want to post it because its Blog Bites and you are supposed to link to the original!
Gosthu
Ingredients
Moong dal – ¼ cup
2 cups diced - (eggplant, carrot, potato)
Onion - 1 big sliced
Tomato – 1, chopped
Tamarind – 1 tbsp paste dissolved in 1 cup water
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
1 tbsp sambar powder
1 tsp chilli powder
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – few
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt
Method
Pressure cook moong dal until soft.
Heat oil, add mustard and when it splutters add the curry leaves
Add onion and saute for 5 minutes till soft. Then the tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder and sambar powder and saute some more till they are mushy.
Add the vegetables and stir fry for 10-12 minutes till they are half cooked.
Add tamarind water, salt and one more cup of water. Bring to boil and then simmer covered for 20 minutes.
Finally, add the cooked dal, mix well and boil for another 5 minutes or simmer till it has thickened. Add coriander leaves and serve.
I had actually been looking for an eggplant dish, I had tasted way back in an Office cafeteria in Bangalore and the Goshtu though similar had Dal which the cafeteria eggplant did not.
So I said
"Dear Miri
Thanks so much for the recipe. Now that I read it, I realize though that this wasn't the cafeteria eggplant, this is like the one a Tam colleague used to get here. I have had this and really liked it. The cafeteria one had no dal as far as I remember."
And then she said
"You are welcome!... the cafeteria one must be with onions and tomatoes, but also sambar powder - I make a version of that with drumsticks and brinjal and its really nice. "
That is what I decided to make, a variation of her Goshtu
But for a long time, I did not make it. It was one more of those recipes you treasure but don't always cook. Today I made it and it tasted delicious. Why was I waiting, I thought ? But we all do that. We wait and wait and wait until the moment has passed and things are not as they used to be. And then a known flavor, an unknown scent reminds us of what could have been.
Today Miri lived in my home through her food that she had shared many months ago and I wish her and her family the best always. I am not posting a pic of the finished dish because hers looked infinitely better than mine, the eggplants in my dish were not as soft. I rather we remember the dish as it looks on her blog post. Perfect.
This post is dedicated to Miri and her Gosthu and also to all my blogger friends who continue making this blog world richer, colorful and appetizing with the aroma of their home-cooked food. Joining Manisha of Indian Food Rocks for the same
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Oven baked Begun Bhaja -- and a book review
Definition of "Bossy" according LS with real life example -- "Bossy maane....bossy maane. Ei je dhoro tomar ei room ta clean korar kotha. Kintu tmi korcho na. Ar tumi amake bolcho clean korte jate tumi araam kore cha khete paro. Tar mane tumi Bossy."
She says, "Bossy means...well bossy means. Ok, lets take you. It is your job to clean this room(at this point she looks at me pointedly). But, you don't do it. Instead you tell me to do it so that you can sit and drink your tea. That means you are being bossy".
Point noted.
Everyone knows that a Bong loves his or her Begun Bhaja. Slices of purple eggplant, tossed in turmeric powder and salt and then shallow fried in hot oil. With a good quality eggplant, the flesh of the fried being is so soft that it is not wrong to call it "buttery". Growing up, the begun bhaja was a standard side with dal and rice and a fish curry in my and many Bengali's home. I never liked it nor did I spare any thought towards it. It was that one more bhaja served with dal.
Today, I do not make a begun bhaja all that often simply because I don't want to do the frying, an eggplant sucks up oil fast and is as much a gas guzzler as a Hummer H1. I would rather eat a begun pora than a bhaja, I claim.
And then a reader(
Then to get more experimental I dusted them with cajun seasoning and sprinkled some paprkia.
Next I wanted to rub them with cinnamon powder and nutmeg. But I restrained. This far and no further was the mandate. "Don't mess with my Begun Bhaja", was a familiar cry around home.Hah! tell me who is "Bossy" around here.
Traditionally the Begun Bhaja is fried. In Mustard Oil. As in this Begun Bhaja. In the oven version I used olive oil instead of Mustard but you can use the latter too.
Wash 1 slender japanese eggplant in water and pat dry
Chop the japanese eggplant in rounds, each 1/2" thick.
Toss the slices with
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp Olive oil
salt
Grease a baking tray. Arrange the eggplant slices on the tray. No piling or overlapping.
If you have a cooking spray, spray the surface of the eggplant slices. Or else you can smear them with drops of olive oil.
Pop in an oven. I used a toaster oven where I baked them at 300F for about 30 mins. After 15 mins from start I turned the tray and sprayed the slices once more. Towards the end, I flipped the slices, sprayed with little more cooking spray and did it for 5 more minutes.
Oven temperature and timing will vary. The larger oven temp should be about 350F. Also depending on the quality of the eggplant timing will vary. Just check that the slices are not getting dry and take them out once they are soft and cooked. If they are getting dry but not cooked, cover the bake tray with a aluminum foil and then bake.
Sometimes I might brown them further on a greased fry pan on the stove after they are done but mostly that is not necessary for this variety of eggplant
Now that we have the begun bhaja out of the picture and you saw the simple psychology that made me happier to bake them as opposed to frying them, I will introduce you to Scott Haas, food writer and psychologist. Yes, a deadly combination.
In his newest book, Scott explores what goes on inside a chef's mind in the back of a professional kitchen. Intriguing, haan ? Wait and hear the rest. In the book, "Back of the House-- Secret Life of a restaurant" Haas looks at famed Boston restaurant Craigie on Main, where chef Tony Maws basically gave him free reign to observe for the past year and a half. If you want to know what inspires a chef, if you want a peek into the racing drama in a restaurant kitchen and want the drama to unfold like a novel, this book is for you.
Now available on Amazon
I have my own copy which I am not going to share but I would be very happy to send a copy of this book to one of the commenters in this post.. Winner will picked by random.org and book will be shipped in US only.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Begun Chingri - Eggplant cooked in Shrimp Paste
Begun Chingri | Begun Bahar
This is not a traditional recipe, more of a delicious innovation, where eggplant is cooked with shrimp paste. It has the goodness of fried eggplant or Begun Bhaja elevated to soaring heights with some fresh shrimp paste. If anyone happens to copy this and pass it off as their Grandmother's recipe, less power to you!
This is my Sister-in-law's recipe.
Actually her innovation. She invented this thing. Including the nomenclature. Called it "Begun Bahar" (or was it "Begum Bahar").
Then she sent me an e-mail. This is what her mail read. Ditto.
"Bengan Bahaar (amaar deo naam )
Fry shrimp with salt and haldi keep it aside.Fry the begun as we do begun bhaja and keep aside.
Grind cut onion ginger garlic and tomato fry them with haldi mirchi and little dhania and jeera powder.
then grind the shrimp and the fried masala with sarso /methi seeds . Sprinle salt and saute the whole thing with the begun bhaja for sometime till the colour changes to deep red /orange and nice smell comes out. Garnish with coriander and squeeze lemon juice on top before removing.
I am sure you guys will love this . I feel really nice to "invent" a new dish hehehehee "
Why she is laughing I do not know. She really did "invent".
I have full faith in her and so I got two eggplants from the Farmers Market. One of them was destined to be turned into exotic "Begun Bahar" with sequined zari ghungat and kohl lined eyes. Reminds me of Meena Kumari but really this was just eggplant, whatever you might call it.
The dish turned out to be truly, really lovely. The freshly ground shrimp paste does wonderful things if you do not know. The silky, fleshy eggplant is beautifully complemented with the shrimp paste. I am eating the leftovers for lunch right now and OMG I think you should totally make it.
Shoo now....get moving. Get that darn eggplant, man. And oh yeah, I called it Begun Chingri, stick with Baingan Bahar if you must though.
Read more...
Begun Chingri -- Eggplant cooked in shrimp paste
What You Need
Eggplant/Begun -- 1 medium sized or 2 slender Japanese Eggplant
Onion -- 1 Cups of chopped onion
Garlic paste -- 1 tsp (or 6 Cloves of Garlic)
Ginger Paste -- 1 tsp (or 1" of Ginger chopped)
Tomato -- 1 medium chopped small
Green Chili(hot Indian ones) -- 4-6
Cumin Powder -- 1 tsp
Coriander Powder -- 1 tsp
Kashmiri Mirch -- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Methi Seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Shrimp -- 12-15 medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
Corriander -- fresh chopped about a fistful
Lime Juice -- 1 tsp
How I Did It
Chop eggplant in 3"x1" thin slices. Soak in salt water for 20-30 minutes. Drain water and sprinkle the eggplants with salt and a tsp of Turmeric powder.
Fry the eggplants. How you fry the eggplant is kind of up to you. Ideally it should be fried in enough oil. If you are a health freak like me, you will pan fry them. If you are a more serious freak, you might brush them with oil and bake/broil them. Whatever you want to do, do it. Then remove and keep the fried eggplants aside.
Lightly saute the shrimps with salt and turmeric powder. Remove and keep aside.
Fry the onions till golden brown. Add to it
Garlic
Ginger
1tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp of Red Chili Powder
Saute for a minute
Next add
1 medium tomato finely chopped
+ 4 green chili
Fry till tomato is all mushed up. Cool and make a paste of this masala (onion+tomato+ everything else).
Make a coarse paste of the sauteed shrimp. Remove and keep aside.
Heat some more oil in the fry pan. Temper the oil with
1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds
+ 1/4 tsp of Methi seeds
When the spices start sputtering and getting fragrant add the onion+tomato masala paste. Saute the masala till you see the oil leaving from the edges. Next add the shrimp paste and saute for about 4-5 minutes. Add the fried eggplants slices and mix with the masala. Add salt to taste. Add a little water, say about about 1/3rd Cup. At low medium heat cook for about 5-6 minutes. At the end of this you will see oil surfacing.
Garnish with chopped coriander and 1 tsp of lime juice. Serve with roti or rice.
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Check this for Cutlery and Cutlery Sets
Friday, August 20, 2010
Begun Pora -- the Bengali Roasted Eggplant
Begun Pora -- the rustic suburban cousin of Upper East side Ms. Bharta is a very simple, easy and quick if you can rope in the husband, dish.
The only scary part in this whole thing is roasting the eggplant, on the open flame, till it is charred and your smoke alarm starts ringing and the sprinklers go on and there are good looking firefighters ringing your door bell.
That would call for some exciting drama and you might get on page 2 of your local daily but if you abhor paparazzi choose from the following options:
1.On a balmy Tuesday afternoon when the birds are chirping and the wind is gentle hand the hubby a beer and an eggplant. Ask him to put it on the outside grill and keep a watch. Tell him he might get Begun Pora if he is good and some wilting lettuce if he is not. However un-romantic this might sound, the Bong hubby will watch and give you an eggplant that is done just right.
2.On other afternoons when nature is not on your side, rub the eggplant with that golden yellow pungent Mustard oil of yours, sprinkle some salt and stick it into the broiler.In 45minutes to an hour the eggplant will be charred to perfection.
Puritans will insist that you are missing out on the smoky flavor this way, which is true but anything better than cleaning a messy stove or meeting a firefighter in cooking dungarees, I say.
So after that eggplant has been done by the husband or the broiler or the ripping flame as your case might be, let it cool. Remove the charred skin and scoop out the soft velvety insides. To this add some more of that Mustard Oil(yes, you must), fresh chopped green chili, finely chopped onions and fresh corriander leaves and then mix with your fingers. It is a sensational feeling.
Now me being me and wanting a novelty in even my begun pora, I roast some tomatoes and garlic and add it to the above mix.
Wrap it up in a roti and have your dinner. My roti making skills are terrible and the six year old claims she can roll a better one than me, so if such is the case wrap it up in a tortilla.
Now that was quick wasn't it ? Less than 30 minutes of your live time for a Bong dinner. You can also do the eggplant in the broiler a day before and just do the quick mash and mix when you are ready to eat.
Read more...
Begun Pora -- Roasted Eggplant
Wash an eggplant thoroughly. It is good if you can soak in water for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry completely
Score the tip with a knife.
Rub with salt and a tsp of mustard oil. Now broil in oven or grill it on the outside grill.
To broil in oven -- put in a baking tray lined with aluminum foil, drizzle some more oil on top and broil. It usually takes between 40-50 minutes to an hour.
For stove top -- "Smoke or roast the eggplant: Hold the eggplant over a low open gas flame. Rotate the eggplant 90 degrees every few minutes or so. The skin will gradually darken, the eggplant will start to sag, and you will notice a pleasant smoky smell. After about 20 minutes or half an hour, when the skin is completely charred, remove the eggplant from the flame. This step can be done by broiling or roasting the eggplant in the oven, but you will not get the same smoky flavour which makes this dish so good. Allow the eggplant to cool, then discard all of the skin, chop the flesh then mash with a fork." -- Source
Once the eggplant has cooled remove the charred skin and mash the soft, velvety flesh.
Add Mustard Oil and mix finely chopped onion, finely chopped green chili, salt to taste and finely chopped tomatoes. If you wish you can roast some tomato and garlic in the oven and add it to above.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Let it sit for a 10-15 minutes to soak up the flavor. Now scoop it up with a roti and eat.
Similar Recipes:
Baingan Bharta
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Begun Chirer Pulao -- Brinjal n Poha Pulao
I really don't love eggplants all that much. I like okra way better than eggplant. But you wouldn't know that. I have only one single okra post in all these years and several eggplant ones. In fact the frequency with which I am posting eggplant dishes you would think that is all we eat at home. But that is as far removed from the truth as is the earth from the moon or as is me from reality.
The reality is we do eat eggplants more than okra, for one it is easier to chop and cook and does well in mass production and everyone adores it. But not me or BS. I do not love eggplant more than okra. BS does not love anything but her little sis.
But this dish, the "Begun Chirer Pulao" is different. It is a very new thing, which I have never heard or had before. My Ma with her genius and her repertoire made this some weeks back. She says she got it from a book. Whoever was invited for lunch that day "oohed" and "aaahed" over it. The husband liked it a lot. In short this dish got so much recognition that every thing else paled in comparison. Now these are words I can rarely say about 90% of the other recipes I have posted in all these years.
So you see this is important. For one it is a very novel dish and Bengalis love novelty as long as it is not octopus in tamarind sauce. They love trying out new dishes if it is Bengali, Indo-Chinese, Thai, and maybe Moroccan, ok not Moroccan but might be. So because of the newness and the ease of cooking and the taste this dish is a big winner. I made it again over the weekend for some friends. Everyone suitably "oohed" and "aahed", and acted surprised, because who would have thought of cooking eggplant/brinjal with poha, really.
Read more...
Begun Chirer Pulao -- Brinjal n Poha Pulao
Suggested Oil: Mustard Oil. If Not: Canola or Peanut Oil Never: Olive Oil
Serves 5-6 adults as a side dish
Chop 2 medium sized eggplants in thick slices. Soak in water with little salt for half an hour OR if you are running out of time just wash them well. Remove from water and sprinkle turmeric powder and salt on the slices and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.
Heat oil and deep fry the eggplant slices. They should be almost like 99.5% cooked at the end of this and taste totally yum with some dal and rice. But NO you cannot eat them because the universe is waiting for your Begun Pulao and you must give them that.
Now take 1 cup of Poha (or Beaten Rice) and fry them crisp in oil. IF you are not my Mom and you are like me and you like to pretend that you do not like deep frying toss the 1 cup of Poha with droplets of oil and arrange them in a single layer on a baking tray. Put in the oven at 350F till the poha turns crisp.
Heat some more oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Temper the oil with
1/4 tsp of Hing/Asafoetidia,
2-3 small Bay Leaves
and 5-6 small green Indian chili that have been slit.
While the oil heats, in a bowl add 1/2 cup of thick yogurt and beat. To it add
2 tsp of ginger paste,
1/2 tsp of Kashmiri mirch,
1/2 tsp of Red Chili powder(optional),
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder,
a little sugar and mix well.
Switch off the heat and wait for a minute. Add the yogurt to the pan and mix. Put it back on low heat after one more minute. When you see the oil seeping out of the side of the masala add about 1 cup of water. Add salt to taste and let the gravy come to a boil. Add the fried eggplants and mix gently so that the eggplants are well coated with the masala. Let it simmer till the gravy is thickened. Note: If you have a fear of yogurt curdling add a tsp of besan or gram flour to the yogurt and mix well so that there are no lumps. Now add everything else to the yogurt and add it to the pan
Add the fried/roasted crisp Poha and mix with the eggplants.
Sprinkle 1 tsp of Garam Masala powder on top and serve. Goes well with Rice or Roti. Tastes best when served in a couple of hours time or at least same day.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Shorshe Begun -- Eggplant in Mustard Sauce
I have a dream, to cook in peace. That sounds so much like ABBA that I am changing that statement though that IS my dream.
Ok, so I want to cook in peace, in absolute silence with only sounds of nature around me, and by sounds of nature I do not mean kids talking, fighting, babbling and saying "Mommy" every 3rd second.
As much as I love these tiny mites, I do not believe that I need to run my cooking steps through them every time. I mean why does a toddler need to be carried so that she can see if I am doing tempering right. Even if she thinks I am doing something wrong and the meat is underdone, I am not going to listen to her, am I ? Who is the Boss around here, tell me.
And why every time that I grind something, there are tiny hands clinging on to my legs and wailing "Mik chi Mik chi" to clamber up. Why is the "Mik chi" the sixth wonder of the baby world ? What is so wonderful about tiny circles of yellow mustard seeds and flecks of green chillies dancing around in a glass jar and going krrrrkat kat krrrr ? I mean it is a great invention and all, close to the heels of a particle accelerator and makes my life very simple but does a baby need to see it in motion every time and be mesmerized.
What happened to cuddly elmo or even her sister's kid size juicer and blender ? Isn't that enough ?
To avoid such intrusions during cooking, I put the vent fan on very high and then turn on my magic bullet blender, praying silently for it to do its job quietly. But the little ears where ever they are hear it and come running, trying to see what the "mik chi" is doing this time. And demand to be held up, to observe the physics behind that chaos and to imbibe some theory that I am incapable of observing.
* Back home we called the blender or the food processor or any such contraption Mixie and I still tend to do that at home. Honestly I don't even know the difference between a Food processor and a blender. I have a Food Processor which has very bad work ethics and does not do my shorshe(mustard) or posto right while this blender does, that is all I know.
After all that if I made a decent Shorshe Begun thank your stars. Bengalis tend to eat a lot of shorshe or mustard or sarson or sorisha or senape and will douse everything on earth in this mustard sauce. Eggplants thankfully do a very good job when they are doused with mustard and Begun Shorshe, Shorshe Begun or Eggplants in Mustard Sauce are an all time favorite.
In this particular recipe I have used a friend's suggestion to add lots of fresh coriander while making the paste. Enough fresh green coriander to give the paste a pale greenish color which you will not see in any photo because my coriander was not fresh enough. Did I say, it needs to be F--R--E--S--H.
That is an unusual thing for a Bangali shorshe bata, the coriander. Bangali shorshe bata doe not have coriander, period. But this one does and that gives a nice flavor to the dish.
This dish also needs enough Mustard Oil, for the eggplant slices to be fried till they are dripping Mustardy goodness all over. If you are Mustard Oil averse and using Canola, do so, just don't come back and complain.
Enjoy this dish mixed with white rice and eaten with bare nimble fingers and thank the "Mik chi".
Read more...
Serves about 8-10 people when served as one of many sides
Soak 4tbsp of Mustard Seeds + 1tbsp of Poppy Seeds in little water(about 1/4 cup) for 20-30 minutes. Note: Some of my friends will not use Posto or Poppy seeds but will add a little grated coconut while grinding. You can use lesser amount of Poppy seeds if you wish. Also if your mustard paste tends to get bitter, try switching the black mustard seeds with the yellow mustard seeds
Strain the water, add mustard+ poppy seeds to blender and grind to a paste with
salt
5 Green Chili
2 cups of fresh green Corriander Leaves
4 tsp of yogurt
and 3 tbsp water
Chop Eggplant in longitudinal pieces. Smear with salt and turmeric and keep aside. I have used 2 large eggplants(or 4 of the slender long ones) for this recipe.
Heat Mustard Oil to smoking. Fry the eggplant pieces to a light golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
Heat some fresh Mustard Oil. If you don't have Mustard Oil, use any other White Oil but Mustard Oil is best for this dish.
Temper with 1/2 tsp of Kalonji/Nigella seeds. When the spices pop, add the the mustard paste. Saute for a minute or two. Add 1 cup of water, salt to taste and let the gravy come to a boil .Then let it simmer for some time till gravy is thick and mustardy. If you like it hot add 1 tsp of red chili powder at this point. The gravy should be enough for the eggplants so adjust water accordingly.
When the gravy starts boiling, add the eggplant pieces to the gravy and switch off after a minute. Drizzle a little mustard oil on top, cover and let it sit for 30-40 minutes or more.
Let it sit for some time to let the eggplant soak in the gravy. Serve with white rice.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Imam Bayildi -- and then The Imam Fainted
Its the last week of summer hols around here. I am jittery. Guess why ? Big sis S starts Grade 1 next week in the big school. Yeah the little girl who was a couple months short of 3 when I first started this blog is going to be a first grader now.
Last week we went uniform shopping for her. Since she doesn't meet our township's cut-off date she is going to a private school for a year and then will be back in the public school system in Grade 2. Now this school she is going to is a Catholic School and they have uniforms.
That had made me very happy initially. Having been straitjacketed into uniforms 12 years of my life, I love them. What I didn't realize is, it was my Mom who shopped for my uniforms and also largely maintained them while I was merely a bystander. Now roles have shifted.
It was there at the uniform store, it hit me that I really need to live up to the role of a Mom . Nothing before, nor even the stubborn lactation consultant had thrust this thought into my face so hard as did the uniform store.
I realized that there are only so many shirts and tunics and gym shorts you can buy. I also realized that I need to gauge and buy the perfect size which will fit through whole year. Of course I can be extravagant and buy all sizes but then I won't be writing this blog, there would be someone writing it for me.
And because of the limited buying you need to maintain these stuff. As a responsible Mom you would need to iron the shirts every couple of days, you will have to sew on buttons 'coz those goddamn shirts have numerous buttons ready to fly off any minute, you might have to hem or un-hem skirts depending on how the child grows, you might even have to mend a rent in those expensive knee-highs, and then keep those black shoes shining bright.
The very thought that my Mom did all this and more through most of my school years, wanted me to book her a flight and bring her here. To reach that exalted position I need to apprentice at a laundry and go get a needlework for dummies. Till then I keep my fingers crossed that the dad does the ironing and I can fix those buttons with glue.
Now as part of the celebrations I mentioned last week I made an exotic turkish dish for the small gathering at home. Exotic seems to be the right way to describe anything Turkish I feel but this one is really exquisite. And to think that I had no clue that such a dish existed on the face of earth until August 1st.
That is when we were visiting some friends. As kids were being taken care of and I had ample time to rummage through their book shelves I found a cookbook with this recipe. The name caught my attention. "Imam Bayildi" or The Imam fainted. Why, You say. Try this beautiful eggplant dish doused liberally with olive oil and infused with herbs, and you will know for yourselves
I also referred to this blog for very nice step by step pics as to what exactly should be done while peeling and stuffing, though my version was a tad different. This recipe has the measurements, mine are eyeballed.
Read more...
Imam Bayildi
The recipe is for 4 eggplants
Get those long slender eggplants and trim the “heads”. Do not cut them completely off. Peel the eggplants in stripes i.e. the skin and the peel should run parallel. Put the eggplants in salted water. After 30 mins remove and drain on paper towel
Heat 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This is a must and no other oil will do.Add two chopped red onion and saute till pink. Add 8 cloves of garlic minced.
Add 1 large juicy tomato chopped(or half a can of diced tomato), 1/2 cup of chopped coriander(the recipe said parsley), 1 tsp of citrus zest, white pepper powder, salt and sugar to taste. Saute till the tomato softens and is cooked. I added some Red Chili powder and also some garlic chives from my garden to spice it up.
Remove and keep aside
Now you need to fry the eggplants whole.
Heat 1/2 cup or a tad less of olive oil in a deep bottomed pan. Saute the whole eggplants till they are lightly browned on all side and a little soft but not thoroughly cooked. Do not try to do all the eggplants together, saute them individually. Note: I had to chop of a fraction of the eggplant tip because they weren't fitting into my frying pan. However if you are doing so do not cut from the head end
Arrange the eggplants in a baking dish
Cut open a slit/pocket in each eggplant. You might need to salt the pockets at this point if needed. Spoon in the stuffing in generous quantity into the pockets. If they spill over it is better. Pour in the juice and about 1/4 cup of hot water + olive oil into the baking dish.
Preheat oven to 375F and cook covered till eggplants are fully done. At the end of the process remove the cover and keep in oven for few more minutes to dry out any excess liquid.
Serve whole at room temperature
Baked Version (Updated n August '17):
Get those long slender eggplants or the smaller but selnder eggplants, and trim the “heads”. Do not cut them completely off. Peel the eggplants in stripes i.e. the skin and the peel should run parallel. Put the eggplants in salted water. After 30 mins remove and drain on paper towel
Preheat oven to 400F. For my toaster oven, I heated it to 425F
Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and put the eggplants face up. Score the flesh of the eggplant with a knife, making diamond patterns, but not cutting through the skin. Press sliced clove of garlic in the flesh of the eggplants.
Brush the eggplants generously with olive oil and salt. Put them face-down on the baking sheet. Bake for 25 mins.
Next take out the tray and carefully turn the eggplants so that they are now face up. Cover the tray loosely with an aluminum foil. Put back in the oven for 20 more minutes
Meanwhile, make the tomato-onion-garlic mix as you would in the regular version
After 45 mins or so when the eggplant are almost done, take out the baking tray. Scoop the tomato-onion mixture onto each eggplant face. Put back in oven for 10 mins
Serve with some feta on top
This was named Eggplant Indiana in our home!!!
Trivia:The BIG question. Why did the Imam faint ? Multiple choice, pick your own: a) The imam (Muslim prayer leader) fainted or swooned when he tasted how good it was b)the stingy imam fainted when he saw how much expensive olive oil was used c)the imam was delighted when a shopkeeper's wife was required to quickly prepare a dish for the imam's unexpected visit
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