Swings & Roundabouts

Okay I know what it looks like – that I have an aubergine farm. Why else am I putting up one aubergine recipe or another, right? Well, the thing is, I quite like the purply thing. It is quick to cook and goes well with most other veggies – be it tomatoes, courgettes, potatoes, onions, you name it – so it is a good veg staple. And the following dish is so versatile it can be served with anything from jacket potatoes to pasta – or eaten on its own, with just a salad for company.

It is the French peasant dish, ratatouille, made ultra famous by the Pixar movie of the same name. I use the Beeb’s guide in making it. So go on, give it a try. If you do, I promise not to post another aubergine recipe for at least a month!

Ingredients

Aubergine – 1 (use the big one you use to make bharta)

Courgettes – 2

Mixed peppers (capsicum) – 2

Onion – 1, sliced

Tinned tomatoes – 1

Fresh basil – 1 bunch

Garlic clove – 1, crushed

Sugar – 1 tsp

Method

Cut all the vegetables into bite-sized chunks. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan.

Cook the aubergines on medium heat till they soften. Drain them off the oil and keep them aside. Repeat the process with the courgettes and the peppers.

In the oil, brown the garlic. Next, drop in the onion and cook it till it turns translucent.

Add the tin of tomatoes and torn leaves of basil and cook for couple of minutes. Add the sugar and salt, stir well.

Slowly add the vegetables one by one, mix well and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the stove and serve piping hot, garnished with more fresh basil.

Check out my new food column Eatopia over at Women’s Web

It is hard to believe now how much I used to hate brinjal as a child. As it was my dad’s favourite veg, the purple thing used to grace our plate more or less on a weekly basis. I was so tired of it that I was quite happy when the pater developed food allergies and could have it no more! Typically, after a while, I started feeling differently about brinjals and now, make it at least twice a month in some way, shape or form.

And one of my most favourite ways of making it is pulverising the hell of it and have it with rotis!

You need:

Aubergine – 1 big (or, if you get the smaller sized ones, go for a kilo)
Onion – 1, diced
Tomato – 1, canned
Spinach – 1 bunch, washed and cut

Coriander – to garnish

Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds, cumin seeds – 1 tsp each
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp
Dhania-jeera powder – 1/ tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp (or to taste)
Turmeric – 1 tsp
Dried red chillies – 2
Salt – to taste

To start with, wash and prick the aubergine all over with a fork. Rub some salt over it and roast it over the open fire of the stove. Keep the flame low and turn the veg frequently. As the skin puckers, turn it over and make sure that it is roasted uniformly. Repeat the process till you have roasted all the aubergines.
Now, you can cook the aubergines thoroughly in two ways – peel the skin off, mash the pulp roughly with a fork and nuke it in the microwave on HIGH for two – three minutes. Or, in a foil-covered sheet, place it on a warmed oven at Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes.
Once the aubergines are cooked thoroughly, pulverise them thoroughly using a blender or in a mixie jar. Keep the mash aside.
Next, heat the oil in a kadai. Splutter the mustard and cumin seeds. Add the dried red chillies and fry for a minute. Add the onion and saute it till it changes colour. Once the onion becomes translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
Add the dry powders, mix well adding a tablespoon of water.
Add the aubergine pulp next and mix well. Add salt, stir. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Next, toss in a can of chopped tomatoes, along with 150 ml water, mix well and cook till the mixture bubbles nicely.
Add the spinach, stir everything well, cover and cook on a low flame for 3-4 minutes.
Take off the lid, stir once more and garnish with lots of chopped coriander.
Serve hot with roti.

Time was, I used to hate this veg with a passion. My dad loved it so it featured with irritating regularity in the house menu. Turns out the pater’s body sided with me all those years. One fine day, it decided enough it had silently borne this brinjal overdose long enough but now it was time to put the foot down. So it did with a vengeance the next time he popped a few down the gullet and that was the end of that.

As luck would have it, the lack of the ubiquitous veg invoked a craving in me and I developed a liking for it. Soon enough, I had no less than five entertaining ways of cooking the once damned vegetable. So I decided to make up with this former enemy in the best way possible – by filling a whole blog post about it.

The featured recipe is known as ‘ennai kathirikkai’ in Tamil and ‘guthi vankaya’ in Telugu. First is ennai kathirikkai, the way my mum and gran make it.

Ennai Kathirikkai Karamadhu

Brinjals, small – 250 gms

Red chillies – 5
Dhaniya – 1 tbsp
Peppercorns – 1 tbsp
Channal dal – 1 tbsp
Dessicated coconut – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a few sprigs

Salt – to taste
Oil – 3 tbsp

To make this very simple preparation, first wash the vegetables well in water and dry them free of water. Make + shape slits into them and dunk them into salted water.
Next, roast red chillies, dhaniya, peppercorns and channa dal in half a tablespoon of oil for a few minutes. Add the dessicated coconut last and allow them to cool for a while. After a few minutes grind them coarsely, add salt and stuff them inside the cut brinjals, taking care not to break the vegetables.
In the same kadai, take couple of tablespoons of oil and toss some mustard seeds and curry leaves in. Once the seeds stop spluttering, add the spice-coated brinjals to the kadai and mix well in the oil. Cook in a slow fire, tossing the shiny vegetables every so often till it is well cooked.
Serve hot with rice and onion sambhar.

The next one is how my MIL makes it. It is as different to the previous way of preparing the same veg as the proverbial chalk and cheese.

Guthi Vankaya

Brinjals – 250 gms
Onion – 1, chopped finely
Channa dal – 3 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Dhaniya – 1/2 tbsp
Methi seeds, mustard seeds, jeera and mustard seeds – 1 tsp each
Dried red chillies – 6
Dessicated coconut – 1 tbsp
Tamarind – as needed
Oil – 4 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Jaggery – tiny piece

Soak a big lime-sized ball of tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes, till it tenderises completely. Strain and keep aside.
Fry all the masala ingredients (except for onions, brinjal and coconut) in a tablespoon of oil.
Once it is cooled, grind in a dry jar along with the grated coconut. Mix with the tamarind pulp.
Add finely diced onions to this paste and season with salt.
Make + shaped slits into the fleshy part of the brinjal, taking care to retain the green stem and stuff with the paste.
Heat the oil in a kadai and gently drop in the stuff veg one by one. Coat in oil and cook for a few minutes. Pour the rest of the paste over this, dilute with water, cover with a tight lid and cook over a slow fire.
After 15 minutes, add some powdered jaggery and cook some more.
Check seasoning and take off the flames.
Serve with rice.

Vankaya Masala

I learnt of this Hyderabadi way of preparing the same dish from a friend’s visiting MIL. This is slightly fiery compared to the former, tamer versions. Avoid if you have asthma or peanut allergy.

Brinjals – 500 gms
Onion – 2, medium
Methi seeds – 1/4 tsp
Jeera – 1/2 tsp
Dhaniya powder – 1 tsp
Sesame powder – 2 tsp
Roast groundnut powder – 1 tbsp
Cloves – 2
Red chillies – 6
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Tamarind – a lime-sized ball
Jaggery – a small piece
Oil – 3 tbsp

In a dry jar, powder finely the jeera and methi seeds.
Make the now famous + shape cuts into the brinjals and put them in salted water.
Cut the onions into rough pieces and fry them in oil till they are translucent.
Grind along with jeera-methi powder, dhaniya powder, sesame powder, groundnut powder, red chillies, cloves, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric and salt.
Fry the brinjals in two tablespoons of oil till they are partially cooked. Add the masala paste to the vegetables and mix well. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Now add the strained tamarind and cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Add some powdered jaggery, check for seasoning and cook for couple of minutes.
Serve hot with rice.

Submitted a day late to JFI: Brinjals, hosted by Sangeeta of Ghar Ka Khana