E just has to be for Eggplant

Indians love Eggplant. There are probably many reasons for that - the hearty texture stands up to all the spices and creates something very satisfying indeed. It also takes on many different flavors and transforms itself into different dishes.

Following is a classic Punjabi recipe that is very easy to make and can be enjoyed hot or at room temperature. In other words, make a lot and enjoy for a few days.

Bharta (Smoky Eggplant with fresh Herbs)

1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup shelled peas (fresh or frozen), cooked (optional)
3 tbs. vegetable oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped fresh ripe tomatoes (or canned)
2 green chilies, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves

Roast the eggplant:
Stand the eggplant on a burner of a gas stove, stem side up, over a low flame until the bottom of the eggplant is thoroughly charred (about 5 minutes). Now lay the eggplant on its side, and roast, turning it every minute with a pair of tongs until it is fully charred and very soft (about 15-20 minutes). When fully cooked, the eggplant will be quite limp, the skin blistered, and the juices beginning to ooze out. It can also be roasted on a baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 500 degree oven for 20 minutes, but it will not develop quite the right smoky flavor.
Let the eggplant cool briefly. Remove the charred skin. Place the eggplant in a small bowl. Then chop the pulp coarsely with a knife. Chop hard lumps fine. Set aside.
In a sauté pan heat the oil over a medium-high heat, preferably one with a non-stick surface. When the oil is hot, add garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring for a minute. Add onions and salt, and fry until they are light golden -- do not let them brown -- (about 4 minutes), stirring constantly to prevent burning. Reduce heat to medium, add eggplant and cook for an additional 8 minutes, stirring often.
Add tomatoes and chilies, and continue cooking until the eggplant and tomatoes are fried (about 10 minutes). Add peas and cook until a glaze forms on the puree (about 5 minutes). Just before serving, fold in chopped coriander.

Serve this as an appetizer on mini pappadums or as a part of a meal with roti.
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, use as many eggplants as you like and just increase the other ingredients.
This dish keeps very well for a few days in the refrigerator.

What is your favorite way to cook eggplant?

Until I eat again!

D is for Diwali

I know it is the middle of summer and I am talking about Diwali which is generally in October or November.

But what made me think of this holiday was some photographs that I was sorting through. I found the following pictures of this delicious rice that I made. I call them Diwali Rice. Most people know Diwali to be the festival of lights - when good conquers evil.
For me Diwali means the delicious meal that we make on this day.
Most Indian holidays are marked by something special to eat- as it the case anywhere I suppose.
One thing that holds true for most holidays in India is that the food is generally vegetarian.

Without much ado - let me present you with my Diwali Rice.



This may not look like much in the photograph - but trust me, it is delicious.

It is a vegetable pulao with vegetables and black chickpeas, eaten with creamy and cooling yogurt - along with your favorite pickle. I have carrot pickle here.

To make it:



Start with sauteing onions in some oil and cumin seeds. Caramelize the onions for about 15 to 20 minutes - or until they look like the onions you would use for making French Onion Soup.

Next:



Add a packet of frozen vegetables (yes, I said frozen - they are really not a bad thing to have - just don't ever, ever use canned vegetables - unless you live in a war zone).
Also, I have about 3 cups of black chickpeas (found in Indian markets) that I soaked overnight and boiled till they were cooked. You can substitute with Garbanzo beans or any other of your favorite beans. I have made this with kidney beans or black eyed peas. They add to the visuals of the dish and definitely to the good protein.

Stir this well and salt it generously.

I add a few cloves of garlic to build the depth of flavors.



Next you add 4 cups of washed Basmati Rice to the pot and stir gently. It is important to be gentle with the rice as it is brittle when wet.







Sometimes I drink while I am blogging and so...the above photos are inverted. In that, first add about 8 cups of water for 4 cups of rice; stir and bring to a boil uncovered. As soon as it come to a boil, lower the flame and cover it.

The rice should be done in about 20 minutes.

Check and then let stand-if you can stand it for another 20 minutes before you eat.

Enjoy.

What are you diwali favorites or other holiday favorites?

Until I eat again!

C for Cauliflower

Often a misunderstood vegetable by many Americans.

They tend not to like it since they have had it in preparations that do nothing for the cauliflower. Usually boiled with some cheese sauce doused over it. Not too appealing.

Following is a simple recipe that will transform a head of cauliflower into a rich tasting dish-with ginger playing a major role in building the flavors.

Cauliflower with Fresh Ginger and Green Peas

1 Head of Cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup Green Peas (can be frozen)
1 inch piece of fresh Ginger, julienned (cut into thin matchsticks)
2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
1 tsp. Turmeric Powder
1 Tbs. Cumin Seeds
½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)
Salt to taste
¼ cup Water
Fresh Cilantro for garnish

Heat a heavy bottom skillet on medium high heat. Add the oil and let it heat for a few seconds and add the cumin seeds. Cook for a minute and then add the ginger. Stir and cook for another minute making sure the ginger or cumin do not burn.
Add the cauliflower florets, turmeric, cayenne and salt. Stir well to incorporate all the spices with the cauliflower. When the spices seem well mixed in, add the water and cover the skillet with a lid. Turn the flame down to medium.
Check the cauliflower in about 5 to 7 minutes to see if it is cooked through by inserting a pairing knife-it should slide in easily. Once it is cooked to the desired consistency remove the lid, raise the heat to high and let any remaining water evaporate. Add the peas, stir and cook for another few minutes, or until the peas have heated through. Check the seasoning for salt.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Note:
The same recipe can be made with Broccoli Florets.

B for Bhel Puri

I am not trying to decieve you. This is a picture of bangles-beautiful glass bangles.

The bangles remind me of bhel puri. One tends to wear bangles during festive occasions - if not festive, then surely happy ones. And one of the happiest occasions for me was when we would go down to the corner of the street and get some bhel puri.

We make this dish in my Street Foods of India class. Following is a different recipe from the one we use in the class. Very delicious.



BHEL PURI
Puffed rice mixed with sev, crisp puris, roasted peanuts etc. and spiced with a green chutney, tamarind chutney and garlic chutney.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups Puffed rice (kurmura/murmura)
1/2 cup Sev
1/4 cup Roasted peanuts
8 Puris crisp
1 medium Onion
2 med. Potatoes
2-3 Green chillies
Salt to taste
1/4 cup Green chutney
1/2 cup Tamarind chutney
1 Tbs. Lemon juice
Fresh coriander leaves bunch

Method

1. Peel onion and chop finely. Clean coriander leaves, wash well and then chop finely.

2. Boil potatoes, peel and cut into bite sized pieces. Wash, remove stem and finely chop green chillies.

3. Combine puffed rice, onion, peanuts, potatoes, green chillies, half of the sev and toss well.

4. Add four crushed puris and mix. Add salt to taste.

5. Add the three chutneys as per your taste and mix well.

6. Add lemon juice and mix. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and the remaining sev.

7. Serve immediately with remaining puris to eat with.

Indian Food: A through Z

I will be honest- I have not been posting as much as I would like to. I do walk around writing posts in my head which never make it on the blog.

I came up with an assignment for myself which should provide me with a sense of discipline and hopefully regular posts.

I will go through the alphabet and blog about something Indian food related everyday.

Today is A

A for Asafoetida

Asafoetida is a spice used in Indian cooking. It is often misunderstood and I don't even talk about it in most of my classes when I introduce common Indian Spices.
The Hindi word for it is Hing. It is most known for its anti-flatulent properties and is often added to many bean and lentil dishes to aid digestion. It is always added to the hot oil before adding any other ingredients.

For a lot more detailed information refer to this Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida

A recipe:

Spiced Green Beans



(These are Chinese Long Beans and can be found in Indian Grocery stores or in China Town. If you are able to find them - cut them into a size you like - usually between and inch to 4 inches).

2 tsp. Ghee or Vegetable Oil
1/4 tsp. Asafoetida
1 tsp. Mustard Seeds
1 Tbs. Fresh Ginger - grated
2 Garlic Cloves - crushed
2 Green Chilies - finely chopped
1/2 tsp. Fenugreek Seeds
6-8 Curry Leaves
1 Lb. Green Beans - trimmed
1 cup Coconut Milk
Salt to taste
Fresh Cilantro for garnish

Heat the ghee or oil in a wok or large pan. As soon as it starts to smoke, add the asafoetida and mustard seeds. Allow the mustard seeds to pop and then add the ginger, garlic. chilies, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Stir for a minute or two. Add the beans and salt, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring continuously to coat the beans with the spices. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer until the beans are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Check for seasoning and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve hot.

June 15, 2009




Yesterday I entered my first cooking competition ever.

Cooking competitions are generally not my thing – actually, they irk me so. But this was fun AND I even won something. I do not lie when I say that I never even considered the winning aspect of it.

The competition was to benefit the Women’s Education Project in India run by Zoe Timms. The event was called a Curry Takedown and organized by Zoe's brother Mathew.

There were 14 participants including myself, and we all showed up at a bar in Brooklyn called LoKi Lounge where they had 14 stations set up with sternos to heat our concoctions.

I decided to make Indian meatballs or Kofta curry. A friend who had attended one of my cooking classes suggested I do so. It was a great idea since it was great for portion control – one meatball per person.
I made them the morning of the competition.


Started with all these onions.




After about 30 minutes or so they started to look like this.


While the onions were browning and caramelizing happily in the pot - I was working on the meatball mixture.

Lots of minced lamb (I wanted to use beef - but some might consider is blasphemy - I didn't know who would be at this event) and some minced turkey. I added some pureed fresh ginger, garlic and green chillies along with salt, and garam masala.


Here are the meatballs - all 146 of them

When the onions were caramelized to the point of the above photo (of the cooked onions) - I added minced ginger, garlic, toasted cumin powder, coriander powder and cayenne pepper. I cooked this mixture for about a minute and then added a 2 lb. can of whole peeled tomatoes that I crushed. And about 2 to 3 cups of water. I simmered the sauce for about 10 minutes and then tasted it for seasoning.


Then I divided the sauce into two pans that could hold all the koftas.


Added all the koftas to the sauce and simmered in the covered pots for about 15 to 20 minutes - or until they were done.

Finished with some fenugreek leaves and off to the competition.



At 1PM people started showing up and paying $10 (the raising money part) and taking a little taste of everyone's varying offerings. They received a ballot page where they voted for their favorite dish.
I won one of those prizes. Its like winning the People's Choice Award.

There were also 3 "professional" judges who picked the winners.

It was a great experience, I met some interesting people, did some marketing and PR I hope, and won a cooking class for 5 at Green Spaces in Brooklyn. How cool is that.

I haven't changed my mind about all cooking competitions but I will certainly consider it if Zoe and Mathew called me again.

Street Foods of India - Gol Gappas in Particular

May 1st, 2009



I am so excited because I taught the Street Foods of India class again in April. Once again it was a hit amongst the students. I had a great time too.

What made me the happiest was the ease with which all the students accepted Gol Gappas.

A gol gappa or pani puri is a round, hollow "puri", fried crisp and filled with a watery mixture of tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. Its size is small enough to fit in the mouth

Gol Gappas are a bit of an acquired taste. Not like eating tripe or eyeballs kind of acquired taste, but definitely something that most people haven't experienced.

And it requires a leap of faith - kinda - to try a gol gappa.
The fact that you have to put a ball full of spicy and tangy water into your mouth, and experience the explosion of flavors - can be scary to some.

I have nothing to back this up but I don't think that 5 years ago I would have been able to find so many people willing to try something like a gol gappa and actually enjoy it.



Indian food has come a long way in America and that makes me so happy.

One of the students in my class was an Indian living in New York probably as long as me ... thought that the class was authentic (as in the food we made). That was a huge compliment because I will be honest - when I was planning to teach Street Foods of India, I thought I might not be able to replicate the true flavors of India. I didn't want the food to taste watered down or inauthentic.


Another student had been to India many times but was not able to experience street foods due to the fear of getting sick. I was so happy to be able to share this experience with her.

So Street Foods of India is going to stay on the schedule at Indian Culinary Center for quite some time to come.

The next class is on May 13th from 6 PM to 10 PM. I hope that you can make it.

What is favorite Indian Street Food?
Are you afraid of getting sick but eat it anyway? (like I do)