 |
Not too many people like Eggplant – And as with many other things, there are the vehement lovers and haters of the veggie, nay fruit! “Ma, anything with seeds is a fruit” my 16 yr. old says with the authority only teenagers can muster – I agree because it makes sense, although when we decide what veggie to make for dinner, we scour our fridge and if we find eggplants there we call it the veggie! Trivial as this may seem what is totally not cool is some of the kids in my son’s culinary class (yes this is one of his electives) had no idea what an eggplant was – My quick-witted daughter who hears this immediately pipes in – “I am sure that kid thought it was an egg on a stem or plant!!! Touché – I like eggplant a lot but form many accounts, I hear that they are bad for dry skin, eczema, psoriasis etc… If you live in the US, you’ll know what I mean by any skin gets itchy and dry in the winter – from the indoor heating and outside frigid temps – the poor skin has no way out! So I space out my eggplant purchases – Did you know that an eggplant parmesan in a restaurant can be as many as 750-1000 calories, depending on how generous a portion they serve – Indeed maties this be the truth!
So we went on our Indian grocery jaunt all the way to Richmond – The grocers there are truly happy to see us every 2-3 months because we go back with a haul – We found the small round Indian eggplants and plumped for it- they looked fresh and becoming (:
At first I thought I’d make Vangi baath; then snuffed that idea for a stuffed eggplant; snuffed that too because I kinda got lazy and decided to make a sort of curry past and cook the eggplant in it and this was the result – Mistake I made – served it with Amaranth – this did not go too well with the family – I must learn how to cook amaranth seeds! But the curried eggplant itself was a runaway success!
Ingredients
12 washed and cubed eggplants (small round ones)
Peanuts 12-14 whole roasted ones crushed
Sage (or any herb like Thyme or cilantro will work fine) 2 fresh leaves/or ½tsp dried crushed
1/4 up roasted unsalted peanuts
1tbsp coriander seeds
Grated coconut ¼ cup
Suvaiyana Chennai Curry powder 2 tsp
Olive oil Spray
1/2tsp of sesame oil
 |
Preparation
Cut eggplant in 2-inch sized cubes and spray lightly with olive oil spray
Heat oven to 400 F, spread the cubed eggplant flat on baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes. In about 10 minutes open and flip/stir the cubes gently so they get crisp on both sides.
Baking eggplant saves use of oil – otherwise this vegetable can be an oil guzzler!
Tadka in sesame oil with cumin, mustard seeds, a pinch of asafetida, curry leaves
Add the eggplants to the tadka
Roast the coriander seeds, coconuts, peanuts, and red chilies and grind coarsely in your coffee grinder or dry grinder
Add Chennai curry powder to the eggplant.
Salt the curry at this point (salting too early makes the eggplant water too much and will make your subzi soggy)
Garnish with sage and serve with couscous (or properly cooked Amaranth seeds (:
 |
| Served with Amaranth |
