Thursday, December 3, 2015

Warming Winter Vegetables, Eggplant and Mint


   A funny thing happened on the way to my turnips. I had decided to pick a few of my them and make an Indian turnip dish involving the turnips and their greens. Healthy and delicious. Well, when I went out to the garden to pull a few turnips, beautiful greens waving in the breeze... there weren't any turnips attached. Who knew? Meanwhile as I was trying to figure out where my turnips went, I turned to my eggplant bed and there were still plenty of them left. At least these weren't a surprise, I could see what I was getting. I picked two Japanese eggplants and decided to cook an Indian Eggplant and Fresh Mint dish.

Eggplant and Mint 


Here's What You Need:
2 Japanese eggplants
2 Tbs of coconut oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds lightly crushed
1 large shallot finely chopped
2 fresh serrano chilies chopped
5 curry leaves
1 Tbs coriander
1 tsp fresh chopped mint
1/4 tsp of turmeric
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp amchur powder (dried ground mango)


Here's What To Do:
An easy and less fattening (oily) way to put eggplant on the path to easy cooking is to microwave them for a couple of minutes.
Wash and slice the eggplants on the diagonal. There's no need to pre-soak or salt them for this dish.


Place the eggplant slices in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave them for about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the shallot, serrano chilies.


Mix them with the cumin seeds and mustard seeds, and set them aside.
Place fenugreek seeds in a mortar or spice grinder and crush them up slightly.


Mix then fenugreek seeds with the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, shallot, and chilies. Set them aside.
In another bowl mix the turmeric, salt, ground coriander, curry leaves and chopped mint and set this aside.


In a skillet or kadhai heat 2 Tbs of coconut oil.


When the oil is hot toss in the shallot, cumin seed, mustard seed, fenugreek, and chilies.


When they start to sizzle, quickly add in the bowl of curry leaves, turmeric, mint, salt, and coriander.


Add the eggplant. Stir everything around and saute for about 2  minutes. Add the chopped cilantro and then cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook until everything is well blended. This takes about 6 minutes.


Check it every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking and burning. When it's all cooked, sprinkle in the amchur powder and serve it up.

This eggplant dish can be served with a simple rice and dal or a steak or burger, it's that versatile and easy. Coming up next, when the weather gets frosty, I return to my Tuscan roots, plus more info on The Chaunk my Indian Spice Kit.  Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

4 comments :

  1. Wow you still have eggplant in November? You're lucky to be living in California. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Holidays to you & yous, Kathy!
    I still have eggplant in my garden here in Nepal & a mint plant that's taking over my entire garden.
    I finally got my blog up, "Keep Calm & Curry On,"
    http://calmlycookingcurry.blogspot.com/2015/10/kashmiri-rogan-josh.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just picked the last of them and have them in a huge kitchen basket! They're the gift that keeps on giving

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