Aloo Baingan : Eggplant and Potato, A Perfect Pairing.

  
   Well, now that my Advil-addled stomach is on the mend, and I'm fixing my anemia it's time to talk about cooking again. The day before the fire I cooked up a batch of stuff, but the next morning we had to flee at 3 AM and so I never got to post any of it until now. Luckily, this is one of my favorite Indian comfort foods and with the chilly and rainy weather we've been having up here post fires, it's especially welcome.
   
   Each Spring, no matter what else I'm planting, I always guaranteed plant two vegetables, potatoes, and about 4 different varieties of eggplant. Those two are the basis or are used in so many Indian dishes that they are essentials for me. This eggplant and potato dish is one of the first I learned to cook back 27 years ago. It quick, simple and delicious. All one needs is an eggplant and a few Yukon gold potatoes.

Aloo Baingnan

 

Here's What You Need:

2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cubed

1 medium or large eggplant, cubed
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1 to 2 green Serrano chilies
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and finely minced
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
curry leaves if you have them
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp of amchur powder (mango powder) or lemon juice
salt to taste

Here's What To Do:

Cube the eggplant and drop the pieces into a bowl of water so they do not get discolored. Set them aside.

Chop the onion and set aside.

Chop the ginger...

...and the chilies.

In a skillet or kadhai heat 1Tbs coconut oil or other vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot add in the cumin seeds, ginger, chilies, and curry leaves if you are using them.

Stir things around for a minute or two and when the spices get aromatic toss in the chopped onions.

Saute the onions until they get soft and translucent, then add the potatoes and turmeric powder.

Stir everything around to coat it add about 1/2 cup of  water.

Put a lid on the pan and let things cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the eggplant and the coriander and cumin powder, stir things around so they are well mixed.

Put a lid back on the pan, and let the vegetables cook for about 10 minutes or until everything is tender. Check and stir every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking or burning. You may add a bit more water if needed.
When everything is cooked though, add in the garam masala, and mango powder or lemon juice. Salt to taste, and finally the chopped cilantro.

This is a great warming dish, and a very basic one to start with if you've not cooked Indian food before.

It's great on the table with any American meal. It also works to serve this on a #meatlessmonday  with chapattis and a simple yogurt dish. Coming up next, a brilliant yet easy apple dish from Tartine Bakerys'  new cookbook. Follow along  on Twitter @kathygori

Fast and Easy, Kerala Style Eggplant, Vegan and Gluten Free.

   It's been very busy around here which is why I've had a bit of time between posts. It's not that I haven't been cooking, I have been. It's more like what I've been cooking.  What's been coming out of the kitchen lately is a lot of vegan and gluten free  food. I've been working with my friends at CocoaPlanet who are opening their chocolate factory and Cafe here in Sonoma. I've been hired to help design the menu at the cafe which will be ALL Gluten Free! There are also going to be vegan and vegetarian offerings along with meat dishes. Besides their delicious chocolates, they'll be serving pizzas, quiches, salads, sandwiches, and of course delightful desserts. If you follow me on Instagram, you've likely seen some of the things they'll be featuring.
  
   We've also been prepping a second run of The Chaunk, our Indian Spice Kits, which have sold out in the Rancho Gordo Store in the San Francisco Ferry Building, and also at J.James here in Sonoma. We've been getting our Chaunk online store ready also, so we can make them available to everyone. There are a few other projects in the pipeline too, so this has been a pretty busy time for us. On top of that, I finished my chemo today. It's been a long year and a half, a lot of ice hats and spices under the bridge. So, back to Indian Food and writing! What better way to kick off a cold and luckily rainy January here in Sonoma than a hot and spicy, easy to prepare Kerala eggplant dish.

  

Kerala Style Coconut Eggplant

 

Here's What You Need:

1 eggplant
1/2 cup of coconut milk
1 Tbs dried, unsweetened ,shredded coconut
1 dried ,red chili ( I used Chiles de arbol from Rancho Gordo)
2 serrano chilies chopped
4 thin sliced rounds of ginger
1 shallot peeled and chopped
1 onion peeld and finelu chopped
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 Tbs  vegetable oil, (I use coconut oil)
salt to taste
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs chopped fresh mint.

Here's What To Do:
Chop your eggplant into 1 inch pieces.

(Eggplant is a notorious oil sop. To cut down on the amount of oil in the dish, I place the cut up eggplant in the microwave for about 3 or 4 minutes, which softens it and partially cooks it, then I finish it in the pan with the spices. This reduces the amount of time the dish takes to prepare.)

Place the eggplant pieces in a covered microwave dish, and cook them for about 3 or 4 minutes. They will be tender when done. Set them aside.
Pour the coconut milk into a food processor or blender.

Add in the ginger...

...dried chiles...

...Serrano chilies...

...shallot and onion...

...and dried coconut.

Blend everything to a thick paste.

Finally add in the garam masala, coriander,and turmeric.

Blend it again, and set it aside.
Heat the coconut or vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.

When the oil is hot pour in the coconut spice paste.

 Cook it on medium high heat for about 4 minutes, until it starts to get fragrant and color a bit.
Drain the eggplants of whatever water they've given off while coking in the microwave and add them to the pan.

Add salt to taste. I used about 1 teaspoon.

Cook everything stirring over a high heat for about 4 minutes.

Then turn the heat down, put a lid on the pan and let things simmer for about 10 minutes.

Give it a stir every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking or burning.
When the eggplants are nice and soft and the spice mix cooked through, add in the lemon juice...

...cilantro and mint.

Stir everything together and cook for another minute or two. Check for seasoning, you can add a pinch of garam masala at this point if you wish, and serve it up.

   Hot, spicy, and delicious, this makes a great vegetarian/vegan offering for any weekday, or Meatless Monday meal. Pair it with a simple Basmati rice dish or any western entree and you are golden! Coming up next, speaking of Basmati Rice, I got the opportunity to taste some straight out of the Himalayas and have a great way to make plain rice something special. Follow along on Twitter@kathygori http://www.thecolorsofindiancooking.com

Fast And Easy, Spinach Does Double Duty!

   There are a few  things that I try never to be caught without in my larder: Dal, rice, certain basic fresh spices and root vegetables. A healthy nutritious  Indian meal can be whipped up quickly out of any combination of these. Then there is the freezer. My  new best friend.
   I'm one of those people who'd always dreamed of a Family Freezer. Something that I could keep in the garage and use to take advantage of seasonal sales. Finally after years of dithering around about it, I bit the bullet and bought one. I also bought a vacuum sealer so that I could insure that everything would stay fresh, and a number of glass, stacking, freezer containers for soups and dals that could be easily thawed, heated and served.
   What else is in my magical freezer? Fresh frozen grated coconut, frozen lotus root slices, frozen methei (fenugreek greens), curry leaves, kaffir lime leaves and an unending supply of organic frozen chopped spinach.
   Considering where I live, the exotics are easily explainable, the spinach not so much. I usually buy fresh organic spinach, but of all the things that I might store in the freezer, the thing I get the most use out of for in-a-pinch cooking are small boxes of frozen organic spinach. They are as unendingly useful to me as those small bags of chopped 99 cent cabbage I always keep on hand.
   They're always good for filling out a plate and are a great ingredient to be included in any number of Indian dishes. One of my favorite is one that I use to fill out a buffet, and that is Spinach Pachardi.
   Pachadis are South Indian dishes, they're sort of like raitas but not quite. They can be eaten as a relish with stuff like dosas or idili, or served on a buffet as a cold vegetable side dish. For years I've made a wonderful mango pachadi and plenty of vegetables besides spinach can be used. But when I looked at my Indian buffet a week or so ago I decided I needed one more thing to fill out the table, and spinach was of course what I had at the last minute.
   So a Spinach Pachadi was what I made. It was a spicy side dish that everyone loved, and best of all it was fast and easy. So if  you're caught needing just one more thing on the table at the very last minute and all you have is some frozen spinach...

Kerala Spinach Pachadi

...here's what to do:
  First of all, defrost 1 10z box of frozen chopped spinach.

 In a skillet or kadhai heat 3 Tbs of vegetable oil
 When the oil is hot toss in:
  2 tsp of cumin seeds
  2 tsp of urad dal
As the dal cooks, it'll turn a reddish color. As soon as that happens add in:
 15-20 curry leaves
 2 whole dried red chilies broken in half

 Stir that all around then toss in:
  2/3 cup of finely chopped shallots
  2 fresh green serrano chilies very thinly sliced

Saute these until the shallots turn a nice golden color then add in:
  2/3 cup of fresh grated coconut.

 Now it's time to add in the defrosted spinach. Drain it and press it to get rid of excess water then let 'er rip.

 Add in 1 tsp of salt, turn the heat down and stir fry the spinach until it's done. If it starts to get too dry, add a bit more water.
 In a seperate bowl, whip 4 cups of plain yogurt until it's smooth and creamy.
 Add in the spinach mixture and you're done.
   Now here's where you can go two ways. Serve it as I did as a vegetable side dish or you can serve it as a relish with other dishes. The spinach can either be served cold, or if you're running out of room in the fridge (like me) at room temperature. 
  So there you have it, a quick spinach side dish.

   Coming up next, the flavor magic of squash and peanuts, (yipes, did I really just write that?)  the 99 cent a pound wonder when you wonder what you can cook for cheap! Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Coconut Dal, Warm & Hearty, A Classic Recipe From One Of The Pioneers Of Indian Cuisine

    I have been going through coconut milk around here like a turkey in the corn, or some such folksy term. In other words I've been using a lot of it. Many of the South Indian dishes I've been whipping up lately feature coconut in one form or another, and I was shocked to notice the other day that coconut milk isn't just some exotica in a can anymore. It's sold fresh and cold in my dairy case the same way my almond milk is. Who knew? It just sort of snuck up on me. One day it wasn't there and the next there it was, boxes and boxes of it. Which is a good thing for me as I always try to keep an ample supply around here.
  This last weekend for my Oscar dinner I decided to make a dal dish that I'd fixed a few days earlier and just loved. It's a dish that I've been making for years, but it's one of those that had fallen out of the mealtime rotation. You know, one of those dishes that everybody loves and you make a lot, and then for some reason newer shinier dishes come along and seduce you with their sexy ways (vada I'm taking about you) and so the old dish sort of falls off the menu for a while. Those are my favorites to revive.  "Yow!", I think to myself, "where have you been all my life and why did I stop cooking you?!! C'mere you sexy toor dal you."  Another great thing about this dal dish, like a lot of the things I like to cook around here, it can be made in about 1 hour.

   This recipe originates with Mrs. K M Matthews .

She was to Indian food what Julia Child was to French. She wrote 17 cookbooks in Malayalam and 4 in English. Mrs. Matthews got people cooking ! The great thing about this dal dish is it's doable, a no brainer and after a hard work day... many times that's about where I am.

Coconut Dal

Here's what to do:
Rinse and drain 1 cup of toor dal..(yellow split peas, don't be scared)
Put it in a heavy pan along with:
  3 and 1/4 cups of water
 1/8 tsp of turmeric
Bring it all to a boil and turn the heat down, put a lid on things (slightly ajar) and let it all simmer for about 45 minutes.
Now, toss in:
 1 Tbs of chopped shallots
 1 tsp of ground cumin

Stir that in and put the lid back on, a bit ajar, for another 15 minutes.
Toss in 3 green chilies slit down the middle and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the dal is nice and tender.

 If it starts to thicken up too much, you can pour in 1/2 cup of boiling water.
 Keep it on a low heat while you prepare the grand finale.

The Grand Finale:
In a small skillet heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil (I use coconut oil)
When the oil is hot toss in:
 1/2 tsp of brown mustard seeds
When the mustard seeds start to pop add in:
 10 fresh curry leaves (these can be found at most Asian markets)
  2 whole dried red chilies broken into pieces

When the chilies darken add in:
  2 Tbs of chopped shallots

Stir it all around until the shallots darken a bit, then add in 1 medium tomato diced.
Now, since tomatoes are not exactly in season here right now, I used about 1/2 of a can of tomatoes.

Stir it around for a few minutes until the tomatoes are softened, then pour the entire skillet of seasonings and tomatoes into the dal.

Stir it all together, add salt to taste and finally pour in 1 and 1/4 cups of unsweetened coconut milk, fresh or canned.

Warm it a bit, and you're done. This is an amazingly earthy, hearty dish. All you need is this, a vegetable and a bowl of rice and you have an economical, fast and tasty meal. This recipe will serve 6 people and it's even better the next day... that is if there's any left over!
  With recipes like this, it's no wonder Mrs. K M Matthews was such a culinary legend. So if you don't already serve dal at home, this is a great recipe to start with. Dal is not just for dinners out anymore.
  Coming next, the perfect rice dish that's a perfect partner for this dal you can follow me on Twitter @kathygori.This is also an exciting weekend for me, I'll be taking my new waffle iron for a test run (I thrill easily) and experimenting with some gluten free waffles! I hope I don't need the jaws of life to get them out of the iron.  

Another Way With Cauliflower.

   For some reason I can't quite fathom, I always think of cauliflower as broccoli's ugly stepsister. Plain, pale, kind of stinky, cauliflower is definitely not going to the ball. However, it is cheap. And as my mom always says, "What's not to like about cheap?" When a fresh, locally grown vegetable has a 99 cent sticker on it, it is not only calling my name, it's practically jumping outta the bin and into my cart, as Billy Ocean would say. Okay, so Billy Ocean wouldn't exactly say that, but I did have that song stuck in my head the minute I saw the price tag. I had to buy one.
   Now if I was a cauliflower and I wanted a make-over, I'd definitely head for the Indian kitchen. Almost no cuisine I've heard of has done as much to put cauliflower in the spotlight. Spiced up, dolled up and with bell peppers as their wingman, you can't beat it.

Cauliflower With Peppers and Peas

   Here's what to do:
   In a large skillet or kadhai, heat up 2 Tbs of vegetable oil.
 When the oil is hot toss in:

 1 fresh serrano chili finely chopped
 1/8 tsp of turmeric
 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds
 Stir them around for one minute

Then add in one head of cauliflower broken into small florets
 1/2 cup of red bell peppers thinly sliced
 1/2 cup of yellow bell pepper thinly sliced.
Stir it all around and saute it until the cauliflower has browned all around the edge.

Turn down the heat a bit and add in:
 1 cup of defrosted frozen peas
 1/2 tsp of salt
 1 Tbs of lemon juice

1/2 tsp of sambar powder.

Stir everything together, so it's well mixed, sprinkle with a bit of fresh chopped cilantro and serve it up.

   Serve it with some rice, another vegetable side and some hot chapattis. Or it's equally at home snuggling next to a chicken breast or any other Western-style main dish. This is the dish that confirms..."Nobody puts Cauliflower in the corner!"