The One Where You Deliberately Burn The Food. Eggplant and Peas Char.

   This year has been a record year for eggplant at out house. This Spring we put in 4 different varieties and all of them have been putting on quite the show since Summer kicked into gear. Japanese Eggplant, Classic Globes, Thai, and Indian finger eggplants; the garden is bursting. Fortunately, The Indian kitchen is filled with delicious methods of preparing them. One of the most interesting is Char.
  
   There are number of ways of cooking Indian vegetables. "Wet" vegetables, "dry" vegetables, "fried" vegetables, "stuffed" vegetables, but probably the most interesting is the "char" method;  the traditional name is Charcharis. This means deliberately letting your vegetables get a delicate burn, or char. This method of cooking comes from the region of Bengal and involves fairly minimal care since after all you're "burning" the stuff. The trick is not to go too far and set off the smoke alarms, or ruin your pots and pans. Actually had my mom ever been interested in Indian cooking she probably could have mastered this technique with one hand tied behind her back, since char was her go-to food preparation method.
  
  The idea behind char cooking is to let the vegetables simmer gently in their sauce undisturbed, and then let them form a crusty skin on the bottom of the pan, that is then scraped up and mixed with the dish before serving, adding a smoky, open fire flavor to the vegetable and the sauce.
 This is a great dish to cook when you're busy with other things on the stove as it requires minimum overseeing. Of course you can't neglect it too much unless you'd like to meet the fire person of your dreams.

   I started this dish in a clay pot then transferred everything to a Kadhai as I didn't want to risk having a problem with one of my favorite pots since things can really heat up at the end. My recommendation is use a skillet or kadahi to start. So here is a very simple dish, made with a good sized eggplant, a bag of frozen peas, and some simple spices. Now lets get all McGiver on that eggplant.

Eggplant and Peas Char

Here's What You Need:

1 good sized eggplant
2 cups of fresh peas (if you've got them) or One 10z bag of frozen peas defrosted
4 Tbs ghee or butter
1 tsp turmeric
1 and 1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs crushed coriander seeds
1 and 1/2 tsp for crushed cumin seeds
1 to 3  whole serrano chilies (depending how hot you want to go)
4 stems of fresh cilantro
2 cups of water


Here's What To Do:

Wash your eggplant  and cut it into 1 inch cubes.

Place the eggplant cubes in a heavy skillet or kadhai.

If you have fresh peas put them in now. If you are using frozen ones just leave them out for now and let them defrost.
Crush your cumin and coriander seeds in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.

 Cut the 4Tbs of unsalted butter or ghee into small pieces and scatter them across the vegetables.

Add all the other ingredients EXCEPT the cilantro and the frozen peas.

I actually started with one large  whole serrano and then added in another a few minutes later.

Then add the 2 cups of water.

Bring all of these ingredients to a boil on a medium heat and let them boil for about 4 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low after that, partially cover the pan with a lid, and let all of this stuff cook for about 30 minutes.
  
Shake the pan every once in a while to stir things up, and don't forget to check and make sure your water is not all dried up. You want to burn this stuff a bit, but not just yet! If you find the water is gone, add a bit more and you may need to turn the temp down a click.
When nearly all the water has been absorbed, add in the frozen peas.

Keep the heat on low (this is where I switched pans) and let stuff fry until you get a crust of the bottom of the vegetables and they start to burn on the bottom. Turn the heat off under the pan and  let things sit for a couple of minutes then take a spatula and take the burned crust and scrape it into the vegetables.

Toss in your cilantro and serve it up!

   The spices simmered in a sauce with the vegetables make for great flavor and the charred crust mixed into the whole thing at the end gives it a cookout flavor. This is a great dish for any Indian or American meal and perfect for a BBQ as a side dish.
  
Coming up next..some Labor Day End of Summer Party Treats and a special offer from The Chaunk for our newsletter subscribers...or sign up and get in on this. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

What I Found At The Farmers Market, A Quick Trick With Peas

Reposting this after it was devoured by Blogger last night.

    Last night found me once again at the Sonoma Tuesday Night Farmer's Market. The market which is under new management this year is stunning, and I have to say right here and right now that if you are anywhere near my little town on a Tuesday night, do drop by.
  As we get closer to summer more and more fruits and vegetables become available.

   One of my favorite treats this time of year are fresh spring peas. Granted, peas are not cheap. Even here, locally grown, organic, they're 5 bucks a pound. Ouch! But still, if they're there, why not splurge for a special occasion at least once this season? Think of it as green fillet.
   Of course this recipe can be made with frozen peas and  still taste great, but if you can get 'em without going into hock, try them fresh if only for the experience of shelling. I remember sitting with my grandmother in the sunny garden... okay, the foggy backyard in San Francisco, a pan between her knees as we shelled fresh peas for dinner. I loved stealing a few raw from the bowl for snacking. Nothing like fresh peas. Bit no matter what sort of peas you manage to get your hands on, here's a simple Indian twist on the little green bee-bees.

Green Peas in Simple Spices

 In a spice grinder or blender mix together:
   A 1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger
   2 fresh green chilies seeded and chopped
   1 Tbs of water
Blend it all to a fine paste
Heat  a skillet or kadhai. When the pan is hot toss in:
  2 Tbs of vegetable oil
When the oil is hot add in:
 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds

When the seeds start to pop, toss in the ginger chili paste and stir it up for about 1 minute.
Toss in:
 2 tsp of coriander
 1 tsp cumin
 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili  or 1/4 tsp cayenne mixed with 1/4 tsp of paprika. Mix the spices in well.
Pour in 1 cup of water.
When the water boils add in:
 1 and 1/2 cup of shelled fresh green peas (or frozen.)

Turn the heat down and let the peas simmer for about 10 minutes or so.
 Add in:
  1 tsp of salt
  1/2 tsp of garam masala

Give the whole thing a stir or two and serve it up!

   I love peas and this little dish takes you forever out of the "peas and carrots" rut. In fact one might even lure the pickiest eater to get a bit adventurous with this quick and easy recipe.

   Speaking of adventurous, I'm going to be testing another Vook this week. I'll be trying my hand at Japanese cooking, something I haven't done before. Bye-bye comfort zone, I'm going miso shopping. When I lived in LA I was on Sawtelle Blvd nearly everyday at two of my favorite restaurants, Mishima and Sawtelle Kitchen. I love Japanese food and I especially love to have other people who know what they're doing cook it for me. So, we'll see how I do with this challenge.

   Last night we had our weekly Farmers Market again and this time I decided that rather than tote a picnic basket around, I'd sample some of the local wares. One of the stars of the Market is this guy, member of the US International Baking Team...  Mike the bejkr.

Paula Wolfert first turned us on to Mike, and a Market visit isn't complete without a stop at his portable wood-fired oven...

...for  bread or pretzels...

...or a treat like yesterday's special flatbread sandwich.

Fava bean puree, sea salt, arugula, fava blossoms... who knows what else. It all boils down to tasty light perfection. This is why he's a champ!
 After tucking away one of these little darlings, I browsed for vegetables, tender young leeks just perfect for my friend Salty Seattles' Onion-Oxtail Soup With Leek Rings. Yumm! Leek rings, just like onion rings... only classier!

I bought some of the first apricots of the season, plump and sweet, and cherries from Mt Moriah Farms.

A visit to Mushroom World

A stop for leafy greens

 Apples

 A spin through the fun zone

 All finished up with homemade ice cream with brownie pieces...

 ...and a chat with friends back at the blanket.

A lesson from the Maestra.

   So, that's the report from Sonoma. I scored some more amazing peas, and coming up soon, a delightful light Spring soup that can be made in about 30 minutes or so. Follow along on Twitter@kathygori.