 Kasuri Baingan / Aubergine with Fenugreek Leaves |
My new menu planner seems to be working out well. I hope you’ve taken a look at it in the ‘Useful Stuff’ Menu overhead. It is definitely helping with organising things and removing the randomness from life in the kitchen.
I’ve been doing a fair bit of blog-hopping recently and find men are now at the receiving end of sexual discrimination. One blog talks about how busy ‘mothers’ get in the kitchen and here are some recipes for them, another speaks of how ‘wifes’ are burdened by the cooking and here’s how to fix things and more. I think I’m going to sulk. I’ve been speaking with my vegetable vendor and he seems open to the idea of delivering a random basket of vegetables every other day. Lets see how that works out. Breakfast was some grilled cheese toast – not quite a Welsh Rarebit, but a poor cousin. Indu’s lunch is Kasuri Baingan or Aubergine with Fenugreek Leaves. Dice your aubergine and chop some onions and tomatoes. Crackle some black and yellow mustard in a little hot oil and add the onions. Fry till transparent/pink. Add the tomatoes, curry leaves (kadi patta), turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Add the onions and keep on a simmer till you have a thick sauce. Fry on a low flame for another 5 minutes, then throw in the dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) and stir. Add the aubergine and mix well, so the sauce covers all the aubergine. Simmer till the aubergine is cooked through. It will probably be quite mashy when it’s done. Squeeze a quarter lemon over it and it’s ready to eat. Traditionally, this should be eaten with rotis. You could also try eating it on toast with a little grated cheese, stuffing a pie/tart/quiche, filling a toasted sandwich or even pureeing it and using as a dip (hot or cold). - Sid |
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As you know, I’m a sucker for anything Aubergine so will have to go looking for methi leaves! Just as well I have the weekend off!
@Toni: I’m guessing you will get them into any asian/indian food store. I compared prices btw, between Tescos and an Indian food store in Sheffield. Tescos was about four times costlier! I stocked up with nearly all the basic spices in a little under 8 pounds.
Yes, Sid, I expect I’ll troll around the Asian stores tomorrow. I don’t ever buy spices at supermarkets, as you say they are too expensive. Did you buy spices to take home?! I thought they would be cheaper in India.
I just spoke with Amita, she said I can use methi seeds if I fry them in oil first, what do you think?
Hi Toni, Methi seeds could never replace the leaves in this recipe as they could spoil the dish with their bitterness.
However I love this recipe Siddhartha and I will cook it for the dining table at the cafe tomorrow.
Thank you Vinny! Amita is from Gujerat, perhaps they do things differently there? I shall be going to the local Asian store later on to see if I can get the leaves.
@Toni: I wouldn’t use methi seeds – Amita is right in that the flavor would probably be the same as that of the leaves, but the seeds can get bitter and I would much rather use leaves, unless of course there is no other alternative.
Pretty colors. I love the use of curry leaves in this dish.
Darn it! Today I bought dried methi leaves and some garlic/ginger paste and forgot the curry leaves and aubergine… What shall we do with me?
@Toni: No problem… you could try methi aloo, though that uses fresh methi. Just need some turmeric, salt, chilli powder and some of that dried methi.
This is my first time on this site, but I bookmarked it, because it’s very interesting. Thanks Sid for this blog, I love cooking (and I love eating – even more than cooking).
Tom faulkner
Hi Tom: Thank you for visiting – I love eating too… which in the end drove me to cooking.
I like this recipe, but what is the red in the photograph? I can’t see anything red in the ingredient list….
@Dushenka: Those are tomatoes. While they were mentioned in the ingredients, I had neglected to mention using them. That’s fixed now. Thank you for pointing it out.