Renghan Reveya: Aubergines stuffed with a peanut masala

In my previous post I mentioned my new Indian vegetarian (Gujarati) cookbook Prashad by Kaushy Patel, and this is my first attempt at one of its recipes. This aubergine dish is one of my favourite curries, and I have always been interested in learning how to make it. When I saw the beautiful stripy aubergines at Queens Park Farmers’ Market, I knew it had to be done. Of course once it is cooked you can’t tell that the aubergines ever looked like anything other than normal aubergines, but I just can’t help myself when it comes to buying interestingly coloured produce (I also bought a purple kohlrabi).

I didn’t have quite the right ingredients to make the exact recipe, so here is my attempt. Apologies for the lack of post-cooking photo, it was so unbelievably delicious that I got distracted. Seriously, it was just as good as the versions I have had in Indian restaurants, and I highly recommend it.

I had previously seen other versions of this curry that used desiccated coconut, so I thought that coconut oil would make a nice change instead of using regular oil. I have also reduced the amount of oil and sugar. The original recipe was onion and garlic free, using ¼ tsp asafoetida instead, but seeing as I didn’t have any, I thought I would use onion and garlic, especially as I didn’t have enough aubergines.

Serves 4 as part of a bigger meal with other dishes, or 2 hungry people with a little leftover if just served with rice and/or bread (I prefer chapattis to naan bread).

Ingredients:

150g peanuts, roughly chopped (you are supposed to use unroasted red-skinned peanuts, but I couldn’t get hold of any so I used roasted, salted ones. Apparently Sainsburys are having some sort of nut crisis).

15g Demerara/soft brown sugar or flaked jaggery

2 tbsp coriander seeds (or 3 tbsp ground coriander)

2 tsp turmeric

1 ¼ tsp salt (use less if you are using salted peanuts)

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

½ can chopped tomatoes

4cm root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, squashed with the flat edge of a knife and roughly chopped

2-3 tsp mild chilli powder, or 1-2 tsp hot chilli powder

2 handfuls fresh coriander, chopped

100ml coconut oil (In the winter the oil with be solid, and I have found the best way to melt it so that you can measure it without wasting any, is to submerge the whole jar in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes)

Little aubergines – the original recipe called for 16 baby aubergines (aw babies), but I only had 5 slightly bigger ones. This wasn’t enough, so I would suggest using 16 babies if you can get them, or 8 teenagers.

1 medium sized onion – cut in half and sliced

Method:

Put the peanuts and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle and grind until it is all broken down and resembles a coarse powder/crumbs (I use a really heavy stone one, and I definitely recommend getting one). 

Put the crumbs into a large bowl with the sugar, turmeric, salt, cumin seeds and tomato, mix together and leave to rest for a few minutes.

Crush the ginger and garlic in the mortar and pestle, and add it to the peanut spice mixture along with the chilli powder, chopped coriander and coconut oil. Stir it all up.

If you are using onions, heat oil in a large saucepan and put them on to fry on a medium-ish heat at this point. Stir from time to time, but allow them to colour.

Using a very sharp knife, carefully cut the aubergines into quarters lengthways, leaving a couple of centimetres at the stem so that they stay together. Gently open them out and use a teaspoon to fill them with the spice mixture, coating all four wedges of each aubergine, being careful not to split the aubergines apart. This is a really messy job, and the spice mixture will go everywhere, so it is probably best to hold the aubergines over the bowl of marinade.

Arrange the filled aubergines in the pan on top of the onions, and cover with any remaining spicy marinade – there should be a fair amount. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, and then add in 350ml boiling water – carefully around the edges so that it doesn’t wash the spice mixture out of the aubergines. Put the lid back on the pan and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and let the whole thing simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the aubergines are tender. If you are using slightly bigger ones, check the pot a few times to gently turn the aubergines.

If like me, you don’t have quite enough aubergines and a bit too much liquid, throw a handful of rice into the pot for the last 10 minutes of cooking time. The rice will cook in the delicious curry sauce, and absorb the excess liquid.

Kaushy Patel suggests that you let the dish rest off the heat for 20 minutes after it is done cooking, and then reheat before serving – to let the flavours infuse even more. I tried, but after about 5 minutes off the heat it smelt too good so I ate it straight away.

Butternut Squash, Spinach and Peanut Curry

This recipe is from the ‘soulful grub’ section of Spooning with Rosie by Rosie Lovell, which I wrote about in the Interlude 2 blog post. She writes that this is the dish she makes when she is feeling really blue, and this is something I can really relate to. It is rich, filling and comforting, and really easy to make. It is, “just the thing when you are feeling the effects of a late night or the sudden onset on despondency.” Its just all about the peanut butter. As you may have noticed, I cook with it a lot. I tend to always have 2 jars on the go – a 40oz (over a kilo) jar of crunchy skippy for eating, and something cheaper for cooking with. All of the three peanut butter-based stew/curries are very different, but I think that this one, together with the kale and pineapple one are some of my most successful vegetarian entrees ever. This dish was really delicious and I highly recommend it. Thanks to Vikki for pointing it out to me.

As with any of my recipes, feel free to adjust/change the veggies as you please.

Ingredients

1 small/medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

1 large onion, diced not too small

1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into slightly larger chunks than the squash
1 aubergine cut into chunks, some trimmed okra or whatever else you fancy

2 garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped

1 fresh chill, finely chopped (she recommends removing half of the seeds – I actually didn’t have one so used 2 small dried chillies, I like it spicy)

2tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp curry powder (I used medium heat)

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tins chopped tomatoes

3 generous tbsp peanut butter (preferably crunchy)

1 bag baby spinach
Generous pinch of granulated sugar

Lots of black pepper (freshly ground, not that horrible cigarette-ash powder stuff)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the squash and onion and sweat for about 5 minutes before adding the garlic and chilli. Fry for a few more minutes and add the spices. Coat all the veggies and cook for a few minutes more. Add the tomatoes and the sweet potato and bring to the boil. Put the lid on and let everything simmer for 15-25 minutes, until the veggies are cooked through, but not falling apart.

After the are cooked, skim a ladle of sauce off the top of the pan, and place it in a jug or bowl with the peanut butter. Blend it all together until fully incorporated and then return to the pan and stir into the curry. Fold in the spinach, plus a little water if its too thick and the sugar. Put the lid back no the pan for a few more minutes until the spinach is wilted and the curry has a silky, thick texture. Season with lots of pepper and serve in bowls with rice and/or bread. This is really good with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice.

Chana Masala

One of the things I am incredibly grateful for is the fact that my parents really taught me to love food from an early age. Growing up in an area with a very large Hindu community we were lucky enough to be surrounded by brilliant Indian shops and vegetarian restaurants, the kind that cater to the local community, as opposed to British people or tourists. I have been taken to Indian restaurants since I was about 4 years old, which has given me a really strong understanding of their food culture, and I can translate a menu pretty well. The dish that has been my absolute favourite since I was small is chana masala – chickpea curry.  I recently found this recipe for chana masala by The Gluttonous Vegan, via the channel 4 website, and its pretty fantastic. It isn’t particularly authentic as it uses canned chickpeas, pre-ground spices and coconut milk, but it is delicious. And as I have now made it 3 times, foolproof (not that you should ever underestimate a fool). If you were the kind of clever person that always has fresh ginger in the freezer (I sadly, am not) – this curry is basically completely store-cupboard.  It is also much quicker and easier to prepare than a traditional curry. Normally I am pretty militant when it comes to freshly toasted and ground spices, but for this one, I will make an exception.

The Gluttonous Vegan: "You know when you have a great lunch, and then you have it for dinner too because it was so good? And then even the next day you might just have it once more? That's what this is. So creamy and rich, a bit spicy but you can always cut down the spice if you're not into that. I'm pretty sure that traditionally chana masala doesn't have coconut milk in it. It's so worth it I promise, doesn't even taste of coconut at the end, just super creamy. It might seem like you need a lot of spices but most of them you'll probably have at the back of the cupboard. If you also just happen to have some canned chickpeas, tomatoes and coconut milk, it's chana masala party time, my friend."

Serves 2 hungry people on its own, 3-4 with rice. This recipe easily doubles, triples, and quadruples – believe me I have tried – although I did not increase the coconut milk as much (and was then happily eating chickpeas for a solid week).

INGREDIENTS

              2 red onions, sliced

              1 tbsp sunflower oil

              2.5cm piece fresh ginger, chopped

              3 cloves garlic, chopped

              400g can chopped tomatoes

              1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or a couple of crumbled birds eye chillies – wash your hands very well afterwards or bad things will happen).

              1 tsp ground cumin

              2 tsp ground coriander

              ½ tsp turmeric

              ½ tsp fennel seeds

              2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

              400g can coconut milk

              Handful of fresh coriander

              ¼ tsp garam masala (this I do recommend you grind yourself, you can buy garam masala whole spice mixes – Hannah made some up a while back and it’s a million times better than the pre-ground).

              Juice of ½ lemon

Method

Slice the onions and put into a wok or a deep-ish frying pan with the oil. Place over a medium heat and leave them to cook down a bit.

Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Tip in the tomatoes, chilli flakes, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and fennel seeds. Let that simmer for a minute or so, then add the chickpeas. Stir them in and then pour on the coconut milk.

Once that's all stirred together you can leave it for about 45 minutes. On a medium-ish heat, let it simmer away and the liquid reduce. Read your newest cookbook or watch some Great British Menu, Band of Brothers or Homeland (I never know if I should be trusting Damian Lewis or not, its very confusing) or something. Be sure to give it a stir every 10 minutes or so, just so nothing sticks.

Once most of the liquid has bubbled away, chop your coriander and add that with the garam masala. Squeeze over the juice from the lemon and some salt to taste and serve immediately with some rice or flatbread, or as part of an epic Indian feast, with a cucumber, mint, yogurt raita and plenty of Cobra beer.

Lime and coconut lentil curry

I learnt to really love lentils in university, when my fantastic housemate Simon showed me how to properly cook them, and the many, magical ways that such a simple and cheap ingredient could be used. We would make massive vats of them and eat nothing but lentils for days. They seem to have the ability to soak up so many different kinds of flavours.  This recipe may seem a bit more involved than others, but believe me its worth it. And really do roast and grind the spices, the difference in taste from ready-ground is massive. If you can eat them, and have the time, it really is worth adding the eggs, delicious and perfect protein hit.

Ingredients

100g green lentils

1 can coconut milk, with water added to make up 1 pint of liquid

1 rounded tsp lime pickle, lumps chopped up

juice and zest of ½ a fresh lime

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 red chilli, chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed

2.5 cm piece of ginger, grated/chopped finely

veg oil

3 cardamom pods

1 level tsp cumin seeds

1 level tsp fennel seeds

1 level dessertspoon coriander seeds

1 rounded tsp turmeric powder

1 level tsp fenugreek powder

salt

4 eggs

large heavy-bottomed frying pan with a lid

heat the frying pan and when hot add the whole spices and dry-roast for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time.  As soon as they start to jump/colour remove from the heat and tip into a mortar and grind.

Put the oil in the pan and heat, when very hot and add the onions and let sizzle and brown at the edges for about 4 minutes, then turn the heat down and add the chilli, ginger, garlic and lime pickle, along with the turmeric and fenugreek powders.  Then add the ground roasted spices and give a good stir.

Next add the lentils, lime zest and coconut liquid, stir and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down.  Put the lid on and allow to simmer as gently as possible for 45 minutes.  Check from time to time and see if it needs a little more water.

10 minutes before its ready, boil the eggs for 6-7 minutes and peel.  Then the curry is ready, season and add lime juice, stick the peeled eggs and leave everything to cook through for a couple more minutes with the lid on.