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Be deliriously happy when you are in love. Now love here is a reference to anything and everything in life from places, people, stories, things and most importantly food. The love of food which exists in every country, community, race and religion . The art of food runs deep within all of us all the way down to our stomach and in to our souls. Hence, the term soul food ? Here is a concoction I came up with on my own. I am sure there is a thorough recipe for this somewhere. But this is my version of “ Tok Begun”

INGREDIENTS :

  • Eggplants – 2 cups Diced
  • Tomato – 1 cup finely chopped
  • Tamarind – 1 tbs
  • Paanch Phoron – 1/8 tsp
  • Onion – 1 finely chopped
  • Garlic – 1 tbs
  • Dry Chillies – 2 tbs crushed
  • Turmeric –  1 tsp
  • Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
  • Cumin Powder –  1 tsp
  • Coriander Powder –  1 tsp
  • Sugar to taste
  • Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Grab a saucepan and warm up some oil. Sauté the onions and garlic till it softens and becomes slightly browned. Put in paanch phoron and fry it for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the spices- turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder. Stirring it for 30 seconds. Add the tomato and cover the lid till the tomatoes breaks down.
  3. Include the eggplants and the crushed chillies in to the saucepan covering the lid to let it soften up to better soak in all the spices.
  4. Put in the tamarind and cook the mix for a few minutes. Add salt and sugar to your taste.

 

 

 

Dry Fried Eggplants

 

Fried indulgence is what I would like to call them. For anyone who never liked eggplants before…this dish can surely change your mind. I had this dish for the first time ever a couple of months back in an authentic Chinese restaurant. Eggplants never tasted so good to me before, this dish totally changed my outlook towards them. I came home and scurried through the net to find the recipe. And after three relentless days of narrowing down my search. I ended up with this recipe and gave it a go.

INGREDIENTS :

  • Vegetable oil, for frying
  • Hot (Chinese) chili powder – ½ or 1 tsp
  • Hot paprika – ½ or 1 tsp
  • About 6 (1 1/2 pounds total) Chinese (long) eggplants, trimmed, peeled and cut lengthwise into 2- or 3-inch-long, thick “steak” fries (about 8 fries from each eggplant)
  • Water
  • Cornstarch – ½ cup
  • Leaves and tender stems from 4 to 6 stems cilantro, coarsely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS :

  1. Heat at least 4 inches of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 350 degrees.
  2. Place a wire rack over several layers of paper towels.
  3. Combine the chili powder and paprika (to taste) in a small bowl.
  4. Meanwhile, wet the eggplant fries with a little water. Spread the cornstarch on a rimmed baking sheet.
  5. Working in batches, lightly and evenly coat the eggplant fries with the cornstarch, shaking off any excess. Discard any remaining cornstarch.
  6. Carefully add about 8 fries at a time to the hot oil; fry for 2 minutes, or until just browned, crisped and tender. Use a Chinese skimmer or slotted spatula to transfer to the rack to drain. Repeat to fry all the eggplant.
  7. Transfer the still-warm, crisped eggplant fries to a serving bowl; season with the chili powder-paprika mixture to taste; this dish is supposed to be spicy, and, if you can stand it, you should use enough of the mixture to color the eggplant fries a reddish-orange. Toss quickly with the cilantro; serve right away.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/dry-fried-eggplant/12553/

 

 

Finally I get to celebrate thanksgiving on American land. This year I chose to go with chicken rather than turkey .. Lot’s of chicken .. I got the recipes from my mom ( Chicken fry and Chicken roast ). Cham cham and lobongo lotika was an entire new venture for me. Inspired by Kakon Api .. I will be posting individual recipes later on. For now enjoy the gallery of my thanksgiving spread. Thanks to Maisun aunty for helping me so much in the kitchen .. without you I wouldn’t be able to pull this off all by myself. Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂

IMG_3208 - Chick Peas 2

Life is going thru a lot of change lately, change of pace, mind, taste, locations, perceptions and decisions. So finally for a change I decided to steer away from making another dessert. You can think of this as a warm chickpea salad or a curry. It is a very easy dish to make and you can substitute any of these ingredients to your liking except for chickpeas.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Onions -1
  • Tomatoes  – 2
  • Eggplant – 1
  • Cilantro – 2 tbs
  • Canned chickpeas
  • Yoghurt – 3 tbs
  • Cumin powder  –  1 tsp
  • Sugar – 1 tsp
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Scallions – 2 tbs
  • Green chillies – 1 tbs
  • Crushed dried chillies – 2 tbs
  • Juice of half a lemon

INSTRUCTIONS: 

  1. Sauté the eggplant and the tomatoes till it softens.
  2. Add the chickpeas and cumin, let it simmer for 5 minutes keeping it covered.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients , stir and cover the lid for approximately 10 minutes and let it sit on a medium flame.