The lazy, languid summer days are here. Stepping outdoors can be
quite trying (though to be fair it’s still quite tolerable inside the house),
and already a lot of people (am I envious ...) have taken off for cooler
climes. We have been prepping ourselves for the energy sapping heat by going
heavy on musk melons, watermelons, green coconut and the like, basically
anything that’s cool and keeps you feeling light. Since I am parked here and
don't have any fancy vacation plans, just keeping my fingers crossed that our
good luck (with relatively no power outages) lasts.
I am cooking very light, simple meals (nothing too spicy or oily)
with all the summer vegetables lauki (bottle gourd), turai (ridge gourd), karela (bitter gourd), tinda (round gourd), not exactly
everyone's favorite vegetables but I like them, don't remember being fussy
about eating them even as a child except once. My father was posted to a
new town. We were staying at the circuit house until we got government accommodation.
At mealtime I finished everything on my plate except the turai ki sabji (ridge gourd vegetable) which I
told my elder sister that I just wouldn't have. Now my eldest sister was not
one to brook any nonsense, the very next minute she gave me a resounding whack
for creating a fuss and I remember shedding some tears all the while taking
spoonfuls off the vegetable. While the sum and substance of this incident for
me has been that children do need some amount of disciplining and a little bit
of firmness will not harm the child - I just could not get myself to mete out
the same punishment to my children ... at least not for something as
inconsequential as what they would willingly bite into and what they would not
like to - guess times have changed and you need to be smart about picking your
battles with your children today. Of course any martinet might still adhere to
the proverbial, spare the rod and spoil the child dictum! As for both my
children they would rather go hungry then eat all this so when they are around
two types of meals are cooked - 'desi' one
for us parents because eating their pastas and Mexican and Sushi everyday is
not my cup of tea.
But every once in a while on weekend I get tempted to try out
something more elaborate. I got some lovely aubergines (eggplant) from the
vegetable market the other day and wanted to try something different then my
usual stuffed 'baingans'
(brinjal). Leafed through some old recipe books and came across something that
I hadn't made before- a 'saalan' recipe for aubergines. Mirchi ka saalan is a great Hyderabadi dish and features on the menu in all
their special occasions. This recipe is a real winner - the 'saalan' paste tastes wonderful without being
overpowering. I would definitely be making it more often as we enjoyed it very
much. An interesting aside to this vegetable is that it is universally popular
because of its versatility and not unsurprisingly finds its place in different
cuisines - the Greek Moussaka and the Middle Eastern Baba Ghanoush. In America, Australia and Canada it's
called eggplant (as in Eggplant Parmigiana), whereas the Brits know it as aubergine and as brinjal in South East Asia and South
Africa and of course for us Indians it's the good
old baingan of the bharta fame.
Mirch Baingan Ka Saalan / Eggplant and Green Chilli Curry
300 gms small eggplants (baingan)
100 gms , big green chillies
Refined or Mustard oil 60 ml
5 gms mustard seeds
5 gms fresh curry leaves
180 ml curd
10 gms turmeric powder
5 gms chilli powder
20 gms ginger paste
150 ml lemon juice
2 gm cumin powder
2 gm garam masala
2 gm dry fenugreek leaves (kasturi methi)
For the Saalan Paste
30 gms sesame seeds (til)
30 gms fresh grated coconut
20 gms peanuts
100 gms onion
20 gm ginger
Roast sesame seeds, dice the onions and chop the ginger. Put all
of these along with coconut, peanuts and a little water in a food processor and
blend the ingredients finely to make the saalan paste.
Partially slit green chillies into two and the eggplants
(aubergine) into four but still joined to the stem. Lightly grease and bake the
chillies and eggplant in a moderately hot oven till almost done or you could
fry them too for that extra flavor.
For the gravy add mustard seeds in hot oil till they crackle. Add the curry leaves, yoghurt and saalan paste. Fry for four- five minutes. Add turmeric, chilli
powder and lemon juice and let the combination simmer for six-eight minutes.
Add the baked eggplants and green chillies to the gravy. Stir gently. Cook till
the vegetables are done. Sprinkle cumin powder, garam masala and crushed
fenugreek leaves. Serve hot.
This Eggplant/Aubergine/ Brinjal and Green Chilli Curry is a
popular accompaniment with Biryani.
