Grilled Smoky Eggplant and threat of GM Eggplant in India

Posted on August 18, 2013 by cameron.stauch@gmail.com

Last Sunday strolling through the Landsdowne Farmer’s Market I happened upon a stall selling some gorgeous tiny pear-shaped organic eggplant, about 3 inches high, variegated with white and deep purple. Unfortunately the young vendor was unsure of the variety name and provenance. The day before I had just made some eggplant pickle, which these would have been perfect for, but I already had an idea of what I was going to prepare.

Tuesday night’s meal was bittersweet. My wife was happy to see this dish on our table that night as it is a favourite of hers. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about what possibly could be soon served on thalis throughout India. Earlier that day, under the chairmanship of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BRAI bill (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India) was approved and is expected to be tabled in the current session of Parliament. Under the proposed bill the Federal government will hold the power to override any State-level acts and regulations with respect to GMOs throughout the country. The bill can clear any GM foods, despite the concerns raised against them.

Such a bill threatens food safety, the environment and the right to choose what one eats. Just last year, when genetically modified eggplant was initially approved by the Indian parliament as part of the US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative farmers, State governments, GM activists, and ordinary citizens raised concerns that its introduction would lead to an increase in monoculture and a decrease in eggplant varieties. The Indian government was forced to place a temporary moratorium on the GM eggplant. However now it seems that they prefer not to listen to their citizens, the very ones who elected them.

Why should you be concerned about this, not living in India? India is the world’s largest producer of brinjal/ aubergine/ eggplant in the world growing more than 4,000 varieties. Local farmers often choose a variety that meets their regional needs and preferences and is best suited to their specific local ecosystems. Recent history has demonstrated that when governments give larger corporations such power in agriculture there is not only a decrease in plant variety but also the small farmer and consumer are the ones who directly end up feeling the negative effects. India’s infrastructure is not yet as well planned as, say China’s. But it will be. Come that day, in this globalised world, these GM eggplants will eventually make it to North American and European supermarkets. You can make your voice heard by signing a petition which asks the Indian government to stop the passing of this bill.

Thanks for your patience. Now, on to the cooking.

Grilled Smoky Eggplant

Serves: 4

This recipe is Bengali influenced. Typically it is pan fried (great for the colder months) but I have decided to grill it. If you do not have mustard oil I have suggested some other types. I have also decided to use Spanish smoky paprika. I find it adds a nice spicy, smoky level to the dish. Don’t worry if you do not have it as regular paprika and cayenne powder are normally used. Lastly, although not actually done in Bengal, I have added a drizzle of browned butter. I normally use some ghee, which I let the whey get browned to give it a nutty flavor. However when I am out I simply do a quick browned butter to get the same flavor. I particularly love this dish because as people serve themselves the eggplant the spices coating it begins to mingle with the tart yogurt and not only produce some lovely colours but also some great flavours.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant or 2 Japanese eggplant (or similar amount of small eggplants)
1 tbsp mustard seed oil (or Indian sesame oil or vegetable oil)
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp smoky Spanish paprika (or ¼ tsp paprika and ¼ tsp cayenne powder)
¾ cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped
1-2 tsp browned ghee or butter (optional)
pinch of cayenne powder (optional)

Instructions

Preheat grill.

Cut eggplant crosswise into rounds of about ¾ of an inch. Place in a large bowl or casserole dish.

In a small bowl, mix together oil, turmeric, and Spanish paprika. Pour over eggplant and rub spices into flesh of eggplant. Marinate for 10 minutes.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, and salt to taste. Keep aside.

When the grill is hot, season each side of eggplant with salt and pepper. Place eggplant rounds onto oiled grill. Cook for about 2 minutes and then lift each piece and turn at a 45 degree angle. !Cook for 1 minute then turn each piece over. Cook for another 2 minutes and then turn each piece again at a 45 degree angle. This technique will help give you a nice cross mark look on the eggplant.

Spoon yogurt into a medium sized shallow plate of bowl. Arrange the warm eggplant over the yogurt. Drizzle browned butter over eggplant/yogurt, if using. Garnish with coriander and a pinch of cayenne powder. Serve immediately.

How to brown butter:

Heat a thick bottomed small saucepan on medium heat. Add 2 tbsp of butter in the pan. Stir until melted. In a couple of minutes the butter will begin to foam and then the foam will briefly subside. !Little bits of browned whey will appear and the butter will take on a nutty aroma. Pour hot butter into a small container to cool.

NOTE: This was originally posted on my blog India On My Plate on August 18, 2011.

Spicy Tomato Chutney and Eggplant Pickle

Posted on August 16, 2013 by cameron.stauch@gmail.com

The past Saturday was “Can It Forward Day“- a day co-inspired by Canning Across America to get people preserving the bounty of the seasonal harvest. I was inspired to make a couple of Indian flavoured items to put away for a late date: a slightly spicy South Indian style tomato chutney and a sweet and sour (anglo-indian style) eggplant pickle.

Before moving to India I had tried a few of the store bought mass produced pickles. I found them coated in too much spice and was unsure of what they should actually taste like. I was also naive in their purpose on a thali and their influence within an Indian meal. I was an achar (pickle) novice.

Over many meals and visits to the markets I eventually learned a few things about pickles:

their primary function is to awaken the appetite and a swaadisht achar can make a seemingly bland meal explode with flavour
pickles only need to be consumed in small amounts (ie a tablespoon or two)
no two pickles are the same- each region and each family will have their own recipes and manner of preparing and using a pickle
visit any market (and many homes) and you will see earthenware jars filled with a variety of homemade achars and chutneys- this is a burgeoning cottage industry much like the jams, jellies and pickles found throughout country stores and fine food shops in North America.

If you are unsure of how to properly can I suggest you check out either Canning Across America or Food in Jars as they are great sources for all things canned. It is not too late for you to do your own canning. I hope that there recipes inspire you to either reproduce them or at least get you into the kitchen to prepare a family heirloom pickle or chutney.

If you do not want to preserve each one should keep for a couple of weeks, well covered in a refrigerator.

Tomato Chutney

Serves: makes 3-250 ml jars

Ingredients

2 kg ( 4 ½ lbs) tomatoes
¼ cup ginger, finely minced/puree
¼ cup garlic, finely minced/ puree
2 branches curry leaves (about 20 leaves)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup malt vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
4 tsp mustard seeds
4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
10 dried red Kashmiri chillies

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil. At the stem end of the tomato cut out the core. Make a light X marking in the bottom of the tomato. When the water has boiled blanch the tomatoes for 10-15 seconds and remove to a cold water bath. Peel off the separated skin. Cut each tomato into quarters and over a bowl with a sieve use your fingers to remove the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes. (I like to do this so that they are no seeds in the final product. If you do not mind having the seeds in the chutney omit this step). Save the pulp and discard the seeds. Chop the tomato quarters into a rough 1 inch dice.

In a coffee grinder, finely grind the mustard, cumin, fenugreek and chillies.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. When hot add the curry leaves and cook for 10 seconds. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and cook for a couple of minutes until the mixture is light brown. Toss in the ground spices and cook for another minute or two. Add in the tomatoes, pulp, vinegar, sugar and salt.Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat so that you have a medium simmer.

Every 10 minutes or so give the mixture a good stir so that it does not stick to the bottom. Let the mixture cook down for close to an hour or until it has a jam like consistency.

Bottle.

Cooked anglo Indian eggplant pickle in a bowl and glass jars

Ingredients for eggplant pickle, Indian style: eggplant, green chilies, cumin seeds, red chilies, garlic, ginger, turmeric

Anglo Indian Eggplant Pickle

Serves: makes 2-500ml jars

Ingredients

1.5 kg eggplant
1 tbsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
3 branches curry leaves (about 30 leaves)
¼ cup garlic, minced
¼ cup ginger, minced
8 green cayenne chillies, slit
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
10 dried red Kashmiri chillies
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp turmeric powder
½ cup malt vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 ½-2 tbsp salt

Instructions

Peel and cut eggplant into baby finger size pieces (1 X 4 inches). Place in a colander and toss with 1 tbsp salt. Place a weighted plate or bowl over it (I like to use a large can or two of tomatoes) and place in a sink or in a larger bowl for at least one hour. Dark bitter juices will be released from the eggplant. Try to gently squeeze out some more liquid from the eggplant.

In a coffee grinder, finely grind the fenugreek seeds and dried red chillies.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. When hot add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop add the cumin seeds and curry leaves and cook for 10 seconds. !Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies. Cook for a couple of minutes or until the mixture is light brown. Toss in the turmeric and ground spices and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the eggplant, vinegar, sugar and salt. Reduce the heat to low and cook the eggplant for about 10-15 minutes or until done. The eggplant should hold its shape and not become a mushy mass. Adjust seasonings if need be. Bottle.

NOTE: This was originally posted on my blog India On My Plate on August 16, 2011

Tamarind Chutney

Posted on August 12, 2013 by cameron.stauch@gmail.com

Also known as tamarind chutney or saunth this tart, spicy and slightly sweet sauce is an essential ingredient to spoon over various street chaats or to serve as a dipping sauce for pakoras or samosas. The tamarind sauce will keep refrigerated for several weeks in a well sealed glass jar.

Tamarind Chutney

Serves: makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

7 oz tamarind block
2 cups hot water
5 tablespoons jaggery (or brown sugar)
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cumin, roasted then ground
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, roasted then ground
¾ teaspoon cayenne powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Making Tamarind Water/Puree

Carefully cut the tamarind block into eight equal pieces. Place the tamarind into a deep medium-sized bowl and cover with the hot water. Let soften for five minutes and then use a potato masher, back of the spoon or even your hands to break and mash the pulp pieces. The tamarind pulp will begin to dissolve into the water and separate from the fibrous husk and seeds. Soak the tamarind for 20 more minutes. Strain the pulpy water through a fine meshed strainer, using the back of a spoon (or your hands) to extract as much pulp as possible. Discard the fibrous husk remaining in the strainer.

Finishing the Tamariand Chutney

Place the strained tamarind pulp, jaggery, roasted and ground spices, and salt into a saucepan. !Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes. The mixture should be slightly thickened and shiny. If the mixture becomes too thick, add water as necessary. If it's too thin, bring the mixture back to a boil for a couple of minutes to let some of the water evaporate.

Notes

Jaggery is dehyrdated sugar cane juice primarily made by small cultivators in rural villages. It has a smoky caramel flavour which is hard to substitute, although brown or dermera sugar is the closest equivalent.

NOTE: This was originally posted on my blog India On My Plate on August 12, 2011

Zucchini Flower and Vegetable Fritters

Posted on August 12, 2013 by cameron.stauch@gmail.com

This past Sunday, during my weekly visit to the Landsdowne Farmer’s Market I spotted some bright yellow zucchini flowers and some perfect finger length okra from Acorn Creek Farms. Seeing these vegetables reminded me of my first trip, a year and a half ago, to Orissa, along the east coast of India. My friend, Jason, had introduced me to Debjeet from Living Farms– an organisation working to provide food sovereignty for the small and marginal farmers in India. Luckily, I connected with Debjeet in Bhubaneswar and he took me to a restaurant which specialized in Oriya food. We had a flavourful lunch of mustard coated fish and prawn curry (harvested from the brackish waters of nearby Chilka Lake) some fried okra spiced with panch phutana (cumin, mustard, fennel, fenugreek and kalonji) and a battered then fried pumpkin flower. I was pleasantly surprised to be served the pumpkin flower as I am aware of the seasonality of such a form of the vegetable. I am accustomed to preparing zucchini flowers in a French or Italian style but this was the first time I had seen it used in an Indian kitchen.

I’m not sure if you have the same problem but often I end up with little amounts of vegetables left in my fridge. This inevitably happens the day that I am to receive my CSA box and I need to find a way to use up the remnants from the previous week’s delivery. Tidying up to make room for the freshly harvested vegetables I found the forgotten okra and zucchini flowers (still in good shape as I had stored them in the butter compartment in the door). Instead of making a mixed vegetable pasta, soup or dal I decided to make a quick tea time snack using the neglected and leftover vegetables.

The recipe may appear lengthy but it is very easy. Consider it an Indian version of tempura, most often called bhaji or bhaja. Essentially, it is similar to a pakora but this time relatively thin slices of the vegetables are dipped into a chickpea and rice flour batter (crepe like consistency) and then fried until golden brown. It is best to make your accompanying chutney before you prepare the fritters.

Zucchini Flower and Vegetable Fritters

Ingredients

Batter Recipe
½ cup chickpea flour (you can use just chickpea flour but I find the rice flour adds a nice crispness to the fried batter)
½ cup rice flour
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp cayenne powder
¾ tsp salt
1 cup water

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl stir together chickpea flour, rice flour, baking soda, turmeric and cayenne powders, and salt. Gradually pour water into the mixing bowl and whisk briefly to remove any lumps and the mixture is smooth. The batter should be the consistency of cream. If you feel it needs to be a bit looser start by adding one or two tablespoons of water until you achieve your desired consistency. (If the batter sits a bit (ie 20 minutes or so) you will most likely need to do this.

Fill a karhai, wok, or heavy bottomed saucepan (one with high sides, such as a pot you would use for boiling pasta) one third full with vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350F (180C). If you do not have a deep fry thermometer heat oil and test with a small cube of bread. If the bread cube lightly browns in 10 seconds the oil is ready to use.

Vegetables:

Zucchini flowers: Leave the steam in if possible as it is easier to dip into batter. Lightly brush off any dirt particles. Also look inside as bees love to gather nectar from the inside of the flowers.

Swiss Chard, Spinach or Beet Greens: Wash well in water and gently dry with kitchen towel. Leave a length of stem/rib as it is easier to dip into batter and then oil.

Eggplants: Slice ⅓ inch thick

Potatoes: Slice ¼ inch thick

Pumpkins: Peel and slice ¼ inch thick

Sweet Potato: Peel and slice ¼ inch thick

Pumpkin or squash: Peel and slice ¼ inch thick

Zucchini or Patty Pan: Peel and Slice ⅓ inch thick

Dip about 7-10 pieces of a single vegetable into the batter and carefully slide each individual piece into the hot oil. The vegetables should not be too crowded in the oil. Cook for about 3 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon carefully turn over the vegetable pieces. Sometimes you can use the spoon to push the pieces under the oil, if need be.

When both sides are golden brown, use a slotted spoon or mesh strainer to remove the fried vegetable and drain on paper towels.

Repeat with the rest of the vegetables, cooking each vegetable separately. Serve hot with [url:1]green chutney[/url] or [url:1]tamarind chutney.[/url]

Notes

Cook the zucchini flowers or swiss chard last as they cook more quickly (in about a minute). Also, it is important to coat the zucchini flowers or swiss chard leaves with enough batter for them to be crispy rather than oily.

NOTE: This was originally posted on my blog India On My Plate on August 12, 2011

Harvest Corn Salad (Sundal)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by cameron.stauch@gmail.com

At this time of the year it is a common to see a small trailer filled with freshly picked corn. Whether it is driving home from the cottage along the back country roads or stumbling upon the farmer who has set up a roadside stall in a parking lot within the city limits; fresh corn is on offer; at its most flavourful. The easiest and simplest way to eat it is on the cob drizzled with melted butter and salt. But with a small amount of effort it can be transformed into a new and exciting dish.

In the southern states of India such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka corn is sometimes prepared as a light snack during the nine day Hindu autumn festival of Navratri (Navarathri, Garba or Dandiya Raas). For this celebration housewives in Tamil Nadu will set up a display of dolls (or deity statues) and invite friends, family and neighbours to view the display. Each day a different sundal (pronounced ‘soon’dal) is prepared for guests to snack on while they take part in the festivities. Peanuts, chickpeas, and other assorted larger pulses are lightly spiced and garnished with grated coconut. This corn sundal can be served as a light snack or as a warm/ room temperature salad. By adding a finely chopped tomato or mango (ripe or green) a delicious Indian style salsa is produced.

Harvest Corn Salad (Sundal)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 corn on the cob (about 3 ½ to 4 cups of kernels)
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly crushed
1 teaspoon urad dal (if you do not have any in your pantry simply omit)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cayenne powder
1 branch of curry leaves (8-10 leaves), finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, toasted (optional)
2 tablespoons coriander, roughly chopped (optional)

Instructions

Bring a large pot of unsalted water to boil over high heat. (I find having salt in the cooking water slightly toughens the corn kernels and lengthens the cooking time).

Husk the corn and once the water is boiling carefully add the cobs, cover and bring back to a boil. !Once it reaches the boil let it cook for about a minute or two and remove from the pot and let cool for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Cut the kernels from each cob.

In a karhai, wok, or large frying pan heat the oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds begin to pop add the urad dal, cumin seeds and stir fry briefly until the dal begins to brown lightly. Add the turmeric, cayenne, curry leaves and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the corn, season with salt and continue stir frying until the corn is warm. Check the seasoning and adjust if need be.

Garnish with toasted sunflower seeds and chopped coriander.

Notes

If you feel it needs a touch of acid squeeze the juice of a lime over the mixture right at the end of the cooking.

NOTE: This originally was posted on my blog India On My Plate on August 8, 2011

Cooking globally and sourcing locally

Category Archives: Vegetables

Grilled Smoky Eggplant and threat of GM Eggplant in India

Spicy Tomato Chutney and Eggplant Pickle

Tamarind Chutney

Zucchini Flower and Vegetable Fritters

Harvest Corn Salad (Sundal)