Easter 2022: Aubergine kuku

I have decided that Easter is my favourite holiday. We get three days off work, it is Spring and everything feels full of possibility, the days are fresh and sunny (if we are lucky), and the garden is full of the best flowers and not yet too out of control. Spring and its regenerative effect feels like something to celebrate: potent and powerful. 

Eggs are so symbolic of all this. I make an effort to cook something big and eggy, and ideally using beaten eggs, so the shells can be painted later.

This time, I remembered this recipe, which had caught my eye a while ago, partly because of the fun name. I bought a pile of barberries a while ago and have been trying them out in different things. So we had all the ingredients except the aubergines, which I picked up from my favourite wee shop (along with some mangoes - the yellow South American ones are here - summer is on its way!) on my way home today.

120 ml sunflower oil, plus extra (used less - about 50 ml)
4 small onions, peeled and sliced
3 small aubergines, peeled
5 eggs
2 tbsp plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
25 g chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish
1 tsp saffron strands, dissolved in 1 tbsp of hot water
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
½ tsp salt
Black pepper
20 g dried barberries, rinsed and dried

Heat the oven to 210C. Drizzle the oil in a big roasting tin, toss in the chopped onions, and put in the oven for about 7 min.

Meanwhile, cut the aubergines in two widthways, cut each half into 1 cm-thick slices, then cut each slice into 1cm-thick sticks. Add these to the onion tin, toss, and put back in the oven for 15-20 min, until the aubergines are completely soft (add a little more oil if needed, but not a lot). Set aside to cool down.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, flour, baking powder, parsley, the saffron and its water, garlic, salt and a good grind of pepper. Once smooth, fold in the barberries and the aubergine and onion mix.

Grease and line a 22cm spring-form cake tin. Pour the egg mix into the tin and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden-brown and cooked through – insert a skewer in the middle to make sure the egg has set.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature,with good bread. It will keep in the fridge for two days.

 

I made this with s, he liked the idea of a savoury cake. It is pretty quick and easy, especially if you do the aubergine-onion mix in advance. The recipe called for frying them, by the way - but generally I prefer to do them in the oven for these kinds of things.

Aubergine, mango and soba noodle salad

A belated post from early Summer...

We went for dumplings on blågardsplads the other day - at a place we discovered either before or after a hospital appointment (silver linings). A place (think it’s called gao) that I love - they have two different kinds of vegetarian dumplings (mushroom pan fried and spinach steamed), both equally delicious; plus a long list of veggie sides that are all simple but perfect... sage loved them too. Anyway, while there remembered about the great fruit and veg shops also on blågards, checked them out too, and discovered a box of Pakistani mangoes! The delicate south Asian mangoes are way superior to the thick-skinned African ones you usually find in supermarkets - the one thing that could convince me to go to India in monsoon season... I had just been thinking maybe it was the season, but couldn’t think where was the right shop to find them...

I made this salad first about this time last year, when sage was tiny. I remember feeling proud i’d managed to cook something proper, especially because it was from a cookbook Seb gave me for my birthday (ie a few days after sage was born). Aside from eating them straight up, this seemed like a suitably special way to use some of our fine box of mangoes. This time, sage ate it too (and liked it! Although think he preferred the vegan sausages we ate with it (didn’t have any tofu)).

120 ml rice vinegar  (or apple cider vinegar)
40 g sugar
½ tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ red chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lime, grated zest and juice
300 ml sunflower oil
2 aubergines, cut into 2 cm dice
300g soba noodles
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 large mango, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
40g basil, chopped
40g coriander, chopped

In a saucepan, gently heat the vinegar, sugar and salt, just until the sugar dissolves, for up to a minute. Remove from the heat and add the garlic, chilli and sesame oil. Set aside to cool, then add the lime zest and juice.

Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan and shallow-fry the aubergine in three or four batches. Once golden-brown, transfer to a colander, sprinkle liberally with salt and leave to drain.

Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling, salted water, stirring occasionally, for five to eight minutes - the noodles should retain a bite - then drain and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and place on kitchen towel to dry.

In a mixing bowl, toss the noodles with the dressing, aubergine, onion, mango and half the herbs. You can leave it aside for an hour or two. When ready to serve, add the rest of the herbs, mix and pile on a plate or in a bowl.

Delia veggie moussaka

This was comfort food too. I made this a few times, a long time ago. You can't go wrong with Delia and this kind of thing. It was just as satisfying as I remembered.

10 fl oz / 275 ml veg stock
2 oz / 50 g puy lentils
2 oz / 50 g green lentils
4 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped into ¼ inch (5 mm) dice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 aubergines, each 8 oz / 225 g -> 1 lb / 450 g total, cut into 1/2 in / 1 cm dice
1 x 14 oz (400 g) tin chopped tomatoes, drained
7 fl oz / 200 ml red wine (subbed a bit of soy sauce and some water - wine is rarely open around here)
2 level tbsp tomato purée or sun-dried tomato paste
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
2 level tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper

For the topping:
10 fl oz / 275 ml whole milk
1 oz / 25 g plain flour
1 oz / 25 g butter
¼ whole nutmeg, grated
1 x 9 oz / 250 g tub ricotta 
1 large egg
1 oz / 25 g parmesan, grated
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 350F / 180C. Pour the stock into a medium saucepan together with the puy lentils (but no salt), cover and simmer for 15 min before adding the green lentils. Cover and cook for 15 min, by which time most of the liquid will have been absorbed and the lentils will be soft.

While the lentils cook, heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions until they're soft and tinged brown at the edges (about 5 min), then add the chopped pepper and soften and brown that too for about another 4 min. Add the garlic, cook for 1 min more, then transfer the whole lot to a plate.

Put the other 2 tbsp oil in the frying pan, turn the heat up to high and toss the aubergines in it so they get evenly cooked. When they're starting to brown a little, add the tinned tomatoes and the onion and pepper mixture to the pan. In a small bowl mix the wine, tomato purée and cinnamon together, then pour it over the vegetables. Add the lentils and the chopped parsley, season well and let everything simmer gently while you make the topping.

Put the milk, flour, butter and nutmeg in a saucepan and whisk until it comes to simmering point and becomes a smooth glossy sauce. Season with salt and pepper, remove it from the heat and let it cool a little before whisking in the ricotta followed by the beaten egg.

Finally, transfer the vegetable and lentil mixture to a large ovenproof dish and spoon the cheese sauce over the top, using the back of a spoon to take it right up to the edges. Sprinkle with the parmesan, put the dish in the oven and bake on the middle shelf for 1 hour. Rest for 15 min before serving.


It tasted good. I did not miss the wine.

Aubergine, peanut and tamarind curry

One of our favourites round here is Yoma - a little Burmese place. I've never eaten Burmese food anywhere else so cannot speak for its authenticity, but we love the tastes - all the best bits of Thai, Vietnamese and Indian food, pretty much. Tea salad is a favourite, and their chickpea tofu, and the coconut-pumpkin-tofu curry. The okra is also good. And aubergine, peanut and tamarind curry.

We had an increasing mass of various aubergines (including cute little green ones called Kermit) from the CSA. I was going to make the classic aubergine curry, but then on the way home went right off the idea of following a recipe and decided instead to make something up involving aubergine, peanut and tamarind. This is that.

~3 medium aubergines (or equivalent amount of small ones), trimmed and cut into ~2 in wedges
olive oil
salt
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 in piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 small onion (or ~5 spring onions), peeled and chopped
~2 tbsp tomato puree
~2 tbsp peanut butter
~1 tbsp tamarind paste
juice of 1/2 lime
salt
water
peanuts (optional)

Heat the oven to 400F. Prepare the aubergines and put into a roasting tin. Sprinkle with salt and olive oil and mix. Put in the oven and roast for ~ 30 min, until tender and lightly browned.

Meanwhile, heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a large saucepan and add the chilli, garlic, ginger and onions. Cover and saute until soft. Mix the tomato puree, peanut butter, tamarind and lime juice in a bowl with ~ 1/2 tsp salt and enough water to make a thick, creamy sauce. Add to the chilli-garlic mixture and saute for a minute.

When the aubergines are ready, take out of the oven and add to the pan. Mix it all together, taste and adjust for salt and acid. If you have peanuts, you could chop and dry-fry some, then sprinkle over.


Different from the Yoma one, but good nonetheless. Even better the next day when everything has mellowed together. Even cold.

Toasting giant couscous / revisiting reliable recipes

I have been making a lot of things over again: as vegetable friends I haven't seen since last year turn up in the CSA I have been tending to return to things I made before and liked. Improvements and refinements instead of novelties. Also lots of salad. Familiarity feels good.

Beetroot (OK these haven't been absent since last year, but we have been getting a lot of them recently):
This is my favourite way of cooking beets. Becomes an instant salad if you peel+mash the roasted garlic, mix it through with some extra balsamic, let cool and keep in the fridge.

Carrot greens: I have never really prepped them any way other than this paste, because it's so so good.

Basil: pistachio pesto - need I say more?

Cucumbers+tomatoes: overnight couscous (and quicker variant)

Aubergines: caponata - excellent, especially with toasted couscous (see below); baba; miso aubergine

Courgettes, fennel, aubergines, peppers: roasted veg with harissa dressing and couscous / wheatberries (or, lately, orzo)

Peppers: muhammara

Yes, and, that giant couscous I mentioned - I have always found it a bit bland, and obviously it lacks the ready-in-ten-minutes-with-no-pans-involved charm of normal couscous. So this time I tried toasting it with a little olive oil in the pan for a few minutes, until lightly browned, before adding the water and cooking as usual (finishing with salt, pepper, olive oil and white wine). Sooooo much tastier! Definitely recommended if you have a few extra minutes!

Brinjal chutney

At the end of my day at Drumlin, I became custodian of a large quantity of aubergines otherwise destined for the compost heap. I had no particular plan for them at first. A suggested preserving them in oil; I'd also seen them pickled in vinegar; but I wasn't really fancying either of those options. But then I started daydreaming about aubergine preserving, and what developed in my mind was more of a chutney: deep and dark and richly spiced. I used the spice combination from my favourite aubergine curry, and I based the chutney method on this recipe.

(made ~3 small-medium jars)

1 kg / 2 lb 4oz aubergines, chopped into ~1 in cubes
~2 tbsp salt
~4 tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
~2 medium chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
50 g / 2 oz ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 3 tbsp hot water
150g / 6 oz light brown sugar
300 ml / 1/2 pint cider vinegar

Layer chopped aubergines with salt in a colander, put a weight on top and leave to drain for approx 2 hours or overnight. Rinse and pat dry.

Heat oven to 400F. Toss the aubergine pieces with approx 2 tbsp oil and spread out on baking trays. Bake for ~30 min, until tender. Meanwhile, dry fry the whole spices. When fragrant, let cool a little and then transfer half of the mixture to a spice grinder and grind lightly - leave the rest as whole seeds.

Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in preserving pan and add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Cover and cook until softened (~10 min). Add the ground spices (including turmeric), whole spices, tamarind, sugar, vinegar and aubergines. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then cook for about 40 min, until thick and the aubergines are tender.

Spoon into sterilised jars and seal. Let mature for at least a month before opening.


Oh wow, this is delicious. Exactly what I wanted. The few tbsp I couldn't fit in my three jars and became a test part-jar are already in my belly with no days' maturing time and the chutney is already delicious.

Baba ghanoush (smoky aubergine dip)

I love this stuff. And it is super easy to make. The tricky part is getting the right amount of smokiness in the taste, along with a perfectly smooth and silky texture. I tried out different methods for preparing the aubergine. Each has different pros and cons, but all will ultimately give you decent baba. See below.

2 aubergines
1 1/2 cloves garlic, peeled
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper*

First, char the aubergines:

Stovetop (Gas Burner) Method
Plonk the aubergine over the naked gas flame, turning all around until it is charred and softened.

Stovetop (Cast-Iron) Method
Put a cast-iron, ovenproof pan, lightly oiled and heated, on the stove, plonk the whole aubergines on top, turning them until they are charred on all sides and soft.

Oven Method
Heat oven to 400F. Cut aubergines in half and place cut side down on a lightly (olive) oiled baking tray. Bake for 30-40 min til charred and completely soft (poke to test softness).

Of the three methods, the oven method is easiest and gives a lovely, silky consistency, but not much smoky taste. The gas burner method is the best for smokiness, but it's hard to cook the aubergines right to the middle before the outside starts to collapse and make a mess (and less-cooked parts means less smooth final texture). The cast-iron pan method is perhaps a compromise in terms of texture and smokiness, but did tend to fill the kitchen with smoke...

My Final Method Solution
I have settled upon charring the aubergines on the gas burner fairly quickly, before cutting them in half and finishing them following the oven method. This gives some smoky flavour and a good, silky texture.

Allow charred aubergines to cool, then scrape soft parts into blender cup (removing most of the charred skin / leaving in a few bits for flavour). Add rest of ingredients and liquidise. Can be eaten straight away but improves after a day or so in the fridge.

*For a tasty variation, add 1-2 tsp white miso instead of the salt+pepper.

Quick aubergine with nigella seeds

1 large aubergine, chopped into 1cm dice
1/2 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 tsp salt
~4 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in a frying pan with high sides. Add the aubergine, nigella seeds and salt (to taste) and stir / fry for ~10 minutes, until the aubergine is tender and tasty.


Simple and effective: a lot of my aubergine recipes are relatively long and complicated - this one is super quick.

Ratatouille

I was dithering over the best way to cook a ratatouille, and decided it might be a good time to go with one of the Guardian's 'Perfect...' recipes.  This one.  Seemed to have a reasonable combination of ingredients and cooking methods.

1 huge red pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced – 1 kept separate
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice, plus juices
3 sprigs of thyme, plus 1 tsp thyme leaves
Pinch of saffron
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
3 courgettes (a mix of yellow and green is good if possible), thinly sliced
1 aubergine, thinly sliced
4 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

Heat the oven to 230C / 450F.  Cut the pepper in half, removing the seeds and pith, and place cut side down on a lightly oiled baking tray.  Roast for 20 minutes until the skin has blistered, then remove and leave to cool, turning the oven down to 140C / 280F.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over a low heat, add the onion and cook until very soft, but not browned (about 8 minutes), adding 3 cloves of minced garlic 5 minutes in. Stir in the tomatoes and juices, and the sprigs of thyme, and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Peel the pepper, cut into small dice and add to the pan to soften along with the saffron. Remove the thyme, season to taste, and stir in the vinegar.

Spread the sauce on the bottom of an oven dish, then arrange the sliced vegetables on top. Mix the remaining clove of garlic with the extra virgin olive oil and thyme leaves, season and sprinkle over the top. Cover tightly with foil, and put in the oven for 2 hours until the vegetables are tender to the point of a knife.

Remove the foil, and cook for 30 minutes more – if the top starts to brown, cover loosely with the foil again. If there is any liquid left in the dish after cooking, decant it into a small pan, and reduce over a medium heat, then pour back in. At this point it can be kept for a couple of days.

Just before serving, re-heat if desired, then put the ratatouille under a hot grill until lightly browned


Was fine.  Nothing special and a bit faffy.  Still dithering over the best way to cook ratatouille.

Warm fall food - mashed potato, roast fennel, aubergine with miso+sesame

We watched an episode of 'Celebrity Masterchef' the other night, and the man was doing a demo of making mashed potato without a masher - he mashed it a bit with a fork then beat it over a gentle heat until smooth.  Remembered we had some potatoes (forgot them for a while), decided they were still OK, and then to mash them.


Mashed potato with mustard and spring onions

4 medium potatoes, peeled
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tbsp marg
1/2 tbsp fancy mustard from Australia (+Tanya)
2-3 tbsp fake milk
salt+pepper

Cover potatoes with water and boil until soft when poked - 20-25min.  Drain, return to pan and mash with a fork until all large chunks are gone.  Add the marg, milk, mustard and seasoning and beat over a gentle heat with a wooden spoon until smooth, adding more milk if it is too thick.  Add the spring onions and mix well in.


Roast fennel

Several leaves from a massive fennel bulb, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375F.  Rub baking tin with olive oil.  Add veg and season.  Put in oven for ~30min, until done, removing and mixing once or twice along the way.


Aubergine with miso and sesame

Chinese aubergines (the long thin ones) - I only had 1 but 3-4 would have been better
sesame oil
sesame seeds (1/4-1/2 tbsp per aubergine)
yellow miso paste (~1/2 tbsp per aubergine)
lime juice

Heat oven to 375F.  Rub baking tin with sesame oil. Slice the aubergines on the diagonal into pieces about 1cm thick.  Arrange them on the baking tin and put in the oven for ~15 min.  Turn them and put back in for another 10 min or so.  For the last 5 min, add sesame seeds to the tin to roast - keep a careful eye they don't burn.  Remove from the oven and transfer aubergine+seeds to a bowl.  Add the miso paste and sufficient lime juice to thin the paste enough to mix it up.  Mix together and eat warm or cold.


I also stewed a little bit of rhubarb with a couple of apples (from apple picking @ Dowse Orchards in Sherborn), and ate it with Bird's custard made with almond milk.  Although the proportion of rhubarb was quite low its taste still came through - the apples weren't cookers so their taste was fairly mild, and they were sweet enough that I hardly needed to add any sugar.  I'm getting used to the taste of fake milk custard.  I do love a bit of custard on a dark evening...

The aubergine was well tasty - I'd read about the aubergine-miso combo a few times but hadn't got around to trying it.  It works well.  The fennel mix was simple but ended up going really well with the mash, which amazingly turned out good and smooth and pretty darn tasty with the fancy mustard etc. mmmmm Autumn.

Caponata

I made this for the first time years ago.  It's really good - kind of like ratatouille, but better.  I'd make it more often if it wasn't that we don't often have aubergines, celery and pine nuts all in the house at once.  I think this is a fairly simple version - stuff like cocoa and artichoke hearts can be added; the key ingredients remain aubergines, celery and capers.

600g aubergines, chopped into ~2cm chunks
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
~5 big stalks of celery, chopped (or substitute ~3/4 tsp crushed celery seed)
1 clove garlic, chopped (optional)
1 tbsp sultanas (or golden raisins)
~3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tin chopped tomatoes
~2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp olives, pitted and chopped
1 tbsp pine nuts (or substitute slivered toasted almonds)
1 tbsp chopped basil (optional)
salt and pepper

Salt aubergine and put under a heavy weight to drain (for approx half an hour).

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add onion and celery (and garlic if using), and cook for ~5 min until starting to soften. Rinse the aubergine and press it dry. Add the aubergine to the pan with the onion, and cook for ~10 min, until softened and starting to brown.

Add sultanas, vinegar, tomatoes, sugar, capers and olives (and celery seed if subbing for celery). Bring to a gentle boil and simmer until everything is soft and thick (at least 30 min). Finally, stir in pine nuts, and basil if using. Taste, and add more salt, sugar, pepper or vinegar if it needs it. Let cool. Ideally keep it for at least a day before eating - the taste and texture improves.


Check for seasoning, then eat - hot or cold, with pasta or with bread or on its own.

Baked aubergine

S bought a gigantic aubergine from the market, I think just because it was so huge.  It was massive - almost head-sized.  Used half for baba ghanoush, and the other half for this.

1/2 a massive aubergine
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp cumin seed
1/4 tsp chili flakes
salt
2 1/2 tbsp cashews
1 clove garlic
squeeze of lemon juice
2 1/2 tbsp almond milk
olive oil
salt and pepper
chopped coriander leaves

Heat oven to ~450F.  Cut the aubergine into 1 cm thick slices.  Squeeze into clean cloth / paper to remove any excess liquid.  Grease a roasting tin with olive oil.  Rub both sides of slices with olive oil.  Toast the cumin and coriander seed in a frying pan til fragrant.  Put into spice grinder and add the chili flakes and some salt.  Whizz to a powder.  Sprinkle 1/4 of the powder on the aubergine slices arranged in the roasting tin.  Put in the oven for 10-15 min.  Then turn over and sprinkle with another 1/4 of powder.  Put back in the oven for another 10-15min, til lightly browned and softened.  Meanwhile, whizz the cashews and garlic in the spice grinder til smooth.  Mix in a small bowl with the remaining spice powder, lemon juice and almond milk til a smooth and creamy texture.  Serve aubergine with sauce and coriander leaves on top.

Tasty.  Plenty of potential for varying spice mix.  Pretty simple.  The sauce was really good - I liked the cashews as an interesting taste / texture.

Things with coconut milk

Had most of a tin of coconut milk left from Seb's birthday cake - somehow ended up making many things from it...

Coconut rice

1/4 large red onion, sliced
4 cardamom pods, crushed slightly
cup basmati rice
tsp veg oil
cup of coconut milk
cup of water

Heat oil in a saucepan and then fry the onion til soft.  Add rice and cardamom and stir / fry a couple min.  Add coconut milk and water and bring to boil.  Cook ~ 10min til rice is done, then leave with lid on for 10 more min.  Fluff with a fork before serving.

-pretty good.


Beetroot brinjal coconut curry


1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove
~1 red chili (taste)
1/3 lemongrass stalk
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp coriander seed
1/3 tsp fennel seed
1 tbsp veg oil
150g raw beetroot (1 large beetroot) peeled and cut into chunks
bits of aubergine equivalent to 2 baby aubergines, quartered
70ml veg stock
100ml coconut milk
salt and pepper
handful raw cashews

Liquidise onion, garlic, chili, lemongrass.  Dry roast cumin, coriander and fennel to dark brown, then grind.  Heat oil.  Add onion paste and cook for a few min, then add ground spices.  When combined add beetroot and aubergine.  Fry for 2min high.  Add stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer til soft (~30min).  Add coconut milk and simmer for 5 min.  Dry roast cashews and use as garnish.

This was tasty.  Bit faffy with paste and ground dry spices, and took awhile to cook.  But several of my favourite things, and bright pink of course.  Based on a recipe I copied from a book of Shireen's awhile ago - I don't remember the title.


Coconut veg curry

2 tbsp veg oil
1 1/2 tsp coriander seed
1 1/2 tsp cumin seed
2/3 tbsp cardamom seed
1 onion, sliced
1 large sweet potato, diced roughly
3cm chunk of ginger, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
300ml coconut milk
1 small red chili, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lime and few shards of zest
~ 6 stalks of kale - greens separated from stalks and chopped separately
3/4 a large red pepper
about 1/4 a large aubergine

Dry-fry the spices til fragrant, then grind.  Heat the oil and saute the onion for ~ 12 min til browned.  Add sweet potato, ground spices, ginger, garlic, coconut, chili, lime zest.  Cover and simmer ~12min.  Add kale stems, aubergine, red pepper, simmer ~4min.  Simmer til veg are semi cooked.  Add kale leaves and simmer uncovered until kale is wilted and sauce is thick.  Add lime juice (and fresh coriander if I'd had it), taste for seasoning.  Sit for 10min before serving.

Suggested addition was: Put 50g sunflower seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seed, 1 tsp caster sugar, pinch salt in nonstick pan and put on high heat.  Stir for 3-4 min til sugar dissolves and coats seeds.  Set aside to cool.

Overegged the chili and the cardamom slightly - next time use less.  Otherwise a tasty veggie mess.  Reckon you could use any combination of veggies - I based this on a more complicated recipe using okra, carrots, butternut squash and cauliflower instead of sweet potato, kale, red pepper and aubergine.

Sunday cooking: baingan achaari; potato apple latkes

Often seem to end up on a big cooking mission one day at the weekend, after rediscovering or buying lots of fruit and veg and realising it needs cooking...  Today involved 1) aubergines and 2) red-skinned potatoes

Baingan achaari (aubergine curry)

This was one of my favourites when I lived at home. Shireen introduced me to it, and it originates from Madhur Jaffrey (but has been adapted along the way).

2.5cm cube fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 large cloves garlic
55ml water
800g aubergines
350ml veg oil
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp kalonji (nigella)
1/2 tsp cumin seed
350g tomatoes peeled and finely chopped (or 1 tin)
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/3 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt

Cut aubergine into wedges 2cm thick / 4-5cm long.  Rub with oil and put on oiled baking sheet in a hot oven (~400F / 250C) for 30min.  When done put in a colander to drain.

Meanwhile blend garlic, ginger and water to make a smooth paste.

Put ~3tbsp of oil in a large high-sided frying pan on medium heat. Add fennel, kalonji, cumin and gently darken (few sec).  Add tomatoes, garlic/ginger paste, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt.  Bubble until thickens to a paste.

Add the cooked aubergine and stir gently.  Cook 5 min, cover and cook 5 more min.

This is delicious. Ate it with jasmine rice (with cloves and whole cardamom in cooking water), fresh coriander on top is also good.


Potato apple latkes

Adapted from a recent recipe on the guardian webpage.

500g red salad potatoes
1 small onion
1 crisp apple (Braeburn or Cox's Orange Pippin), cored but unpeeled
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 1 tbsp water)
30g plain flour
2 tsp poppyseeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Groundnut or vegetable oil, for frying

Grate the potatoes, onion and apple. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible (in a mesh colander). Transfer to a bowl and add the lemon juice, flax egg, flour and poppyseeds. Season and mix.

Heat ~1cm oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Form the latke mixture into pancakes about 4cm in diameter and drop them into the oil. Cook for about four minutes a side, until cooked through and golden brown. Put the cooked latkes on kitchen paper to absorb oil.


The latkes were a faff, I don't know if I'll bother again - lots of grating (incl my thumbnail a wee bit), smelly frying and oily end product. They tasted quite nice - crispy fried potato and onion on the outside, waxy cooked on the inside, with little taste hits of poppyseed now and again (didn't really notice the apple). S liked them. We ate them with sweet chili or wholegrain mustard, the recipe suggested horseradish cream (2 tbsp fresh horseradish, finely grated, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp cider vinegar or lemon juice, ½ tsp caster sugar, 150ml crème fraîche, pinch of salt) - need a bit of heat and moisture. Maybe sometime in the future when I have a food processor I'll make latkes...