The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Green eggplant in mustard-fenugreek masala is not for the faint-hearted. The spices in this are heavier and headier than, say, in bittersweet baingan. Try it if you dare!

I made this dish with long green eggplant, which is the mildest-tasting variety of eggplant I know of. The eggplant’s blandness gives a nice base to the strong flavors of the spices. (more…)

This eggplant fry recipe makes a great side dish, especially when the rest of your meal is low on spices. It’s often on my menu for a quick weekday dinner, with boiled rice, raita and simple pressure-cooked yellow dal. Which is not to say that it does not work well with a lavish party meal but yes, it does add a special je ne sais quoi to otherwise masala-free fare.

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Poppy seeds are a relatively new addition to my pantry and I keep a lookout for ways to expand my repertoire with them. I usually turn to Bengali cuisine for inspiration with this spice – aloo posto is a constant favorite. In a net search for poppy seed recipes, Sailu’s recipe for baby eggplant in an Andhra-style poppy seed gravy caught my attention: the sweet notes of jaggery and the tang of tamarind sounded like delightful additions to the base of poppy seed paste.

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Onions are indispensable to cooking in many Indian households, so much so that the humble bulb has caused governments to topple. To those for whom curries without onions seem inconceivable, I heartily recommend this recipe for stuffed baby eggplant in peanut sesame sauce. The sauce, with tamarind juice to give it body, is rich, thick, and entirely sans onions. I like to make this gravy when I have guests over, especially my no-onion-no-garlic folks.

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The big purple eggplant is generally used for baingan bharta in my kitchen. Not so tonight. A yummy eggplant-ginger chutney awaits the rice that’s still cooking.

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You get the most novel types of brinjals (eggplant) in Karnataka – today I picked up small bright round green brinjals, with gentle lines of white and purple, and prepared a quick side dish to go with rice and dal. Here’s how you could make crispy green brinjal.

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A common problem with the aubergine / eggplant / brinjal is that it begins to turn brown on slicing.

This is actually a good sign as it signals the presence of powerful antioxidants in the eggplant.

Good signs are all fine, but you don’t want your dish to look a muddy shade, do you?

Here’s a simple tip to prevent cut eggplant from discoloring. This has the added effect of reducing its bitterness.

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