Posted on 05/03/2019 4:30:10 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
Some years ago a little Indian restaurant opened not far from my home; for a tiny hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall, it has become very popular and received great reviews. This wasn’t my first experience with Indian food, but it certainly is the experience that made me an addict, and I wanted to learn how to make some similar dishes at home.
I posted an Instant Pot recipe for Butter Chicken last year:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3659886/posts
but last week I wanted to try an eggplant recipe. We adapted the following from the same book as the butter chicken - ‘The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook’ by Urvashi Pitre, and had some problems with it. I think there wasn’t enough liquid in it, and our cooker went kind of screwy. But after some tinkering – just adding some water - the resultant dish turned out delicious. We decided that next time, instead of using fresh tomatoes, we’ll use canned diced tomatoes with their juice, and perhaps avoid the problem of the pot going to ‘burn’. (I think you could easily convert this to a stove-top recipe by first softening the onions in an oil saute, and then adding canned tomatoes and the diced eggplant, and slow-simmering.)
Creamy Indian Eggplant (4 servings)
½ tsp. peanut oil (we just used olive oil)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, chopped
4 cups chopped eggplant
½ tsp. Ground turmeric
½ tsp cayenne (we used more :-)
¼ tsp. Garam Masala (an easily found Indian spice mixture)
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ C. heavy whipping cream
Add oil to the Instant Pot interior pot. Place onion, tomato and eggplant on top in that order
Over the top of the veggies, sprinkle the spices and salt. Do not stir.
Lock the lid on the Instant Pot, select Manual, and adjust to low pressure. Cook for 4 minutes.
When cooking is done, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick-release any remaining pressure.
Select ‘saute’ and adjust to ‘More’ for high heat. When the mixture starts to bubble, add the cream, stirring well to incorporate. Allow the cream to thicken a little, about 2 minutes, and serve.
A lot of things that you may want to prepare an Indian-styled meal have become available in our supermarkets, now. When we were shopping for the eggplant ingredients, my husband remembered an Indian Lime Pickle that he had enjoyed in college, and went looking for something similar. We found Patak’s Lime Pickle, and it is a very unusual and interesting accompaniment to the richness of the eggplant - fresh, cool.
One of my favorite Indian food inventions is the Papadum. This is sort of like a cracker - when you see them in the store, they are very thin disks of black gram (urad – a bean) flour, but when you flash-fry them in oil, they turn into puffy, curly, crispy wonderfulness. They’re a lot of fun to make – some people grill them, or even microwave them; but the really satisfying way to cook and eat them is deep-fried. This is a very fast operation, as this video shows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRtFTWe9uiY
-JT
This month: Indian Food - again!
(If you would like to be on or off of this monthly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)
-JT
Whole boiled Honey Gold potatoes in an exquisite spicy sauce.
Ing-- About 13 Honey Gold Potatoes, tsp Salt, Water For boiling
ING For Sauce Tbsp Vegetable Oil tsp Fenugreek Seeds Tbsp Brown Mustard Seeds Tbsp Cumin Seeds 1/4 Red Onion Julienned Tbsp Garlic Grated 3 Thai Chili Pepper Optional, Cut into half and remove seeds 2 Tbsp Ginger Grated 1/2 Red Bell Pepper 1.5 tsp Turmeric Powder 1.5 tsp Red Chili Powder Use half for milder flavor 1/2 cup Tomato Sauce Use unsalted 1/2 tsp Salt Optional Tbsp Cumin-Coriander Powder tsp Garam Masala tsp Coconut Palm Sugar
ING For Garnish tsp Lime Juice Freshly Juiced Cilantro Finely Chopped.
METHOD Warm oil 30 sec. Add/cook fenugreek seeds 30 seconds Add the brown mustard seeds and wait for them to start popping. Add Thai chili Quartered. Add the onions and let them brown. Add the garlic and ginger after the onions have browned.Add the grated bell pepper, mix well and let them soften. Make a well; add turmeric and red chili powder Add the tomato sauce, mix well. Cook 30 sec. Add the parboiled skinned potatoes. Coat well.
Looks wonderful.
I get fenugreek and fennel confused (?) I don’t really like anise-flavored things in food. But I love the way all three smell in the kitchen.
I have a question about instant pots. I have been looking at them since before Christmas, trying to decide which one to buy. We are empty nesters, who do not like leftovers. We want one that is easy to use and clean that has rice and yogurt settings. Recommendations please?
Always a treat to see you & your thread JT! That mention of lime pickle made me remember a very tart & savory lime marmalade. Everyone was putting a dab on their roasted chicken & it was amazing, just brought out the chicken.
It’s weird how something new really enthralled you & then you strangely forget about it. Your photo reminds me to buy a jar at the grocery. I love limes. Thanks!
I
We are only two people, too - ‘never nesters’ in our case; and we bought the 8 qt., the largest we could get at the time - I don’t know if they have bigger ones now.
Unlike the Tardis, they’re smaller than they appear from the outside, and I think you can do small enough portions for two even with a big pot - and you never know what you may want to do in the future.
Perhaps others will have other recommendations.
It’s a little ‘weird’ - there’s an earthiness underneath the brightness. But it goes very well with spicy foods.
A dose of curry powder does a nice job of adding interest to tuna salad.
I got a small jar of Priya brand Red Chilli pickle (yes, spelled with two L’s) as a gift and liked it so much I bought another jar. I need to branch out and try some of the other flavors.
I will have to find ‘Priya’. I like anything Pepper :-)
Those look so delicious...mmmmmmmm.....
Asian stores sell a similar product to papadum. They’re called shrimp crackers, and they’re made of ground shrimp and starch. Lol them in not oil, and boom! They puff into a crunchy snack.
Sigh...POP, not lol. HOT, not not.
Sweet Italian sausage benefits from the addition of a bit of ground fennel seed.
I buy my Indian spices at one of my local Indian food stores. They have them in bulk at a much cheaper price. Tons of different pickles and condiment sauces. They also have frozen Indian breads like roti and nan that you finish on the griddle.
If you want to try something really good try Goan goat curry and Goan fish curry. I get those at Curry King here in LA
Sounds like something I need to look for :-)
We have a little Indian store nearby, too.
I will try and find a recipe for the Goan Fish Curry.
I found this “chutney” on Amazon - it is a powder and has a roasted nutty, spicy flavor. Very tasty. Can be used on bread, toast or anything with butter.
I found this “chutney” on Amazon - it is a powder and has a roasted nutty, spicy flavor. Very tasty. Can be used on bread, toast or anything with butter.
>>>
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IF923A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I will look for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.