Pide with a savoury filling of tomatoes, brinjals, and capsicums
The story goes like this: Three elegantly-dressed ladies: A Marathi, a Malayali, and a Konkani from Karnataka, sashay into a Turkish restaurant together and politely request of the chef to prepare something that all of them would like. After summoning his only waiter to their side, he takes a moment to ponder the task set before him, and then begins to work in his kitchen. Little do they know he isn’t really a Turk…but he has dabbled enough in the cuisine to be open for lunch now and then; today is their lucky day it seems…. a short time later, after they’ve serenely polished off a few cool drinks while waiting, the chef returns, grinning from ear to ear. With just a hint of smugness, he sets down a platter of steaming and fragrant…………
Well, you probably know the rest of the tale. This story is as old as the hills!
One of these and a few small sides can make for a wonderful lunch, or serve with cocktails or at tea-time, cut across into 1″ slices for beautiful dainty finger food. As they are bread-and-side-dish in one, these are excellent to take on picnics or outings of any kind for a convenient meal.
It is almost necessary to have a baking tile or tiles or “pizza stone” set on the middle position rack of your oven for these to be successful. (see note) The filling for this can be made a day or two in advance. In fact it is somewhat better to do so, allowing the complex flavours to blend quite harmoniously.
Pide with a savoury filling of tomatoes, brinjals, and capsicums
For the filling:
6-8 small brinjals(about 3 cups), tops removed, halved, and sliced to 1/4″
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 T oil
1/2 C besan
2-3 t oil
a pinch of asafoetida
3/4 t black mustard seeds
1/2 t cumin seeds
1 t fenugreek seeds
6 curry leaves, chopped
2 t ground red chiles
1/2 t turmeric
1/4 t ground black pepper
2 C mild or sweet capsicums(such as bell, poblanos, new mexico, california), chopped to 1/2″
2 C tomatoes, skinned and chopped fresh or canned
2 fresh green chiles, seeded and sliced thinly
8 cloves of garlic, minced or pasted
1/2 C water
3/4 t salt (or to taste)
2/3 C finely-chopped coriander leaves
1)Sprinkle the brinjal slices with salt in a bowl, mix well, and let stand for an hour. Drain off the liquid that accumulates and rinse three times. Squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands or by using a piece of cheesecloth. Heat 1 1/2 T oil in a pan and fry the slices until nicely browned and somewhat dry. Remove these to a dish lined with cloth or paper to cool and drain the excess oil. Chop roughly and set aside.
2)In a pan set over medium-low heat, roast the besan until fragrant and a shade darker. Set aside.
3)Heat 1 1/2 t oil in a wok or karahi. Add the hing, a second later add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and fenugreek seeds. When the mustard seeds pop, add the curry leaves and ground spices. Stir once or twice and then add the capsicum, tomatoes and chiles. (mind the spluttering)
4)Cook this mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally at first and more frequently as the mixture reduces, until the oil appears at the edges and it has formed a paste. Turn heat to low.
5)Add the brinjals and garlic and continue to fry, stirring constantly, for 4 more minutes.
6)Add the water and salt to taste and mix well. Add the roasted besan and mix until well-combined. You should have a thick paste now. Add the coriander leaves and remove from heat.
Making the pide:
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 t sugar
1/2 C warm( not hot) water
1/2 C all-purpose flour
3 1/2 C bread flour
1 t salt
3 T oil
1 C plus 1 T lukewarm water
filling from above
1 egg, lightly beaten
kalonji seeds
1)Dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes. It should have bubbles. Stir in the A-P flour, cover with plastic and let rise 30 minutes.
2)Place the bread flour in a large bowl; make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture, salt, oil, and lukewarm water. Gradually work the flour into the contents of the well to form a dough. Take this dough and knead it on a floured surface for 15 minutes until it is smooth and elastic, and no longer sticks to your hands. Add more flour if necessary and continue kneading until the dough no longer is sticky.
3)Oil the large bowl and place the dough back into it; cover with plastic and let rise 1 hour.
4)Take the dough out and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, place on a floured sheet or tray and cover with a damp towel. Set aside for 30 minutes.
5)Preheat oven with tiles at 500-550 F for 30 minutes before you bake.
6)Take each ball and roll out roughly to a 6″ X 12″ oval on an oiled board. Divide the filling into 8 parts and place a portion on each oval. Spread the filling, keeping 1/2″ away from the edges. Fold the two long sides of the dough over the filling, the edges overlapping along the center. Press down on the folded edges a bit. At the ends, pinch together 1″ from each side to seal. Brush the tops with beaten egg, sprinkle with kalonji seeds.
7)Place one or two pide on the hot tiles at a time and bake 6 minutes, until golden. Keep the finished pide wrapped in a dry towel to stay warm while you finish baking. While you bake, you can assemble the next in line.
This my entry for Jihva for Tomatoes, hosted by RP of My Workshop. As this is my first time participating in a Jihva For Ingredients, begun by Indira of Mahanandi, I hope I did it correctly!
The structure for these filled pide was taken from Ayla Algar’s beautiful cookbook, Classical Turkish Cooking. The filling, created by me, was not only heavily inspired by one from this book, but by several other recipes, most notably bharleli mirchi from Anita and her mother-in-law, Manisha’s lovely transcription of a recipe for thakkali chutney by Ammini Ramachandran, and Shilpa’s very nourishing tomato saru. My thanks to them and to all of my readers for your support and encouragement in my new blog. I hope to continue posting recipes of interest in the future. Stay tuned!
NOTE: Unglazed quarry tiles, available at home improvement centers or ceramic tile suppliers, can be, and are often used for baking. Before using, rinse them well and allow to dry several days. Season with oil and heat in a hot oven for a few minutes. Thereafter, keep the tiles oiled often until shiny and black. Scrape to clean and, if necessary use water only (no soap of any kind!) and allow to dry thoroughly before using.(they will crack if still damp).
A Syrup of Spring Mist
I thought I’d make up something light, cooling and refreshing for those of you who are experiencing warm weather already, or will soon enough. Here? Well, yesterday it was 75 F(24 C), today is another story….it’s 42 F(6 C) as I write. Wisconsin is like that…
A friend and I took a Sunday drive a few days ago- on Sunday in fact! It was one of those days that charm me to leave the city. A light mist was in the air, and, as you might know, that this can cause the familiar to suddenly look serene, a bit eerie, and well….unfamiliar. It occurred to me that the fog would be thicker- and hence, more dramatic- near the “big pond”: Lake Michigan. Having lived on the lakeshore for nearly three years taught me, at the least, these three things: 1.humid days bring foggy nights and mornings, so plan to go slow if you plan on going anywhere. 2. there are a lot of sand-polished stones, driftwood, and other odd finds on the beach, and 3. some of the best food to be had is in tiny towns situated at the crossings of winding back roads you never knew existed.
One such town is called Slovan. It literally is in the middle of nowhere, yet the town has for decades been well-known, from the Devil’s Door down to Two Rivers, and west to certain knowing residents around Green Bay. Its main attraction is a supper club which, besides serving great traditional local food, hosts spirited polka dances with live bands during the summer, and a good-sized dance hall built just for it. As they regularly have a famous Sunday brunch, I decided to call up a friend of mine, who I knew had been itching to go and sample their offerings…
So off we went, leisurely coasting along rural roads through the thickening mist, up and down rolling hills, gazing out at the shimmering air, at the the forests and farmland that vanished into grey in the distance, all of this lit by a silver sun shining in the eastern sky. A cow here and there appeared out of nowhere at the side of the road and disappeared just as quickly. But no time to stop and talk this morning. On and on we went.
When we arrived and pulled crunchily into the gravel-covered parking lot, I noticed at the far end, near a few scant trees, two cats: one black and one grey-striped, lolling about together at the far side of the lot. They seemed to be very happy about something. With my brow furrowed by curiosity, I parked the car and stepped out into the hazy sunlight, my friend lazily following. We stretched just a bit, closing the car-doors quietly. I checked my pockets out of habit for my wallet and keys and peered over at the cats. Their tails twitched contentedly, but they had not yet taken the slightest notice of us out-of-towners. I took a step toward them, then another, one foot slowly following the other. Crunch……. crunch….. crunch…….. cru… both cats suddenly turned toward me in unison, eyes bright, unblinking and inquisitive. I halted, and motioned for my friend to do the same. I blinked a “hello” to them, and bent down on my knees to beckon them over. With little hesitation they strolled over, sniffed my outstretched hand and gaily “marked” me with grins and whiskered cheeks. Obviously they had frequent human contact. They soon thought my friend was acceptable interactive material too….and after a few minutes of this giddy welcoming party, we figured out what the source of their joy was. They were one of each gender, and in deepest love with each other, gliding against each other across the gravel, circling, inseparable as they moved. We had a hard time breaking away from our new, amorous friends, but the mist was clearing in the strengthening sunlight, and we had a few dishes to investigate.
A Syrup of Spring Mist
2 C fresh-squeezed lime juice
the zest(green part only) of 6 limes or 1/4 C, whichever comes first
1 1/2 C white sugar, more or less, to taste
a 1″ piece of ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced
2 sprigs of spearmint, washed and bruised by squeezing gently
6 very thin slices of green chile
18 whole white peppercorns
a pinch of salt
a pinch of citric acid/sour salt
1)Place everything but the mint in a small pan and slowly bring to boil. Remove from heat and toss in mint. Cover pan with a lid and allow to stand until cool.
2)Strain through a fine sieve and store in the refrigerator.
This can be:
1.mixed with carbonated water in ratio of about 1:5 for a refreshing lime soda,
2.mixed with tequila and triple sec(or other orange liqueur) and served over ice in a salt-rimmed glass for Margaritas,(2 parts tequila, 1 part lime syrup, 1 part triple sec)
3. mixed with an equal part of rum, diluted to taste with water and ice and finished with a dash of nutmeg for planter’s punch, or
4. diluted with plain ice water and served with shaved or crushed ice for Turkish-style sherbet.
It occurred to me much later, as we headed back home in the now bright sun, windows open, fresh and scented air streaming through the car, how Brahma indeed is manifested strongly in these days of erratic weather and awakening life. Those two friendly felines will probably have a new family to raise by the end of spring…it might be worth going back in two months to find out.
Bitter melon, onions, eggs and peanuts, stir-fried with panch phoran
Because of a nagging concience, or perhaps from the suggestion of concerned friends, I decided to move on to a fairly healthy dish for this post. Let me tell you quite bluntly though: I do not need to be persuaded in the least to cook a dish using bitter melon(bitter gourd, karela, karathe, mara, etc). This is one of my most favorite of vegetables, and my cravings for it are quite intense when I have gone without it for a while. So intense, that I find great difficulty in thinking of other foods until this craving is met.
Last year, I tried growing my own so that I would have a steady supply. I wasn’t quite sure how this plant would fare in the temperate zone that I live in. Added to this doubt was the fact that I started the seeds 2 weeks after the usual planting time, so I told myself that at the least I would have some pretty vines to look at, and this was all I allowed myself to look forward to.
The seeds sprouted within a few days. I set to work constructing trellises of split cedar to serve as a vertical home for these little darlings as they grew. They soon developed into 5-inch plants and developed tendrils that daily I had to untangle from each other and coax onto the supports of the trellises. Another two weeks, and they were slowly winding their way upward…..and then, some inner clock mechanism seemed to strike noon: they franticly began scrambling their way all over everything possible: the trellises, the wall, each other, my tomatoes….(I was a little concerned about losing my cats) I measured a foot a day during this mad clamour! Then, little yellow flowers bloomed, and I began a search daily for female blossoms and was thrilled to find three! And these three I kept a very close eye on and watched them swell and mature. At that time, I was thankful that the One Who Creates had blessed me with enough for one dish. And this was at the height of summer… then, I noticed that hidden in green sanctums from the ground to the very peak of the garage that the trellies leaned upon, were more, many many more, tiny green fruits that became pluckable at the rate of about two or three a day….and the flowers kept blooming…..and I couldn’t keep up with them! I gave away what I could. I started storing some in the refrigerator, until the drawer was brimming with them, and they were nestled in baskets on the counter-top.
Thinking back now, I should have thought of freezing or drying them(thanks AMTP!), but I didn’t….and I needed a way of preserving these fast and now! I decided on kerela ka achaar. This is a favorite Indian preserve of this vegetable that, though I dearly love, I had never made myself. After a scurried internet research session, I found the basics for achaar-making. I chose to preserve most by the oil-cured method, as it lasts indefinitely at room temperature, and some found their way into a delicious fresh-eaten pickle recipe that I found on the website, Aayi’s Recipes(and thus began a food-blogging adventure). As much as I love to eat these pickles, several years will pass before I am able to consume what I have stored in my pantry. So, be prepared if you decide to grow these!
There are actually 45 different known species within the genus of Momordica, and the bitter melon/gourd, momordica charantia is but one of them. There are many medicinal applications of this vegetable from both Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine, and much research has delved into these properties, as well as into new ones that have been discovered or are involved in research at this time. (You may read more here if you wish, or search the internet for more information)
At one time, the Indian and Chinese varieties were thought to be separate species, but it appears, from my more recent readings, that they have been re-classified as phenotypes of the same species. They may be used interchangeably, and indeed, in my garden both varieties crossed freely producing fruits with characteristics of both. Many unusual cultivars are available as well, some of which are white in colour instead of green, some that are miniature-sized that can be used whole and stuffed for a unique presentation! The fruits are generally picked when young and firm, before the seeds mature and develop a bright red casing, eventually bursting forth from the pod at full maturity.
Science and achaar-making marathons aside, this dish is based almost solely on a Bengali recipe which I found in Madhur Jaffrey’s fine tome, World-of-the-east Vegetarian Cookbook. It makes use of the Bengali spice mixture, panch phoran, which lends a unique flavour to this dish. Over the course of perhaps 15 years of preparing this dish often in my kichen, I did a little tinkering with the original recipe and produced my own version which I present to you. I was influenced both by a Phillipino recipe for bitter melon paired with eggs, and my love of Thai cuisine with its affinity for roasted peanuts. In this dish, the soft eggs contrast with the crispness of the bitter melon and onions, and the crunch of fresh-roasted peanuts. I developed a pleasing colour combination that ought to include fresh red chiles(or red bell peppers/capsicum if you prefer it mild), but as I am currently not able to locate fresh red chiles right now, I have substituted 2 t of red chile-garlic paste, omitting the clove of garlic in lieu of this. I have used the Chinese type of bitter melon in this rendition of the recipe, but you may use either kind.
If your bitter melons have a white or pale green interior when cut open, do use the whole vegetable for this dish as the seeds are quite delicious. If they have turned red, then scrape out the seed cavity before proceeding; fish the seeds from their red jackets and add to the dish during cooking, if you are inclined.
4 t oil
a handful of raw peanuts/groundnuts, skins removed
4 eggs
salt
a pinch of hing(optional)
1 1/2 t panch phoran(Bengali 5-spice mixture)
2 fresh red chiles(or to taste), sliced thinly
1 clove/flake of garlic, sliced thinly
3 medium-size onions, in 1/3″ slices
1/2 to 3/4 lb. of bitter melon(s)(1 large or two small chinese type, or 3-4 Indian type)
1)Rinse the bitter melon(s) well under running water, scrape any discoloured areas away with a knife if necessary. Trim off the stem end, and cut in half lengthwise. If you see any red, scrape out the seed cavity with a spoon, otherwise, slice into 1/3″ half-rings.
2)Put the sliced bitter melon into a bowl and cover with cold water. Sprinkle 2-3 t of salt over them and swish them around with your hand to dissolve the salt. Set aside for 2 hours. Drain through a colander and then pour them back into the bowl, cover with cold water, swish around, and then drain through the colander once again. Shake it a bit to remove the excess water and set aside. (see note at bottom of page)
3)Over a medium flame in a wok or kerai, heat 1 t of oil, add the peanuts and fry, stirring continuously until well-roasted and fragrant. Remove and set aside.
4)Take the eggs and beat lightly in a small bowl, add 1 T of water and a pinch of salt and blend. In the wok or kerai, heat 1 t oil over medium flame and add the beaten eggs, stirring once every 10 seconds until the eggs are set and scrambled. Remove to the bowl with the peanuts.
5)Heat the remaining 2 t of oil in the pan and add the panch phoran and hing(if using). Stir gently until the mustard seeds pop and then add the chiles and garlic, fry for a few seconds, and then add the sliced onions. Fry these, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes.
6)Add the drained bitter melon slices and continue frying for 4 minutes, add salt to taste(1/2 t) and mix well, frying for 1 minute more.
7)Add the reserved peanuts and eggs and fry, stirring, for 1 more minute. Check for done-ness: the onions and bitter melon should be thoroughly hot and still crispy. Turn off heat and keep stirring for 1 more minute. Check for salt.
Note—–>There are two methods of removing some of the bitterness. Both involve the use of salt. While one method is used above, the other is to simply salt the bitter melon pieces, let it stand in a bowl for 30 minutes to an hour, and squeeze out the bitter juices by using a cheesecloth or bare hands. While this method works excellently as well, and is best for pickle-making and achieving a chewy texture required in many recipes, as well as greater ease in frying brown and crispy, it is not the method of choice for this dish, where it is preferrable to somewhat retain the natural crispness and shape inherent in the fresh vegetable.
Some people prefer, because of taste preference, or because they feel that some of the vital nutrients may be lost, that the natural bitterness of this vegetable be left intact; if this is your wish, then this salting and rinsing step may be omitted entirely.
Panch Phoran
This Bengali mixture is made by combining the following whole spices in equal proportions:
1)cumin seeds/zheera
2)black mustard seeds/sarson
3)fennel seeds/saunf
4)nigella seeds/kalonji
5)fenugreek seeds/methi
Combine and store in a tightly-closed jar.
Sooth away troubles, with Cashmere-y Smooch! ;-)
This an adaptation of a wonderful recipe for Kashmiri Meatballs (Mutsch) posted by Anita of A Mad Tea Party; the original may be found here.
However, delicious as her version might be, I felt that there were far too many flavours that cluttered up the dish. I honestly shuddered to think how easy it would be for others to add secret ingredients to the sauce while my back was turned. I felt that the traditional ingredient of goat-meat would be much too strong for my naive and tender palate; I also, sadly, was forced to disregarded her kind suggestion to use ground turkey in place of goat. In the end, I opted to use just four very pure flavours: water, salt, a beautiful pan that I would not consider cooking anything else in, and the delicate flavour of pre-packaged tofu hot dogs.
As you are cooking this traditional Kashmiri dish, you will find how easily you may lose yourself in its calm depths as you watch the pre-packaged tofu hot dogs cook. Notice the Zen-like quality that is captured in the crystalline cooking water, the patches of foam that form and float and remind you of drifting clouds…as time passes, you may find yourself contemplating the large impact that Japanese aesthetic has influenced the cooking and landscape of Kashmir…
As you prod each kofta with a fork to check for done-ness, you may find yourself reminded of past romances; you may even find it possible to expel, during this process, any frustrations you may have currently with the man in your life…
After 30 seconds…
After 40 seconds…
After 2 minutes…
This dish is especially good when paired, not with rice, roti, parathas, or naan- all of which would be too strongly flavoured and would disrupt the colour scheme- but with the least expensive pre-packaged white-flour hot dog buns you can find. Their flavour contains no trace of yeast or heartiness of whole grains which would clash, so they are the best option. And I would resist any temptation you might have of dressing this up with any of the traditional Kashmiri condiments such as ketchup, mustard or dill-pickle relish; instead, relish the fine pure flavours that await you as you nibble slowly, savouring each bite! Pure Nirvana, but smells a bit like teen spirit!
For a lovely dessert, might I suggest either of the following delicious milk-sweets that my friends have lovingly created and captured in their blogs?
Mirchi Ka Salan
When I was in my sophomore year of college, the University opened a summer credit trip-course to India at a very reasonable price to its students. It was $1,100 for a one-week stay in Hyderabad, and this included airfare, a room at a villa, and all meals. I spoke to my parents immediately that night- they thought the experience would be very good- and I signed my name on the list the next day. A good friend of mine, who was a senior at the time, also decided to go. We were both very very excited at the upcoming summer adventure together.
After the deadline for registration had passed, the organizers found that they had far more people interested than they had anticipated, so they sent a letter to all of us explaining this dilemna, and that they had decided to start their new acceptance list with seniors, then juniors, etc. I was placed on the waiting list, lest anyone cancel.
I was never contacted. So, my friend went alone. I was very very disappointed, but still I wished her a wonderful time. And she did have a wonderful time. They toured the city and saw many examples of fine historical architecture, learned a few things about it’s mostly Muslim denizens, and did some shopping!
Upon her return, she presented me with three gifts, which I was not expecting at all: a framed lustrous metallic print of Krishna, a sari, and a tiny cookbook called Mirch Masala- One hundred Indian Recipes.
I have never made anything from this book. Isn’t that strange? My other Indian cookbooks are looking a bit bedraggled from frequent use; this one looks just as it was the day I received it. I hadn’t even thought about it for many years until tonight, after I had made the dish I am about to show you! I am looking at the cover right now, and the price tag says “20.00 Rs Orient Longman”. The introduction is fascinating, as it tells of a woman named Surayya Tyabji, who was a grandchild of a certain Lady Amena Hyderi, a “hostess of the old regime”. Surayya was a great collector of recipes from all over India, and this “distillation” to 100 recipes was her first and only cookbook.
I shall keep this book close at hand from now on!
A few weeks ago I spotted a post for mirchi ka salan on another blog. I had intended to go back and retrieve the recipe, but I could not remember where I had seen it, nor the accurate title. After some futile searching through my links, I gave up, and typed into the search engine the parts of the title I could remember. I copied down 8 different recipes, and chose this one from Daawat.com to try first. The reason? It had more ingredients than the others!
Well, let me tell you… unless you know this already… most of the work of this dish is in the preparation. Of course it would have been easier if I hadn’t just run out of garam masala, which in itself would have been easy enough to remedy had not my little coffee grinder that I use for mass spice-grinding recently died; I had no other option but to use the mortar-and-pestle, which I usually use for smaller quantities, such as that which would go into a single dish. I had run out of garlic, but I had ginger. I went shopping to fetch this and the peanuts. I returned and continued prepping. It was then that I discovered that my ginger was…er…let’s say unusable…
An hour or so later, and everything was in order as you can see. Or was it?
I re-read the recipe a few times and it suddenly struck me as very odd that the peanut-sesame seed/coconut mixture was not roasted in any way. I tasted the smooth-as-possible-for-my-resources paste. Predictably quite raw-tasting. I then made a mad dash to my study to read over the other 7 recipes. The nuts and seeds are most definitely to be roasted…Oh dear! Well………..okay. That leaves me with two options: the first you can guess on your own. I opted for the second. It was worth a try…..nothing to lose at this point. I knew that if I constantly stirred this mess and added a bit of oil, eventually the water I had added during the grinding would evaporate, the oils would begin to be released and the roasting would commence and hopefully I could maintain control over a roasting paste….
45 minutes, my hands aching, and two pans later I had a golden-brown and fragrant, fine grain-like mixture. I dumped this into a bowl, wiped my wok clean(yeah, I know I need a kerai). Then I took a coffee and smoke break.
You don’t need to do this, as you are going to be wise and do your roasting before your grinding.
The only addition I have made to this recipe was the hing. Other recipes for this dish require it and I am quite taken with the spice. Oh….and by the way, apparantly Mirch masala contains an excellent recipe for this dish as well. It’s a small, small world…
Mirchi Ka Salan
Ghee, oil, or a mixture of both
2 t black mustard seeds/sarson
1 T kalonji
1 t fenugreek seeds/methi
A judicious pinch of asafoetida/hing
1 to 1 1/2 lbs green, thick-walled chiles, such as jalapenos, sliced diagonally into 2 or 3 sections, stems intact
2 stalks of curry leaves/kari patta
2 heaping T of ginger-garlic paste/lehsun-adrak
1 t red chiles, ground
1 1/2 t ground turmeric/haldi
2 T ground coriander seed/dhania
2 T ground cumin seeds/zheera
2 t garam masala
1 1/2 C sesame/til seeds, dry roasted
1 C ground-nuts/peanuts, roasted in a little oil
2 C grated fresh coconut, lightly roasted
3-4 C water
salt
tamarind/imli paste
1 C chopped coriander/cilantro leaves/dhania patta
0)Make a smooth paste of the roasted sesame seeds, peanuts, and coconut. Set aside, and have all ingredients prepared and at the ready.
1)Heat ghee/oil in a wok/kerai over a low heat and fry mustard seeds, kalonji, and fenugreek seeds until the fenugreek turns a shade darker(be wary of the popping mustard seeds). Add asafoetida and fry for a few seconds.
2)Add the sliced green chiles and curry leaves, turn up the heat a bit, and fry for a few minutes, turning constantly, until the chiles are well-saturated with the oil. Add more oil if needed.
3)Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes more, turning constantly, until the raw smell disappears from the paste.
4)Add the ground chiles, turmeric, coriander seeds, cumin, and garam masala and fry for a minute or two more, until deliciously fragrant, again turning constantly.
5)Add the sesame seed/peanut/coconut paste and turn to combine these well with the chiles and spices.
6)Add the water and salt to taste and bring to a gentle boil. Stir frequently to avoid sticking and cook until the chiles are just tender.
7)Add tamarind paste to taste and balance the subtle sweetness of the sauce. Cook for 5 minutes more, adding a little water if needed, but aim for a thick, but still mobile gravy.
8)Check salt level, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Notes and afterthoughts: This is a very rich, luxurious, and sensual dish. I have read that this is a variation of the classic Hyderabadi dish, baghara baigan, but I have suspicions that it has taken a life and standing of its own, despite its conception as a spin-off. The occasional bites containing the fenugreek seeds add a surprise of bitterness to a delicately sweet-sour sauce. Obviously, it is hot as well, but not unpleasantly so, and would be a treasured recipe for any chile aficionado… This could also be made using sweet green bell peppers/capsicums for a mild version of this classic dish. This is most often served as an accompaniment to Hyderabadi biryanis, but is also delicious with plain rice or roti, and I suggest serving it with an array of lighter dishes to offset its richness. Your guests will find delight in every mouthful!
Elaichi et Cetera... 