Curry-Palooza: Eggplant with Crushed Mustard Seeds & Yogurt

This week I had the opportunity to try a brand new curry involving certain techniques that I'm not at all familiar with. Margie of More Please picked this rather unusual recipe by Madhur Jaffrey who, I am convinced, has a knack for taking a few simple ingredients and turning them into something amazing. Every single time. 

This curry uses 'Paanchporan' - a Bengali spice-mix that I have never used before but discovered is the same thing as 'achari masala/spice-mix' which I have indeed used & am very fond of. I made my own 'Paanchporan' since I had all the whole spices on hand (it requires equal parts of cumin, nigella seeds, aniseed, black mustard seeds and fenugreek). I was skeptical about using such a large (seemingly to me) amount of fenugreek because experience has taught me that it has to be used sparingly or it lends a certain bitterness to curries. The recipe also requires the unusual method of crushing the mustard seeds, mixing them with water along with a bare pinch of cayenne pepper and simmering the eggplant in this mixture. Atypical as it was I found that this technique lent a wonderful 'mustardy' aroma to the curry and gave it a deep, yet unsaturated,  note of flavor. 

That said, I had a few minor issues with the execution: I diced my eggplant smaller than indicated, so it cooked faster and  turned out a little mushy. In addition to which the yogurt split when added and I found that the fenugreek did indeed make the curry a teeny bit bitter so it did not go down well with the rest of the family. Maybe it's my/our taste buds, or maybe it's that I need to improve on the technique of cooking with this particular spice, but I intend to reduce the amount of fenugreek seeds significantly when I prepare my Paanchporan mix next time. It's a shame about the bitterness because, otherwise, I really like the flavors in this simple and quick-cooking curry.

I know for a fact that the other Curry-Palooza members had no such issues & really enjoyed this curry. The recipe can be found on Margie's blog. Please check out the participants' posts by following these links:

Croque-Camille

More Please

Sage Trifle

Curry-Palooza is a monthly event. Members take turns picking random recipes each month & next up it's Camille's pick. I'm hoping she will throw a challenge our way!

If you'd like to join in the fun, please email either Rocquie or myself. 

Mango-Almond Kulfi

I know what you're thinking, 'Mangoes again?'

I realize I sound mildly obsessed, working mangoes into every recipe possible. But it's August now, almost the end of mango season. And I'm reluctant to let go.

Since it's too warm to bake, I decided instead to experiment with making Kulfi. Traditionally Kulfi is made by cooking milk till it is reduced, but this 'cheats version' is ridiculously simple and very close to the real thing. Since the possibilities for playing around are endless, I worked crushed almonds and mangoes into this version. The result: fantastic, of course.

Give it a whirl!

Mango-Almond Kulfi

Add the following to a blender:

1 can (14-oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk
enough whipping cream/half-and-half to make 1 liter
1 slice of bread, crusts removed
1/4 - 1/2 cup sweet mango
a handful of chopped almonds
1 heaped tsp cardamom, powdered  (or seeds from 8 - 10 cardamom pods, crushed)

Whiz everything together until blended. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

I sprayed my molds very slightly with cooking spray and dusted with ground almonds (used my coffee grinder for this) before pouring the Kulfi mixture in.

If you'd like to make a plain version, omit the mango and/or almonds. Personally I like it best the traditional way: with just chopped pistachios and cardamom.

Shahi Tukray : A Pakistani/Indian Bread Pudding

This post can alternatively be titled "how not to make friends and influence people". 

I mentioned that I moved last week, right? On my third day in the new neighborhood I found myself invited to a tea party (later in the week) at the house of the neighbor who lives across the street from me. It was awfully sweet of her to invite me in an effort to introduce me to a small group of Sout-East Asian (read Pakistani & Indian) ladies from the neighborhood. I was told it was a pot-luck but I was not obliged to bring anything because I have my hands full, not to mention my luck running completely down the drain with my oven and refrigerator going kaput the moment we moved in, as well as various plumbing-related disasters (more on those horror stories later). 

I wanted to take something along anyway. But baking was out of the question. However, by some stroke of luck my refrigerator came to life a day before the party, so I figured I could manage to cook some kind of dessert on the stove. And I thought: Shahi Tukray. It's a wonderful Pakistani dessert; one that I really enjoy making and consuming, and I can't think of many Pakistanis or Indians who don't love it as well as I do.  

It was a brilliant idea (according to myself) . . . but then I decided to reduce the amount of sugar to almost 1/4th of what I generally use. Some evil voice in my head whispered that I ought to make it less sweet. And so I ruined the dessert. Which I discovered too late: at the party. 

These things happen. You have to take them in your stride.

But you just don't want them happening when you're meeting a group of strangers for the first time in your life. 

Talk about Social-Suicide: torture their taste buds; ruin your social status forever. 

If you never hear neighborhood-related pot-luck stories from me ever again, you will know why. 

On to the recipe, in it's unaltered form. 

One warning before I proceed: any Indian/Pakistani dish (either savory or sweet) beginning with the word 'Shahi' (which means Royal) is bound to be decadent and super-rich; full of cream or sugar or fat or nuts or all four combined. 

If none of that is for you, turn around now and stop reading this post. 

Shahi Tukray

4-6 slices of white bread, crusts removed and cut into triangles

1 litre milk (it doesn't matter if you use low-fat, it won't alter the carb/fat content of this dessert)

6-8 cardamom pods, split open

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar 

1 cup powdered milk

A couple of tablespoons of Ghee (Clarified Butter) for frying

Chopped pistachios/almonds for garnish

Fry the bread triangles in ghee till both sides are golden brown. 

I prefer to spread a very thin layer of ghee on both sides of the bread and place it in a hot, un-greased pan. I like to believe that I'm using less ghee that way. 

The ghee can be substituted with butter if you can't find it, but don't try to substitute it with margarine because it will taste awful.  

Once the bread is fried, arrange it in a dish any way that you like. I cut mine into smaller triangles this time and so I randomly layered them on top of each other. 

Place the milk, cardamom, sugar and powdered milk in a heavy-based pan. Mix well and simmer on medium-low heat, stirring every now and then,  till the sugar has dissolved and the milk mixture has slightly reduced (About 45 mins - 1 hour).

Remove from heat, spoon the hot milk all over the bread triangles; making sure all of them are covered. 

Let cool for 10 mins before covering with cling-film. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight before serving. 

Garnish with chopped pistachios or almonds (or both). Serve.