Vegetable Coconut Curry

August 15, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Main Dish

A few weeks ago I was asked to participate in a curry cook-off fundraiser through which my dear friends Antonio and Nicole from Science in a Suitcase were raising money for volunteers to go on a trip to Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India. Their organization sends engineer volunteers to third-world countries to expose children to science.

I got to know Nicole and Antonio through my job, but we really got to be friends when earlier this year I volunteered for them in Siem Riep, Cambodia teaching elementary school kids Lego Robotics. I spent three days at a local school teaching with legos and building cool stuff like motorized tuk-tuks and boats with a group of super shy yet creative kids. Even though it was exhausting spending 8-10 hours in a hot classroom with no A/C, it was so rewarding. It felt so good to share my passion for science and engineering with such a bright and eager group--they even came to school on a Saturday just so they could spend an extra day learning from me. Education isn't a given in that part of the world, and children don't take it for granted like is often the case here at home.

The trip to Cambodia wasn't work-related though. Everything was organized by my amazing girlfriend Roni, who singlehandedly made all the arrangements to make sure we had a great time there. I haven't mentioned it yet here, but Roni has a social business called krama wheel that empowers women in Cambodia to work from home and help kids get access to education: for each handmade scarf or beach throw sold she donates a school uniform to a child in need.

If you aren't familiar with recent Cambodian history, in the late 70's during the Khmer Rouge regime under the leadership of Pol Pot, over 25% (2-3 million out of 8 million people) of Cambodia's population was executed or died in forced labor camps due to strenuous working conditions, malnutrition and lack of medical care. Most of the victims were intellectuals ranging from doctors to teachers. Pol Pot's idea was to create an agrarian socialist country where only peasants were needed. According to his calculation, to achieve this utopia he needed only one or two million people.

The effects of those horrible crimes are still noticeable in Cambodia. Literacy and education rates are low and poverty is peaking. On this trip I had the chance to experience what fuels Roni's drive to succeed with krama wheel. She took me to some of the most isolated villages in rural Cambodia where families cannot afford to send their children to school for various reasons, one common one being that they don't have the funds to buy school uniforms (which are mandatory), another being that families require their children to help in the fields to ensure a successful harvest to make ends meet.

I come from a poor country and lived under the communist regime of Ceausescu. I know what is it like to have meager food rations. I know what is it like to have no freedom of speech, to live in fear of the secret police agency (Securitatea). It was bad, but at least I had access to education. Education is what helped me be the person I am today. That's why I feel so strongly about education and wanting to help others in need. I truly feel that education is the most powerful tool for changing the world.

As for the curry, I didn't win the cook-off. An absolutely amazing lamb curry came in first and a duck curry in second. Mine was one of the top-voted among the vegetarian curries and I received praises by many of my Indian co-workers, which honestly made me feel more honored than any award could. The vegetable list in the recipe is pretty extensive. I added so many, because I had to cook for 8-10 people, but you can opt to add less. Enjoy!

VEGETABLE COCONUT CURRy

Serves 6-8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 can coconut paste (about 14 oz) (or coconut milk with 1 tsp potato starch)
6 oz Greek yogurt - optional (add more coconut paste if you want it vegan)
6 oz tomato paste
3 TBS ghee (or unsalted butter)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander, ground
1 TBS kosher salt
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and diced to 1/4 inch cubes
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced to 1/4 inch slices
1 1/2 lbs ravaya eggplants, trimmed and quartered to 1 inch chunks (or regular eggplants)
1 lb cauliflower florets
3 cups vegetable broth (4 cups for more curry sauce)
1/2 lb French beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, drained - optional
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup roasted cashews
salt, to taste

Paste

3/4 cup unsalted cashews, soaked in warm water for 15-20 minutes
3-4 Thai chilies, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cilantro stems, roughly chopped
7 garlic cloves, crushed
2 inch ginger root, crushed and roughly chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly diced
1 TBS kosher salt

Tempering

1 bunch fresh curry leaves (about 15-20 leaves)
1 cinnamon stick
8-10 cloves, whole
8-10 green cardamom pods, whole
2-4 black cardamom pods, whole
1 tsp black mustard seeds, whole
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds - optional
2 dried bay leaves
1 star anise, whole

Paneer

1 tsp peanut oil (or canola, or sunflower seed)
14 oz paneer, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp peanut oil (or canola, or sunflower seed)
1 tsp salt

Instructions

In a bowl combine coconut milk, yogurt and tomato paste. Whisk until all ingredients are combined. Let the mixture sit at room temperature while you proceed with the rest of the recipe.
In a food processor mix all the ingredients under paste. Pulse until you reach a smooth consistency. Set aside.
In a large deep stainless steel skillet heat one tablespoon ghee over medium-high heat. When it melts and starts smoking add all spices under the tempering section. Toast until mustard seeds start to pop and spices become aromatic, about 1 minute. At this point you can remove and discard the larger spices (cloves, anise, cardamom, bay leaves, fenugreek seeds) if you'd like, as the spices already released their aromatic oils.
Add the rest of the ghee, let it melt and then mix in onions. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until onions are translucent.
Pour in the paste mixture and cook until it thickens, about 10 minutes. Add turmeric, chili, coriander powder, and one tablespoon salt. Stir well.
Add sweet potatoes (do not add the regular potatoes yet, if using), carrots, eggplant and cauliflower. Pour in the veggie broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender, but not mushy. Remember that you'll cook them more so don't overcook them.
Meanwhile, in a bowl combine one teaspoon oil, paneer cubes, coriander, turmeric and chili powder. Mix well until the paneer is evenly coated. In a non stick pan heat the rest of oil (2 teaspoons) over medium heat. When the oil is hot and it easily slides across the pan, add paneer cubes. Cook until golden brown on each side, about 5-10 minutes. When done, sprinkle with salt, transfer the paneer to a plate and set aside.
Return to the large skillet. Temper the coconut and yogurt mixture by transferring one ladle at a time of the hot curry into the mixing bowl. Once tempered, pour the mixture into the skillet, and stir to combine.
Add potatoes, beans, chickpeas and paneer and cook for another 8-10 minutes. Taste and adjust saltiness. Chances are that the curry will need a lot more salt.
Remove from heat, sprinkle with cilantro and more cashews if you'd like.

NOTES

Some of the spices used for tempering are unpleasant to bite into. I personally don't mind them (except for the fenugreek which is very bitter) and usually just leave them all in the curry and remove them when eating. Alternatively you can use a tea ball for the more intense spices after you toasted them.
Don't be surprised by the amount of salt you'll need to use. It's normal when working with vegetables.
Serve hot over basmati rice or with naan bread with a side of raita.

Sicilian Caponata with Garlic Toast

August 07, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Appetizer, Side Dish

If you're familiar with my blog, you know that I have a soft spot for stews. I grew up eating them almost weekly. Although most of the times in Romania people will eat meat-based stews it is not unheard of to make stews out of vegetables. Since I'm still sticking to my plan of eating clean in my attempt to get rid of a few extra pounds I decided to try my hand at a vegan dish.

The good news for those who love eggplant as much as I do, is that they are in season. I'm signed up for a bi-weekly delivery of fresh local vegetables from Farmhouse Delivery and the latest vegetable bushel contained these cute baby eggplants that I had no clue what to do with. They were too small for my eggplant lasagna or for my mom's eggplant spread, but too big to pickle them whole. So I looked through my notes on my phone and I found one that said "Make Caponata next time you come across fresh and cheap eggplants". I can't remember exactly where I got the idea from, but it must've been from one of the cooking shows that I've been watching lately.

Caponata is a fragrant Mediterranean eggplant dish that comes from Southern Italy- the island of Sicily to be more specific. It is a versatile summertime classic in Italy. While eggplant, celery, onions, olives, capers, tomatoes, olive oil and vinegar are main ingredients, some Sicilians will add anchovies, artichokes, peppers, potatoes, mushrooms and even chocolate to it. Depending on the region, city or household, opinions are split regarding what goes into the perfect caponata. For me the perfect caponata is one that includes the main ingredients plus a few aromatic herbs for extra flavor.

Caponata can be served warm as a side dish with grilled fish and meats or at room temperature as an antipasto. I found that a nice balance between the sweetness of the vegetables and raisins and the sourness of the vinegar is achieved at room temperature. I went as far as adding a couple of spoons in my scrambled eggs and let me tell you that it was rather delicious. Buon appetito!

SICILIAN CAPONATA WITH GARLIC TOAST

Serves 6-8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs eggplant, diced into large 1" chunks
1 TBS kosher salt
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 TBS olive oil
3 TBS olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, roughly diced
1/2 cup parsley stems, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1-2 celery stalks, finely chopped (or 1 cup celery root finely chopped)
1 cup green olives, pitted
3 TBS capers, soaked and rinsed
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 TBS sugar
1/2 TBS black pepper, freshly ground
kosher salt, to taste
2 TBS slivered almond, toasted
1/4 cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 fresh baguette
1 clove garlic

Tomato Sauce

2 TBS olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2-3 scallions, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
4 big ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
6-8 fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Salt the eggplant chunks generously. Use about one tablespoon kosher salt and toss well to make sure all chunks are evenly coated. Let them sit in a colander for about 20 minutes. This will help get rid of the bitterness of the eggplant and will also make it less soggy and more tender when cooked.
While the eggplant is resting prepare the tomato sauce. Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil slides easily across the skillet, add shallots, scallions and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Toss in garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and oregano and bring to a boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to low-medium, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, taste and season with salt and pepper and give it another stir. Set aside.
Rinse eggplant under running water to wash off the excess salt. Drain eggplant and place chunks on a tray lined with paper towels. Pat them dry. This is very important because you'll fry them next and you don't want to oil to splatter everywhere.
Once dry, sprinkle coriander and dry oregano coating the eggplant evenly. In a large non stick pan, heat two tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Work in batches if you think that the eggplant won't comfortably fit in the skillet. When the oil is shimmering, add eggplant and toss to coat evenly with oil. When the eggplant chunks are golden brown on each side, about 5-7 minutes, transfer to a paper towel lined tray or wire rack.
In a large and deep stainless steel skillet heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (it easily slides across the pan), add onions, peppers and parsley stems, stir and cook until onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.
Toss in garlic next, stir and cook for another 2 minutes, then add raisins, eggplant, celery, olives and capers. Toss and cook for another 5 minutes then pour in vinegar and sugar. When the vinegar evaporates, about 5 minute, add tomato sauce. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 more minutes. When done remove from the heat.
Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley leaves and toasted almonds.
To toast the almonds, heat a small skillet over high heat. When the skillet is hot, add almonds, toast and stir for 2-3 minutes until they become golden brown.
Cut a baguette in half lengthwise (or slice of bread), toast it and then rub one side with garlic. Top toast with caponata. You can serve it cold or warm, whichever you prefer.

NOTES

When frying the eggplant, don't overload the pan, as it will reduce the heat too drastically and the eggplant chunks will absorb all the oil making them soggy and greasy. Instead work in batches if you have to. Split the amount of oil into the number of batches that you'll cook.
Don't use a cast iron pan as tomatoes and vinegar will be used in this recipe. The acidic reaction between the metal (cast iron) and acid (vinegar and tomatoes) will not only alter the color of the tomatoes, but also may damage your pan if it's not seasoned properly.
When toasting the almonds, make sure you toss and stir often as almond shavings burn fast. When done, remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the almonds immediately to a plate as they'll keep toasting even after you removed the skillet from the heat.
Store caponata in the refrigerator in a sealed container. It will keep well for over a week.

Eggplant Spread à la Rodica

July 14, 2015 by Aurel Pop in Appetizer

This past weekend was super awesome. After several weekends abroad I finally got to be lazy. I didn't cook much and I didn't post on here. Instead I just enjoyed the good weather, had Tacodeli for breakfast, and napped every single day. We had a blast. It all started on Saturday with a brunch at Roni's parents' place. Her mom made a traditional Israeli breakfast dish, shakshuka (a secret recipe that I want to learn from her), hummus, and carrot salad. We also had a delicious Israeli chopped salad that Roni's sister made. I decided to contribute my own mom's specialty to the meal- eggplant spread à la Rodica. If you were wondering what Rodica means, it is just my mother's name.

This spread is special for several reasons: 1) it's my mother's recipe, 2) it got even Roni's mom to eat an eggplant dish even though she's not a big fan of eggplant, and 3) because it's my favorite spread from childhood.

It is very similar to baba ganoush, which is not surprising since Romanian cuisine has been greatly influenced by Ottoman cuisine. For almost 300 years Romania was under the rules of the Ottoman Empire and that's when eggplant, peppers and other nightshade fruits and vegetables made their way to Romanians' tables. Dishes like moussaka, eggplant stuffed with lamb meat, and zacusca are all based on eggplant and are very common in Romania. Of course, some recipes are a bit different from the traditional Ottoman ones but that's mostly due to the fact that some ingredients weren't available in Romania. People had to innovate by replacing those ingredients with whatever was easy to find. If baba ganoush uses tahini, my mother's eggplant spread uses homemade mayonnaise. I have never tried to make it with store bought mayo, and I recommend you not doing it either. It's just different and will taste nothing like Rodica's recipe.

This spread reminds me of hot summer days at my parents’ lake cabin at Mujdeni, Romania. It was beautiful and we loved spending time there. The scenery was gorgeous too as the whole lake is surrounded by hills and forests. Although the cabin had two stories, it wasn't very big. On the bottom floor we had the kitchen and living room with a big queen size bed. Usually my parents slept there. To get to the upper level you had to climb a ladder, so that was reserved for the kids. There were two smaller rooms upstairs with a twin bed in each. Normally you'd think that only my parents, my sister and I would sleep there, but sometimes we had cousins or family friends over for days. We slept on the floor on mattresses or in sleeping bags outside on the deck. It was so much fun and it never felt like the house was too small.

For outdoorsy kids like my cousins and I it was heaven on earth. We got to spend all day outside, swimming, sunbathing, playing soccer, badminton, volleyball or fishing. The adults loved it too. They would make the kids collect firewood from the forest so they could cook traditional dishes like Gulyás (goulash), Pörkölt (Hungarian stew) or Halászlé (a hot paprika based fish soup) all made in a bogrács, which is a traditional Hungarian enamel cauldron. Then they would grill all kinds of traditional Romanian meats (mititei, carnati de casa (homemade sausages) and slanina (bacon)) and veggies on a plow disc cooker simply called disc in Romanian. It was a feast and it always felt as if we were celebrating something.

All these dishes took a long time to cook though, so my mom always had to think ahead and prepare some "snacks" for the hungry kids who spent all day swimming in the lake or running and jumping in the sun. On a scale of 1 to 10 we were constantly at 10 in terms of hunger. Every 2 hours we'd get hungry and my mom would always have something for us. Something as simple as bread with homemade apricot or strawberry jam or bread and butter with cured meats and fresh tomatoes, onions, radishes and hard boiled eggs. Another favorite was her eggplant spread. My cousins and I went crazy over it. Mom would make it out of 10-12 eggplants and we'd finish it within a day or two. We would eat thick loaves of fresh crispy bread loaded with a thick layer of the spread with a side of Telemea cheese (Romanian feta) and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.

We were never bored there. We always found something to do. At night we'd play cards, tell stories or sing by the candlelight. The kids would sip on their homemade elderberry or sour cherry syrup mixed with club soda, while the adults would drink homemade wine or beer. We never complained about having to use the outhouse, not having electricity, or having to walk every morning to the spring for water for drinking, cooking and washing dishes. We were all so happy there.

Eggplant Spread à la Rodica

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Inactive time: 1 hour

Ingredients

3 large eggplants
2 egg yolks, pasture raised
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup sunflower seed oil (or peanut oil)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 TBS white wine vinegar
1 small red onion (or 1 medium shallot)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked
salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat grill to 450F (230C). Alternatively you can use a flattop cast iron grill (plancha) on medium-high heat. My mom swears by the latter.
Using a fork, pierce the eggplants. Place them on the grill rack (or on the plancha) and roast them until the skin blisters. I prefer charring them a bit, for that extra umami flavor. This should take about 35-40 minutes. Turn them every 10-15 minutes.
Once the eggplants are grilled, put them in a colander, cover with aluminum foil and let them rest for about 10-15 minutes. This will help get rid of the bitterness of the eggplant.
Peel eggplants and chop them roughly.
You have two options now: a quick one, where you combine all the ingredients and using a hand mixer, mix them together until you get a smooth spread; or a longer one where you make the mayonnaise separately using the egg yolks, salt, mustard, white pepper, lemon juice, vinegar and oil and only then using a hand mixer to mix it with the eggplant, onion and garlic. My mom never bothered making the mayo separately, so I will leave it's up to you to decide which route to take. I tried both options and honestly neither I, nor my taste tester, Roni, was able to tell the difference.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Let the spread rest for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.
Serve it on toast with feta cheese and paprika sprinkled on top or simply use it as a dip with pita bread. It goes really well with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and peppers.

Notes

The size of the eggplant will impact the grilling time, so if you have smaller eggplants it will take less.
Don't be surprised by the amount of salt you'll need to use. It's normal when working with eggplant.
If you don't have a hand mixer, use a food processor, but be aware that making it this way you'll get a much smoother and silkier spread. I like the hand mixer version, because the spread will be a bit chunky.