We are visiting Laos this month for the Food of the World event. I made this Laotian Eggplant with Tomatoes and Mint recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine.
Laos is a landlocked country bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the West. I've heard about Laos, but had very limited knowledge of the country or the cuisine. A little googling later, I learnt (from Wiki) that steamed sticky rice is the staple food of Laos and they eat more sticky rice than any other country in the world.
Showing posts with label Eggplant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eggplant. Show all posts
July 12, 2016
July 05, 2016
Vankaya Perugu Pachadi (Eggplant in Yogurt gravy)
Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: 3 Veggies that are Fruit
Dish: Vankaya Perugu Pachadi
For the final day of this week's theme '3 veggies that are fruit', I have a dish made with eggplant -- you know I can't miss an opportunity to try and post a new recipe with my favorite veggie. I watched this yogurt based eggplant dish being made on a Telugu cooking show.
I planted a few eggplant saplings in my backyard this year and they just started to flower and grow. My daughter counts the flowers and the tiny eggplants everyday. Hopefully I'll have more eggplant dishes for you this summer.
April 22, 2016
Sambhariyu Shaak (Gujarati Stuffed Mixed Vegetable Curry)
BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 3: Gujarati Cuisine
Day 19: S for Sambhariya Shaak
Today's Gujarati dish is yet another traditional vegetable dish. Here the veggies are stuffed with a spicy coconut filling and then pressure cooked until cooked to perfection. Another amazing recipe from Tarla Dalal.com.
All of my recipes for this week are from Tarla Dala's site. It has been a great resource and I love watching her videos as well. She makes even a hard recipe sound very easy to make.
April 12, 2016
Sabich (Israeli Vegetarian Sandwich) for #Food of the World
We are visiting the beautiful Middle Eastern country of Israel for this month's Food of the World event. Israeli cuisine includes local dishes by native Israelis and the Jewish dishes brought in by the Jews from the Diaspora. One of the most popular Israeli dish, Shashuka (eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce) was my fist pick for today, but then I saw this mouth watering Sabich sandwich on Serious Eats and it looked too good to pass up.
Sabich is an Israeli street food. It is supposed to be influenced from Iraqi Jewish immigrants. The Israelis took a traditional Iraqi breakfast spread of fried eggplants, boiled eggs etc and put it in a pita and made into a trendy delicacy.
April 02, 2016
Begun-er-Tok (Bengali Sweet & Sour Eggplant)
BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 2: B for Begun-er-Tok (Bengali Sweet & Sour Eggplant)
Letter B in Bengali cuisine gave me a ton of recipes to try. B is for Begun or eggplant in Bengali and there were way too many recipes to choose from like begun bhaja, begun posto, doodh begun, doi begun, begun basanti and so on. In the end I decided to make this lesser known eggplant dish, Begun-er Tok from Soma's blog.
This is a traditional Bengali dish which is sweet, spicy and tangy, all at the same time. This way of cooking eggplant is very new to me which is why I decided to make it instead of the other more popular Bengali begun recipes.
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 2: B for Begun-er-Tok (Bengali Sweet & Sour Eggplant)
Letter B in Bengali cuisine gave me a ton of recipes to try. B is for Begun or eggplant in Bengali and there were way too many recipes to choose from like begun bhaja, begun posto, doodh begun, doi begun, begun basanti and so on. In the end I decided to make this lesser known eggplant dish, Begun-er Tok from Soma's blog.
October 05, 2015
Eggplant with Yogurt sauce (Dahi Baingan)
After 2 International eggplant dishes (Imam Biyildi and Eggplant Parmesan), I made an Indian dish for the final day. It was really tough picking dishes from Valli's list because I have already posted some of them on the blog and there are quite a few that I really wanted to try.
This is supposed to be Dahi Baingan from the list. This dish is made in Orissa and West Bengal. But this recipe is not the traditional way of preparing it. From what I have seen, traditionally eggplants are marinated in spices and deep fried, then cooked in a yogurt sauce.
October 04, 2015
Eggplant Parmesan for 1
Today I have one of my most favorite non-Indian eggplant dish, Eggplant Parmesan. Fried breaded eggplant slices layered with cheese and marinara sauce makes this dish rich and calorie dense. I've eaten it a couple of times in restaurants and many times at buffet style parties.
I have already posted a lighter version of eggplant parm with roasted eggplant and creamed spinach. Today's recipe has all the components of the traditional Eggplant parmesan but is lighter on calories and it makes just 1 serving. So now I don't have to make wait for a special occasion or party to make this dish, I can make it whenever I feel like it.
October 03, 2015
Imam Biyildi (Turkish Stuffed Eggplant)
We are back to our regular 3 days a week blogging this month. My theme for this week is 'Eggplant Dishes' and if you follow my blog you know my love for eggplant and there is no way I would miss this theme. Valli gave us a list of eggplant dishes to choose from, so for the next 3 days I will be posting 3 eggplant dishes from around the world.
The baby and the big eggplants you see in the below pictures were picked fresh from the farm and the long Japanese eggplants are from my backyard garden. All these fresh eggplants were a great inspiration to cook for this theme.
October 02, 2015
Muvva Vankaya Kura (Baby Eggplant Curry)
I'm always looking for new eggplant recipes and when I find a new recipe, I try to make as soon as I can :-) This muvva vankaya (muvva=pearl vankaya=eggplant) curry recipe is from a Telugu cooking show that I duly noted down in my recipe diary. Valli already made the same dish few months back.
We rarely get really small baby eggplants here, so it took me a while to get to this recipe. But luckily my mom found some beautiful baby eggplants at the Indian grocery a month back and I made this curry right away (so it has been sitting in the drafts for while :-)).
September 08, 2015
Japanese Eggplants broiled with Miso (Nasu Dengaku)
After cooking more than 1 dish for the mega blogging marathon, I think I got in the habit of making more dishes. So here I am with the second Japanese dish for #Food of the World event that I served with Miso Noodle Soup.
I planted 2 eggplant plants in my raised garden bed and after waiting the whole summer, they have just started to grow some beautiful, long Japanese eggplants. I wanted to make a Japanese dish using them and found this simple Broiled Japanese eggplants with miso recipe on Fatfree Vegan's site.
July 03, 2015
Eggplant Parmesan with Creamed Spinach
Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Vegetarian Italian dishes
Dish: Eggplant Parmesan with Creamed Spinach
We are starting a new edition of blogging marathon today and my theme for the week is 'Vegetarian Italian Dishes'. With my son thinking that he is half Italian, it is only obvious that I take up this theme to try some new Italian dishes.
I already have a lot of Italian dishes on my blog and I wanted to try something new and different for this week. First up is a spin on classic eggplant parmesan. The traditional way of making this dish involves frying eggplant and then burying it under piles of gooey cheese and tomato sauce. It's very delicious, but it has enough calories for the whole day.
February 27, 2015
Thai Vegetable Red Curry (Vegan Recipe)
Today's dish is a spicy, creamy & slightly sweet Thai red curry made with vegetables. I always have Thai curry pastes, both red and green, in the refrigerator to make quick curries, rice or even noodles. Make sure to check the ingredients on the store bought Thai curry pastes because some might have fish sauce or other seafood related ingredients in them. Even better, use the recipe for the curry paste at the end of the post for your very own homemade version.
This recipe is adapted from 'Buddha's Table: Thai feasting Vegetarian Style' cookbook. I used the veggies listed in the recipe, but any vegetable can be added to this curry. Potato, mushroom, zucchini, baby corn, carrots are all good in here. It is great when served with some steamed jasmine rice.
November 30, 2014
Borani Banjan (Afghan Layered Eggplant Dish)
For this month's International Food Challenge, we are visiting Afghanistan. Big Thanks to Saraswathi for giving me the opportunity to host this month's event. Researching for recipes and sharing with the group was quite a fun experience.
Afghani cuisine has many similarities to Indian cuisine especially in the variety of spices that they use in their dishes. Afghanistan is located on the historically important trade route called the Silk route/ Silk Road which meant Afghani cuisine is influenced by the trading communities on that route. Afghani cuisine has the influences of Iran, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and China.
November 25, 2014
Lebanese Moussaka (Vegetarian Recipe)
Blogging Marathon# 47: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: Bookmarked Recipes from A-Z International Marathon
Dishes: Lebanese Moussaka
For Day 2 of blogging marathon, I picked my favorite ingredient and made this delicious Lebanese eggplant dish that I bookmarked long time ago. I made another hearty & comforting Lebanese dish for the mega marathon and mentioned about how I wanted to try this Lebanese Moussaka dish from a local Middle Eastern restaurant.
It so happened that we went to that restaurant a few weeks later and my husband ordered their Lebanese Moussaka and he really liked it. That is a really big compliment coming from an ex-eggplant-hater. It sure was very very tasty and I decided it was time to try the dish at home.
October 25, 2014
Vankaya Kurma (Eggplant Kurma) -- Revisiting Recipe
Blogging Marathon# 45: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: Revisiting Old Recipes
Dish: Vankaya Kurma (Eggplant in Peanut-Yogurt sauce)
Theme: Revisiting Old Recipes
Dish: Vankaya Kurma (Eggplant in Peanut-Yogurt sauce)
I am revisiting old recipes as part of this week's Blogging marathon theme and of course I had to browse through my eggplant recipes to see what needs a face lift. This also gives me a chance to make the dish again and enjoy it. My poor husband is the victim to all of my eggplant creations. I'm a eggplant lover and I'm on a mission to convert an eggplant hater to a somewhat liker. I think he's now in at the junction where he neither likes it nor dislikes it -- so hopefully he'll get to where I want him to be pretty soon.
So browsing through the archives, I ended up on this Eggplant kurma that I posted more than 3 years ago. I am not a big fan of yogurt in curries, but I've to tell you the yogurt gives the dish tanginess and makes it absolutely delicious. I used 'labneh'-- a Turkish style thick cream sort of yogurt that is almost like Greek yogurt and I loved the results. I was skeptical if my husband would find out the presence of yogurt (which he also dislikes with a passion), but labneh didn't have the smell that Indian yogurt has and it was virtually undetectable.
September 23, 2014
Turkish Bulgur Pilaf with Veggies
I thought bulgur was used to make Tabbouleh only until I ate this pilaf. I should have known, bulgur to Turkish is like rice to South Indians -- the many variations of rice we enjoy is incredible. So bulgur
is used in both savory and sweet preparations. Bulgur is made from groats of several different wheat species. It looks like our wheat rawa and it probably is Turkish wheat rawa -- I'm not sure (if any of you do, please add your comment below).
is used in both savory and sweet preparations. Bulgur is made from groats of several different wheat species. It looks like our wheat rawa and it probably is Turkish wheat rawa -- I'm not sure (if any of you do, please add your comment below).
September 19, 2014
Qatar -- Motabel (Smokey Eggplant & Tahini dip)
BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: Q for Qatar
Country: Q for Qatar
Dish: Motabel (Smokey Eggplant & Tahini dip)
We are going to Qatar today because from the little I know there are no more countries that start with Q :-) Qatar is a sorerign Arab country located in Western Asia. It is world's richest country per capita due to the presence of large natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
Qatari cuisine is very similar to other Middle eastern countries. I picked a eggplant dip recipe from Qatar. It seems like some version of eggplant dip is present in all of the Mediterranean cuisines. Motabel/ Moutabel is almost like Baba ghanoush with smokey roasted eggplant as the main ingredient.
Qatari cuisine is very similar to other Middle eastern countries. I picked a eggplant dip recipe from Qatar. It seems like some version of eggplant dip is present in all of the Mediterranean cuisines. Motabel/ Moutabel is almost like Baba ghanoush with smokey roasted eggplant as the main ingredient.
September 10, 2014
Italy - Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta in Spicy Eggplant & Tomato Sauce)
BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: I for Italy
Dish: Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta in Spicy Eggplant & Tomato Sauce) We are going back to Europe, to Italy today. Italy seemed an obvious choice and my son thinks he's half Italian because his favorite foods are pizza and pasta. But come to think of it, I like Italian food too. What's not to like about pasta, cheese and pizza.
Italy also is on my bucket list not just to enjoy the local food but also to tour the beautiful, historic and touristic places. Many hollywood movies are shot in Italy, I especially remember the beautiful locations in George Clooney's 'The American' movie. Lot of Indian movies have shown us Venice, making it a definite stop in Italy while we are there. Oh, how I wish, my dreams can come true.
Italian cuisine is characterized by its simplicity with many dishes having only 4~8 ingredients. Italian cooks rely on fresh, quality ingredients rather than elaborate preparation. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine.
July 25, 2014
Spicy Eggplant Curry (Vankaya Masala kura)
Today's dish is made by my neighbor aunty and since it is an eggplant curry made in a different way, I had to click to pictures and post the recipe for future reference. One of the perks of living in India is the loving neighbors who share their homemade dishes and recipes.
When I signed up for this month's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge', I knew I might have to bother my mom to make some of her signature dishes so that I can share them with you all. But luckily I have more than one source here and thanks to my dear aunty I have a yummy eggplant curry in my repertoire.
May 26, 2014
Panch Phoron Tarkari & Kulath ki Dal
Kulath ki Dal from Uttarakand: Horsegram is a completely new ingredient for me. I bought it just before April's Mega marathon in the hopes of using it in one of the dishes, but I didn't use it for any of the dishes. But luckily I found quite a few interesting recipes using it and here I am with the very first dish I made with Horsegram.
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