December 14, 2010

Stuffed Eggplant (with Onion, Coconut and Chickpea Flour)

The book that I am currently reading on my Kindle is Dianne Jacob's "Will Write For Food" - a complete guide about how-to's to the art of food writing. The book has references and interviews with many renowned star chefs Molly O Neill (who compares making a soup to a road trip in a blizzard) to accomplished food editors like Ruth Reichl to NYT restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton and many others. Truly such personalities *show* food, not just *tell* about food by using an umpteen number of adjectives. They, through their evocative, vivid writing styles  - transport their readers to a faraway, believable neverland, just for a minute and titilate the senses by taking on a journey, with them.

As you read through the pages, one would realize how beautiful and sensual 'food writing' could be. It truly describes what are the essential ingredients required to be successful and/or passionate foodie writer and also talks about what distinguishes the great food writers from the rest. I could not  agree more when Dianne when she says, in the context of joy of food writing - "On days where you're so immersed in your work that the hours fly by, you know you've chosen a great profession".

This book is a must for all who have passion for food and who wants to write good food articles and who secretly wish to write magazine-worthy articles. :-)

..now coming to today's recipe. Eons ago, I posted a Stuffed Eggplant recipe, which takes a bit longer to make. Today's version is much simpler, without being heavy on spices and tastes equally good. The basic idea is from Raaga's recipe and I tweaked that a bit to suit our palate.

Stuffed Eggplant (with Onion, Coconut and Chickpea Flour)

This recipes calls for tender baby eggplants that are stuffed with a onion,coconut and chickpea flour mixture. The highlight of this recipe is the fried coconut, which gives a slightly sweet finish to the overall dish. Serve with plain rice and Urad dal with tomatoes for a complete, nutritious meal.


Adapted from Raaga's recipe

Preparation:

1. Heat 2 tsp of oil and add 2 cups of finely chopped onions. Saute on medium-low heat until a little brownish color. Add 3-4 tbsp of grated coconut. (I used frozen coconut, microwaved for 30 secs and fluffed with a fork). Fry until the mixture turns brown.

2. Add 1/2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste, little turmeric powder, red chilli powder (as per taste), 1/2 tsp of garam masala and salt to taste. Finally add 3 tbsp of chickpea flour (besan). Mix well and saute for 3-4 mins until the raw smell of the flour is gone. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile slit small baby eggplants (I used about 9-10 small ones) crosswise and stuff with this onion-coconut-besan mixture.

4. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and drop the stuffed eggplant carefully, one-by-one. Cover and cook on medium heat for 3-4 mins. Turn the eggplants on the other side and cook untill well done. Make sure they are just charred on each side and not burnt.

5. Serve with hot plain rice.


Happy Holidays everyone.

until next time,
Siri

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16 comments :

  1. Looks so inviting. I am a great fan of eggplant..

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  2. Wish to have a glimpse of the book soon. Stuffing with coconut as an ingredients makes it quite interesting. Must try it out.

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  3. Slurp, mouthwatering here...Delecteble stuffed eggplants..

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  4. Looks mouthwatering! My favorite of all time!

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  5. Out of the world looking egg plant. I was looking at a recipe book which had a similar recipe yesterday and just now I see you have posted about it.

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  6. yum yum Siri..looks very good...another fan of stuffed eggplants here! :))

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  7. yummy..yummy..yummy..Thats all I got to say :)

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  8. I don't read books often. But I have been thinking of reading this one. Thanks for inspiring me again to look out for this book. btw, love this stuffed eggplant.

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  9. Lovely clicks siri, love stuffed brinjals, twice went to Asian shop this time, did not like the kutti Brinjals they were not firm, just dropped the idea of buying!

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  10. Thank you everybody for taking time to drop by and leave a comment. Glad you all liked this simple dish. :-)

    Hugs,
    Siri

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  11. Love the stuffed egg plants..Interestign stuffing...:)

    Dr.Sameena@

    http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com/

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  12. Congratulations!! Wishing to see more @ Cooking with Siri

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  13. Oh, this looks wonderful!

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Siri

 
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