Friday, May 11, 2012

Brinjal with spicy potato

Its time to comfort myself with food.
The veggies flavour is also tasting much better now as we are having warm mild weather during the day.
Nights can be around 15 degree Celsius this week.
I have not really cook that much these days.
Many of the veggies has been left over ripe.
Not picking them as often as I should.
Brought in the last batch of garlic in the kitchen that were left curing in the shed.
'Black Beauty' brinjals (eggplants) had holes in it from admirers.
Some of the brinjals has interesting looking resident in it taking shelter from the previous heat I think.
We have "Red Romaine" lettuce volunteer around the garden.
I left some go to seed previous spring.
I have kept a recipe from Troth Wallis ~ The Globe Vegetarian Kitchen recipe book since last year to try in my recipe file. The recipe is said to come from the Moluccas in Indonesia which is formerly known as the Spice Island. It was the source of many spices, such as cloves and nutmeg that was highly prized in Europe during the trading era. The taste of this 'brinjal with spicy potato' dish actually remind me of Indian dish rather than South East Asian dish. But this is not surprising because the old empire in Malaysia and Indonesia were first highly influence by India empire and culture before it was colonised. I think adding a handful of curry leaves will be more interesting for this dish after I tried this recipe.
Brinjal/ Eggplants with Spicy Potatoes (serves 2-4)
Ingredient:
1 brinjal (diced)
2 potatoes (diced and parboiled)
1 onion (sliced)
1/2 tsp chili powder (I used chilli/sambal oelek)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger root, chopped
lemon/lime juice (from 1 fruit)
oil
salt
a handful washed curry leaves (optional)

(1) Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion until it is clear and soft.

(2) After that put in the chili, mustard seeds, turmeric, ginger, curry leaves and salt. Cook on a gentle heat, stirring to mix well. Then turn up the heat, add the brinjal and parboiled potatoes and brown them, turning to prevent them catching.

(3) Add a little water to cover the base of the pan, put the lid on and cook gently for 10 minutes or so until the vegetables are tender and the liquid is absorbed. Add lemon/lime juice mix well.

22 comments:

Robin said...

This is a great recipe! I just copied and saved it for when the eggplants start coming in.

Thanks for sharing!

Mama Pongkey said...

Thank you so much for this recipe :-) I had just harvested a few brinjals from my garden yesterday and was wondering what to do with them. I think it will go with Arabic-inspired dishes perfectly as well.

tina said...

If there is one comfort food that works for everyone no matter where they are from it must be potatoes. Yum!!

Liz said...

I love spicy potatoes, I make mine with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chilli and garam masala - just delicious. Will try adding eggplant next time.

mashelly said...

this sounds really yumbo

Sue Garrett said...

That does sound tasty - especially if the homegrown potatoes have finished and you need to buy the tasteless ones in the shop. Spicing them up could be just what they need.

Sunray Gardens said...

That looks great. Love sweet potatoes and it would be nice to try another way of cooking them.
Cher Sunray Gardens

rainfield61 said...

The recipe is useful to my wife.

Can't wait to ask her to cook....

Dani P. said...

A little spicy but something I will try for sure :) Thank you, Diana !

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

My kids does not appreciate brinjal, I seldom cook them , let me just drooling over your yummy dish. Happy Mother's day to you.

cookingvarieties said...

hi diana, you back and fast too... i am glad. i also hope you still continue with your reports to google- until the person gets back what he deserves.
Interesting recipe which i never tried before,i will add the curry leaves as you suggested. take care.
have a nice day

Anonymous said...

thanks, very good =)

kitchen flavours said...

Nice looking brinjals and delicious looking dish. Interesting with potatoes, will give this a try! Thanks for sharing!
Happy Mother's Day!!

Lrong Lim said...

Eggplant and potato is a good combination... the dish looks really tempting...

Jody said...

Great recipe! We'll be using this one when our eggplant finally comes in. For sure!

Wendy said...

Yum, this sounds delicious. Eggplant is a hit or miss for me, but I think I would really like it with all these flavors.

cookingvarieties said...

HI DIANA< HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO YOU.
Happy sunday too.

Unknown said...

great looking dish. I bet it makes a nice side dish. Next time I make an Indian style bread I will surely be trying this.

africanaussie said...

something keeps stinging my eggplant and they end up deformed. I just sprayed with chili garlic spray and hopefully soon I will have some to try this recipe out. Quite a while back you sent me some zinnia seeds and they have come up in my herb spiral - so lovely, thank you! Also the amaranth - I was sorting through my seeds and found them! I have created a link back to you with the photo.

lena said...

guess it's even more delicious with your sambal oelek!

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Robin~Hope you enjoy this dish.

Mama Pongkey~Ah yes it will go well with Arabic-inspired dishes. Thanks for the idea.

Tina~Yeah, potato such a comfort food.

Liz~Ah the dish you usually made sounds very delicious.

Joyfulhomemaker~Nice serve with steam rice.

Sue~Yeah you are right when the homegrown potatoes are no more, this suits well for the tasteless one in the shop for giving more flavour.

Cher~A different way to enjoy potato:).

Rainfield61~Hope your family will enjoy this dish.

Dani~Good dish for the cold season makes you sweat.

Sonia~I still have to find some new brinjal recipe for my kids to like them too.

Cookingvarieties~I have reported more than 100posts to blogger and it has been deleted. But I still have about 200 more post to report. Will take time. Just can't figure out why blogger did not close that thief account. You have a great week!

Anonymous~Hope you enjoy this dish.

Joyce~Hope you enjoy this dish. Maybe some asam keping also can add more zing to this dish.

Lrong~Syok makan dengan nasi panas.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Jody~What variety of eggplants you are growing? Hope you have a bountiful harvest.

Wendy~I am trying to compile eggplants recipes at the moment because its not one of my favourite fruit. But with the right recipe, I enjoy eggplant dishes.

Sri Ranjani~Oh I wish I can learn how to make Indian style bread. My eldest son like bread so much.

Africanaussie~Your yellow cosmos seeds that I have received and sowed some are blooming for a long season here even as we enter winter. Very hardy plant!

Lena~The sambal oelek was so hot, I had to reduce the amount.