Weeknight Eggplant Curry
Last night was girls' night - just me and my pal Danielle. It would have been easy to pick a place and go out for margaritas, which we've done in the past, but instead we stayed in and cooked together.
Lately, I've been keen to come up with new ways to prepare eggplant, particularly those slender violet Japanese varieties that are pretty enough for a centerpiece. I had purchased a bunch on Sunday, which meant using them pronto. Eggplant is less refrigerator-resilient than meets the eye, and I've learned the hard way to keep the procrastinating to a minimum.
My eggplant repertoire is reliable albeit limited - there was the smoky baba ghanouj, a grilled salad with roasted peppers and feta and a moron-proof roasted eggplant number with Chinese black bean-garlic sauce, all wonderful and worthy of repeat experiences.
But for this occasion, I wanted something new, an eggplant departure, if you will, and a dish that would inspire my mostly meatless friend who also likes to bang around in the kitchen. Curry came to mind, and I immediately went to "Cradle of Flavor" by James Oseland, a top-notch, well-researched title on the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Sure enough, there was a recipe for eggplant curry.
In his notes, Oseland mentions that this dish is commonly found in Malaysian homes, which I interpret as easy enough to put together during the week. The one caveat: the ingredients, all Asian pantry basics, which may not appear in every Western kitchen, a problem easily solved with a visit to an Asian grocery. With everything on hand, the dish is fairly easy to put together, and easier to do as a team. While one person fries the turmeric-infused eggplant, the other person can prepare the spice mixture and additional curry components.
While the curry simmers, you can put a pot of rice on, a brief reprieve for a few sips of wine. While Danielle chopped up a pineapple, which worked as a beautiful foil to the spicy sauce, I chopped a handful of cilantro for garnish.
This is a beautiful dish, a balance of sweet, heat, pungent and fat that's a cornerstone of southeast Asian cookery. While some flavors pop on the tongue, others linger and mellow, a combination that makes this dish exotic yet comforting.
Go on; grab a friend and curry up some eggplant. It will make the middle of the week feel a little extra special.
Join me today at noon for this week's What's Cooking.
Asiah's Eggplant Curry
Adapted from "Cradle of Flavor" by James Oseland
1 pound (about 4) Japanese eggplants, unpeeled, stemmed, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into pieces about 2-3 inches long
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp, plus 3 tablespoons very warm water to make extract
Peanut oil for frying
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced lengthwise
3 shallots (about 2 1/2 ounces total), peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1-5 fresh green Thai chiles, stemmed, and halved lengthwise (I also seeded the chiles and used about 3, which yielded a spicy result)
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, finely ground (KOD note: I didn't have seeded on hand, so I used ground coriander)
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 piece cinnamon stick, 3 inches
3/4 cup (about 4 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk (don't forget to shake the can before opening!)
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place eggplant pieces in a large bowl and dust turmeric on top. With your hands, massage turmeric into eggplant until it even coats the fleshy side of each piece. Set aside.
Place tamarind pulp in a small bowl and mix with warm water. Let pulp soften, 10-15 minutes. Squeeze and massage softened pulp through your fingers, loosening fruit's pulp from sinew and seeds. With your fingers, remove all sold pieces and discard. You will have a caramel-colored extract.
Pour oil to a depth of 1 inch into a 3-quart sauce pan (I used a wok) and place over medium to medium-high heat until hot but not smoking - about 365 degrees. You can test it by spearing a piece of eggplant onto a fork, dipping edge into hot oil. If it begins to fry and a froth of oil immediately bubbles around it, oil is ready.
Fry eggplant in batches of no more than 3 pieces at a time (KOD note: In a wider wok you could probably get away with 10 pieces) until fleshy side of each piece just begins to turn golden, about 90 seconds. Eggplant should be just cooked and not at all soft or mushy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggplant to paper towels to drain.
Turn off heat. Let oil cool for a few minutes, then pour off all but about 2 tablespoons (KOD note: Very important step; otherwise, you will have a very oily curry.)
Reheat pan, this time over medium-low heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook until they turn limp and translucent, about 2 minutes. Do not let them turn brown.
Add chiles and all ground spices. Saute, stirring gently to prevent from scorching, about 3 minutes.
Add coconut milk and water, stir to combine and increase heat to medium. Bring coconut milk to a lively simmer and reduce heat so that mixture stays at a gentle simmer. Stir in tamarind, sugar and salt; continue to simmer about 15 minutes.
Add eggplant and cook until it is fork-tender, about 1-2 minutes. Do not let it overcook and fall apart. Taste for salt and add as necessary.
Transfer to a bowl and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Oseland suggests serving with steamed rice.
Danielle and I garnished it with chopped fresh cilantro and mixed in fresh pineapple chunks which worked beautifully. Roasted cashews would work here as well.
Makes 4 servings.
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