Instant Fail on VeganMoFo as I totally didn't make the necessary post for yesterday. In my defence, well, there isn't very much, but that post will be along shortly, probably in the company of several others.
So, this is a meal I cooked for myself about three weeks ago. An Aubergine Tikka Masala. The sauce tasted great but was strangely unappealing to the eye (and not entirely like the original) so for now, here is how I made the Aubergine Tikka part without a Tandoor.
Cut large aubergine(s) (it's delicious, do plenty!) into biggish chunks, they will shrink by about 50% when cooked so cut with an eye to finishing with bite sized pieces for serving.
Sprinkle a good teaspoon of fine salt over the pieces and leave to degorge for about an hour. Now, this step is often regarded as unnecessary with modern varieties of aubergine but the point here is not to remove bitterness but to slightly dehydrate the fruit so that it will absorb more of the marinade in the next step.
When the pieces are oozing liquid, squeeze them dry. You can rinse the salt off first if you like, probably a good idea if you have high blood pressure but rinse quickly and squeeze well.
Make a marinade of 100g non-dairy yoghurt, a tablespoon of mashed garlic, a tablespoon of grated ginger and a half teaspoonful each of ground turmeric and a good red paprika. These spices will help with the colour. You can also add a little garam masala or your favourite curry powder if you like but don't overdo it.
Mix the dry aubergine into the marinade so that it is well coated and leave for an hour.
Heat your oven to hot.
I used a hob to oven pan for this, a wonderful cast iron oval skillet which holds a fearsome heat. Heat your pan up as hot as it will go on the hob with just a splash of rapeseed or peanut oil in it. Put the pieces of aubergine in, with the marinade still clinging to them, making sure they are well spread out. Turn them over so that they are sealed on all sides.
Add a sliced chilli and some finely sliced onion rings and pop the whole pan into the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the aubergine is richly golden.
Serve with naan breads, a raita, salad and other curries.
4 comments:
I was wondering about the degorging... I've heard that repeated countless times on cooking shows, that "it's not necessary with modern varieties". But like you, I still do it and the fruit cooks up tastier, I think.
This sounds and looks really tasty to me by the way. I've got to try that spiced/soy yogurt marinade.
I love love love aubergine, and especially in indian food. Thanks for the great idea, it sounds delicious!
This looks and sounds all kinds of awesome! The picture looks fab and I've bookmarked this for later.
;)
I made this and all I can say is WOW! I will be making this time and time again - thank you for sharing.
:)
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