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DAWAT-E-BAINGAN



    Eggplants are an often overlooked vegetable, but I just love to eat them in any form. Thought of converting this humble and under appreciated vegetable into something exotic and delicious.


    I created this dish with a combination of flavours from India and Middle East, using ingredients such as chaat masala, coriander, ginger and green chilies, alongside dates and pine nuts.

    It’s such a simple dish to make but it tastes really delectable and regal, hence I named them Dawat-e-Baingan - dawat means royal feast, and baingan means eggplant!


    I hope you enjoy this simply delicious recipe.




    YIELDS: 24

    PREP TIME: 20 minutes

    BAKE TIME: 20 minutes

    ASSEMBLE TIME: 8 hours or overnight



    INGREDIENTS


    • 10-12 baby eggplants

    • 250g dates, chopped

    • 2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped

    • 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped

    • 3-4 tbsp lemon juice

    • 4 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

    • 3/4 tsp salt or to taste

    • 1 1/2 tsp chat masala

    • 3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

    • 1/4 cup fresh pomegranate seeds

    • 3-4 tbsp rapeseed oil/vegetable or sunflower oil

    • Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

    • Salt for seasoning


    For Garnishing:

    • 1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

    • 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

    • 1 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted


    METHOD


    1. Wash, pat dry and cut the eggplants in half lengthwise along with stalks.

    2. Grease a large baking dish with the rapeseed oil, place the eggplants facing cut side up. Season them well with salt and pepper. Generously drizzle some more oil on top to coat well.

    3. Bake in preheated oven at 225°C for 20 minutes or until they are tender and cooked. Remove from oven and let it cool.

    4. In a bowl, combine dates, green chillies, ginger, lemon juice, pomegranate, pine nuts, salt, chat masala and coriander. Mix them well to make the stuffing. Check the seasoning, add more if you need any extra.

    5. Take the eggplant half, press the center with the back of a small spoon to make a cavity, put a small amount of stuffing on top. Repeat with rest of the eggplant halves.

    6. Place them on serving tray and garnish with pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and chopped coriander leaves.


    COOK'S NOTES:


    • If you are serving these in a dinner party, eggplants can be baked ahead of time and kept aside to be assembled later.

    • The stuffing can be prepared without adding coriander, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts. Add these at last minutes to savour the crunch and freshness of the herb.


    BEETROOT CARPACCIO SALAD



      Beetroot carpaccio is the vegetarian version of the classical Italian recipe of carpaccio which is prepared with thin slices of raw beef dressed with a vinaigrette using olive oil, lemon, capers, and even mustard is added for bit of a kick.


      This beetroot carpaccio salad is an impressive yet effortless appetizer salad which is so fresh, healthy and delicious. It’s one of those recipes that barely requires any cooking but still looks like a million bucks on the table.


      Beetroots are packed with essential nutrients and are a great source of fibre, folic acid, vitamin B6, iron, potassium, magnesium and many more.


      Recently I was detected with low iron deficiency and I was kind of worried. Started googling, reading and searching about the best natural sources of food to enhance the levels of the deficiency and found that beetroot is an amazing vegetable which contains nitrates and pigments that helps in increasing the blood flow.

      During this lockdown I ordered my bulk quantity of the veggies from the vendors and I had a large bag full of beautiful beetroots and I still had some organic arugula leaves growing in my garden. I paired it with orange vinaigrette which adds the beautiful sweet citrusy note to this refreshing summery salad. I served it with some grilled sumac and za’atar chicken and hassle back potatoes and everyone in the family was thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed the feast.



      SERVES: 4-5

      PREP TIME: 10 minutes

      BAKE TIME: 1 hour

      PASSIVE TIME: 1 hour

      ASSEMBLE TIME: 10 minutes



      INGREDIENTS


      • 3 medium beetroot

      • 4 cups/1 bunch Arugula leaves, washed and spin dried

      • 40g feta cheese

      • 40g hazelnuts, toasted & roughly chopped


      For Orange Vinaigrette:

      • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

      • 3 tsp lime juice

      • 1 tsp grated ginger

      • 1/2 small navel orange, zested and juiced (2tbsp of juice)

      • 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

      • 1/3 tsp salt or to taste

      • Dash of freshly cracked black pepper


      METHOD


      1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

      2. Wash the beetroots and wrap them individually in a piece of foil.

      3. Place them on a baking tray and bake them for an hour.

      4. Cool completely and gently peel off the skin.

      5. Slice them thinly with the help of a mandoline or a sharp knife.

      6. Arrange the slices on a platter, slightly overlapping each other.

      7. Mix all the ingredients of the orange vinaigrette to prepare the dressing.

      8. Sprinkle half of the vinaigrette dressing on the arranged beetroot slices. Place arugula leaves in the center, sprinkle feta cheese and toasted hazelnuts, drizzle rest of the dressing on top of arugula leaves and serve immediately.


      COOK'S NOTES:


      • Beetroots can be baked and kept wrapped in the refrigerator for 2 days. Cool them completely before placing in the refrigerator.

      • Dress the beetroots only at the last minute before serving else the beetroot will sweat and the arugula salad leaves will wilt and won’t stay fresh and crisp.

      • I added ginger in my vinaigrette but you can always skip it if you don’t like the flavour.

      • Prepare vinaigrette few hours ahead or a day before and refrigerate. This will intensify the flavours and make it more delicious.

      • I don’t prefer to boil the beetroot as all essential nutrients and deep colour of beetroot is lost. Always try and bake them wrapped in foil to ensure all the nutrients are still intact.


      CRANBERRY PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD COOKIES



        These super easy to make shortbread cookies are a burst of flavour and colour. A perfect contrast of green and red colour from cranberries and pistachios gives you the festive vibe and are also very inviting to munch with a cuppa.


        These light and buttery shortbreads give the right balance of sweetness and crunch from the fruit and nut used in the cookies. I try to keep a batch ready at the back of my freezer handy to make them for a lunch box snack at times.


        You can also add some dark chocolate chips to add to the crunch and sweetness.


        Make it during festive times and it can be a perfect little gift treat for Christmas, wrapped up in a bag and tagged with fancy ribbon.

        YIELDS: 25-30 cookies

        PREP TIME: 20 minutes

        BAKING TIME: 12-15 minutes

        PASSIVE TIME: 1 hour



        INGREDIENTS

        • 3 cups all purpose flour

        • 1 cup caster sugar

        • 1 1/4cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

        • 1/2 tsp salt

        • 1/2 tsp almond extract

        • 1 tsp vanilla extract

        • 2 tsp baking powder

        • 1 egg, room temperature

        • 1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

        • 1/2 cup unsalted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped



        METHOD

        1. In a stand mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale in colour. Add the extracts and egg, and blend for 2 minutes until the egg is well combined.

        2. In a large bowl, sift flour, salt and baking powder. Add cranberries and pistachios to dry mix.

        3. Drop 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mix and blend for 2 minutes until combined.

        4. Add the remaining dry flour mix in two batches to the butter mixture and blend until it is well combined.

        5. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Knead lightly to make it smooth. Divide the dough in 2 batches. Shape one batch of the dough into a thick log, about 2 inch thick in diameter. Place the log on large sheet of cling film and wrap it tightly. Twist and knot the sides of the plastic wrap to secure from the ends. Freeze it for 1 hour.

        6. Repeat step 5 for the other batch.

        7. Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

        8. Remove the cookie dough out from the freezer, unwrap the cling film and cut the log into 1/4 inch thick discs. Place them on cookie sheet 1.5 inch apart and bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden brown around the edges.

        9. Transfer on to the cooling rack and cool completely before storing in an airtight jar.



        COOK'S NOTES:

        • These logs can be prepared days ahead and stored in freezer.

        • The wrapped dough logs will stay in freezer for up to 2-3 months. Discard the plastic and cut and bake as per the recipe.

        • If preserving the cookie dough in freezer for later use, make sure these logs are wrapped tightly in the plastic wraps to avoid freeze burning.

        • Baked cookies store well up to a week in an airtight jar.

        • Don't over bake the cookies else your shortbreads will be slightly hard.



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