For three nights, we stayed at the Palace Dhenkanal, home to the Raja of Dhenkanal and his family for generations. It was a fabulous experience! I was honoured with an informal cooking class with the palace chef. This is what we made- so simple and so delicious. Cooked outside over a small fire...
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| An amazing cooking class- outside, over a small fire. |
We cooked in my favourite style- a little bit of this and a pinch of that... so the quantities are approximate. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.
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| Baingan in yogurt sauce |
To serve four.
Ingredients:
4 small or 2 medium eggplant, but into quarters lengthwise (and halved if using medium eggplant)
(you can use white, purple or Chinese eggplant)
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
handful of curry leaves fresh is better, but dried can be used
1 tbsp mustard oil
vegetable oil for frying the eggplant
Pinch of salt and pepper
Directions:
Pour enough vegetable oil in a pan to fry the eggplant until it is browned all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Mix the yogurt with the salt, pepper and cumin in a medium bowl.
In a small frying pan, heat the mustard oil. Add the mustard seeds and heat until they pop. Add the handful of curry leaves (or about 1 tbsp of dried leaves) and heat until they wilt. Add the contents of the frying pan to the yogurt mixture. Stir in the eggplant. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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| Enjoying a fabulous meal with a fabulous group! |
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| Great food was served at the Palace Dhenkanal! |
Tried this on Sunday - it was a great success. I found the really small Indian eggplants and curry leaves at the local Indian store. I think I should have cooked the curry leaves longer and it might have been even better with mustard oil instead of canola, but it was fairly close to the dish we had at the Prince's palace. Thanks Jo!
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