Sweet & Sour Baby Eggplant – with Jyo’s Spice

Another Karma Chef original! This turned out real nice. Good party dish. Only problem is these baby eggplants are seasonal and available only at the Asian grocery store. Next time I will try it with regular eggplant sliced up – should work just as well. We eat this with Trader Joe’s Truly Handmade Tortillas (wheat ones) and raita. I am not “desi” enough to make my own chapattis, thank you!

Whole cumin – ½ tsp
I medium onion- thinly sliced
Oginga Fried Spice – 1 tbsp
Jyo’s Spice – 2-3 tsp
½ cup diced tomato or thickened Tomato Puree
1 tsp tamarind paste
Brown sugar – 1 to 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Chilli powder to taste
Cillantro for garnish

Slit baby eggplants crosswise, drizzle with oil, pack up in foil and throw on the bar-b-que. While they are grilling, prepare the sauce. Heat oil in pan, add cumin, let it sizzle/pop then add onion – brown nicely before adding Oginga paste, Jyo’s Spice, tamarind and tomato puree. Fry spices till oil separates then add ½ cup water, salt, sugar and chilli to taste. Check on eggplant, they should be softened by now. Add them in gently to the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste sauce and balance the sweet/sour/hot taste (sorry to be so vague, I am hopeless with measurements) Garnish with cillantro.

Karma Chef Spice Secrets#5: Jyo’s Spice

Jyotsna was my first Indian friend. I was taking a little walk down my street in the old neighborhood when this pretty Indian girl with a baby on her hip called out to me ”Hi, want to come in and have some tea?” That was music to my ears. Nobody invites a stranger home to tea in America and I was reminded of the warmth of our Indian hospitality. This is Jyo’s extraordinary spice mix for Garbanzo Beans. I make it and keep it bottled. Stays up to 2 months. I use it for lots of other recipes as well.

Coriander – 3 tbsp
Cloves – 4
Cinnamon – 1 stick
Fennel – 1 tbsp
Cumin – 2 tbsp
Black Pepper Corns- 1tbsp
Dried Red Chilies – 3
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Coconut – 6 tbsp
Asafetida (hing) – ¼ tsp

Roast all the above spices in a skillet/heavy-bottomed pan. Grind to powder and store in airtight container.

JYO’S CHANNA MASALA (SPICED GARBANZO BEANS)

Grabanzo Beans – 2 cans
Jyo’s Spice – 1 ½ tbsp (more or less – please adjust to taste)
Diced Tomatoes (pureed) – 1 can
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
Salt & Chilli powder to taste.

Drain & Rinse 2 cans of garbanzo beans boil in pot over medium heat with 3 cups water and Jyo’s Spice, 1 can of tomatoes, 1 tsp tamarind paste and 1 tbsp brown sugar and salt to taste. Apologies....my spicing is all approximate (by gosh and by golly, as Anitra would say) please adjust as you go along – boil for about 45 minutes or so, add water if necessary – consistency should be runny, but not too runny. Garnish with cilantro. Very yum with tortillas or rice.