Sugar et al, Author at Sugar et al

Spicy Asian Eggplant Curry

16|02|2014

Eggplant curry which is spicy, sweet, sour at the same time. Great accompaniment with rice or breads and totally delicious.

On days when I go meat-less, one of my favourite things to cook are eggplants. Not only am I a big fan of the dark shiny purple skin and the soft mushy interior when cooked, I also love the ease with which eggplants take on flavours. Whether it is a Moussaka, a salad or my favourite way of roasting it on an open fire for an Indian Bhartha, this is an ingredient that seldom fails to bring out the creativity in me.

Having eaten and cooked with eggplants all my life, it wasn’t difficult for me to pair them up with Asian ingredients. Especially a curry. That way the eggplants become the star of the show and can effortlessly replace the non-vegetarian component of a meal. Sweet, sour, spicy, hot are the typical flavours that come to one’s mind when thinking about an Asian curry. This one has all of them. Feel free to play around with the quantities of each ingredient as per taste.

I have used Lebanese eggplants in this eggplant curry that are thinner and smaller than regular eggplants but very similar in taste with the large round ones. The larger ones can be used too but they would need to be sliced up into long thin pieces.

Spicy Asian Eggplant Curry
Serves 4

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced lengthways
5 cm piece ginger roughly chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, outer skin removed (white part only)
1 tbsp. lime zest
4-5 red chillies (or as per taste)
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
7-8 small Lebanese eggplants, trimmed, halved or quartered lengthways
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely diced tomatoes (I used canned diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup water
11/2 teaspoon finely chopped palm sugar
Salt, to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
Finely chopped red chillies for garnish (optional)

Place the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime zest in the bowl of a food processor and process to a smooth paste.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and cook, covered, for 2 minutes. Turn the eggplant and cook, covered, for a further 3 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.

Heat the remaining oil in the wok over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fry for 2-3 minutes or until it softens. Add the spice paste and stir-fry for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Taste and season with palm sugar and salt.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the eggplant to the tomato mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until heated through. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately with rice.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

11|02|2014

I think most of us have a favourite banana bread or muffin recipe. At a baker’s home, it’s not too difficult to predict the fate of ripened bananas. In my case, I can’t say that there have been too many instances that I have gone shopping for bananas for a particular recipe. Or maybe this is my first.

I’ve been meaning to make banana muffins with coconut in them for a while now. Actually I was looking for a desperate change from my usual banana plain or chocolate flavoured muffins. And I didn’t want a frosting this time, like the one I had posted earlier with Chocolate Malt Buttercream. So when I came across the recipe I knew I wanted to make it. It was by far the simplest banana muffin recipe that I tried out.

It turned out great. Moist with a bit of crunch from the desiccated coconut and sweet from the bananas. Chocolate chips almost always make their way into my muffins. There’s not much else to say about this recipe other than it is sure worth a try.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted with variation from Taste.com)
Makes 12 large muffins

125g unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (165 g) castor sugar
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup (100g) dark chocolate chips
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper liners.

Place butter, sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and mix till well combined. Place flour, coconut and chocolate in a large bowl, then fold in banana mixture. Working in batches, place spoonfuls of mixture into the prepared pan (up to 2/3rd full). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.

Cool slightly in pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Mushroom and Breadcrumb Pasta

9|02|2014

Quick smart dinners are becoming a way of life in our house. Why lock myself up in the kitchen and get involved in stages of cooking when a delicious dinner can be produced at the table within minutes with the least effort. Don’t get me wrong. I love cooking elaborate meals, 4 course dinners and over anything else spending time in the kitchen. But summer evenings don’t last forever and hanging around outside with the kids in the lingering daylight can at times sound like a better proposition.

Quite a few of my go-to recipes in such a scenario happen to come from Donna Hay’s Fast Fresh Simple. This simple vegetarian pasta dish is not only easy to put together and delicious, it uses a few ingredients. And a unique way of using them. When I first saw the recipe with breadcrumbs, I was quite unsure how it would turn out. But since it involved dried porcini mushrooms which happened to be at home, I was willing to take the risk as I really love the deep earthy flavour of mushrooms. I am not a big fan of thick, heavy sauces with my pasta so I found this a refreshing change. Crunchy bits of porcini flavoured crumbs thoroughly coating threads of spaghetti. Some herbs, garlic, lemon zest and parmesan and that’s about it. To serve I like to add torn Bocconcini to the pasta that melts a tad bid from the heat in the pasta making it even more delicious. I also found it a great way of using up old bread.

Mushroom and Breadcrumb Pasta (adapted with a slight variation from Donna Hay’s Fast Fresh Simple)
Serves 2-3

20 g dried porcini
200 g spaghetti
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp thyme leaves
70 g breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil and finely grated parmesan, to serve
Bocconcini cheese, to serve

Place the porcini in a bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 8–10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Place the pan back on the heat. Add the oil, garlic, lemon zest and thyme and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the porcini and roughly chop.

Add the porcini to the pan with the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes or until crumbs are golden. Add the pasta to the pan with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Divide between serving plates and sprinkle with parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and Bocconcini cheese.

Grapes with Orange Creme Anglaise (Custard) and Hazelnuts

6|02|2014

They are beautiful…versatile.. and easily available. They are great for you. And since ancient times they have been associated with romance. But I wonder if they get the love that they deserve. When we picturise a pretty fruity dessert, we think of berries, stone fruits, figs and so on.
Grapes? Not really. To be honest, I never did. So considering that this is the month of love, I thought I’d give them some dessert love.

Crème Anglaise is my favourite dessert sauce in the world. I have tried out hundreds of combinations over the years and I find nothing as fancy carrying a dessert tray with fruits or cake and a little jug of Crème Anglaise on the side to be poured by the person it is being served to. It’s very restaurant-like to put it down in front of your guests. And mind you, I do it in style and enjoy all the curiosity and attention it generates. Go ahead, try it. A word of caution, though. If you are serving it for a crowd, make sure you pour them into individual pots or serving glasses. You don’t want your diners fighting over a jug of crème anglaise. But now since we are talking Valentines’s day, sharing is allowed. In fact, it is encouraged!

I have forever used David Lebovitz’s recipe as the base recipe for Crème Anglaise. Depending on the chosen flavours, I add or take away. He is a genius, isn’t he? His recipes always work for me. For this dessert, I have halved the recipe and that should make a cup of Crème Anglaise. Initially, I wanted to ‘brandy’ the grapes but I had already used Cointreau in the custard. You can leave out the liqueur if you want to. Cointreau or any other orange liqueur contributes a more intense orange flavour to the custard. The custard can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator.

Grapes with Orange Crème Anglaise (Custard) and Hazelnuts
Serves 2

1 cup seedless red grapes
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts
1 cup Crème Anglaise (recipe below)
Icing sugar to dust.

Divide the grapes and toasted hazelnuts between two serving glasses. Pour over chilled Crème Anglaise. Dust with icing sugar. Serve

Orange Crème Anglaise
1 cups (250 ml) whole milk
4 tbsp. sugar
zest of two medium oranges
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp. Cointreau or any other orange liquor (optional)

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and add the sugar.

Grate the zest of the oranges directly into the milk. Warm gently, then remove from heat, cover, and let steep for one hour.

When ready to cook the custard, make an ice bath by putting ice cubes and a small amount of cold water into a large bowl and resting a smaller metal or glass bowl in the ice. Set a fine mesh strainer over the top.

Whisk the yolks in a separate small bowl.

Gently rewarm the milk, then slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the custard begins to thicken and coats the spatula.

Immediately strain the custard into the bowl set over ice, pressing the zest in the strainer to extract as much flavor as possible, then discard.

Stir the custard until cool. When the Crème Anglaise is cooling, grate a few swipes of fresh orange zest into the custard, which looks nice and adds a touch more orange flavour. If you’d like, add a spoonful of orange-flavoured liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier.

Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled.