Autumn Curry

The weather is finally becoming seasonally appropriate and honestly, I couldn't be happier about it. I love the fall in New York. The kind of changes and New Yorks look their absolute best in smart coats and jackets. And you can warm up with spicy food, slow cooked, roasted and baked. Methods of preparation that are not at all appealing in a small downtown apartment at any point past June. Though exceptions are made for birthday cakes and summer pies. But now that the thermostat is set at an amenable 65 degrees, I will be back into making more slow food dishes.

Sort of Punjab Eggplant

This is my take on a Northern Indian Curry. All spice amounts are totally estimated, as I just sprinkle the spices in.

1 large eggplant
2 tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 carrot
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1/2 or less to taste red pepper powder
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
plenty of salt
1/2-2/3 cup water

Chop up all the vegetables. Over medium heat, heat the oil in a large saute pan and add the garlic and onion. Cook until soft. Add the eggplant and plenty of salt. Cook until the eggplant until it just starts to discolor, then add the carrots, tomatoes with their water and add the seasonings. Cover and simmer for about 20-30 minutes checking on it and adding the water as needed. Once all the eggplant is very soft, add the tomato paste, combine well and cook for about 5 minutes longer. Serve with parathas.

Parathas

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
generous 3/4 cup water
2/3 cup vegetable oil or ghee (I am not a big fan of ghee so I use oil and butter near the end for flavor)

Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly add the water until you have a sticky dough. On a generous floured surface, kneed the dough for 10 minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Shape into a ball and place in a bowl and cover with a damp towel for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 balls and shape into triangles. On the floured surface, roll out into a half moon shape, brush with oil, fold over, roll out again and brush over, fold over one last time and roll into a triangle shape. Do this for each paratha.

Brush one side of the paratha with oil and place in a hot skillet. Cook for 3-4 minutes, it will puff up. Brush the other side and flip using tongs. Cook for 3 minutes.

Keep warm in foil for up to 20 minutes, but the fresher these are, the better.