8 cup red chard, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 each dried red chile
1/4 tsp five spice powder
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 tsp green chile, seeded & minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup water
3 1/2 cup eggplant, cubed
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 onion rings, to garnish
Directions
Steam chard & then puree in a blender. Set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Fry red chile until it
darkens. Add five spice powder & fry until the spices start to
crackle. Add onion & fry until it is a rich brown, stir constantly.
Add green chile, turmeric, salt & sugar. Add water & bring to a
boil. Add eggplant & lower the heat slightly. Cover & simmer until
the eggplant is soft.
Add pureed chard. Uncover & cook for a minute or so to heat the
mixture right through. Stir all the time. Remove from heat & blend
in the garam masala. Garnish with onion rings & serve immediately.
Excellent with pigeon peas & bread.
Bharti Kirchner, "The Healthy Cuisine of India: Recipes from the
Bengal Region"
Servings: 4 servings
Lal Saaker Ghanto (Red Chard & Eggplant) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Eggplant; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Academics have found proof that recipes existed far back into distant history, in truth as far back into recorded history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that maybe, in the main part, these early recipes were just very simple hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe discovered, according to historians is a series of stone tablets in Sumerian which describe the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who tried it feel `wonderful`. Later on, in The time of the roman empire 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a number of documents detailing recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his works, he tells us how the roman meals were separated into appetizers, main course and afters, something that is very familiar to us today. This early Roman chef informs us how the Roman chefs used a wide range of herbs and spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs for example thyme, rue and parsley. For the decades that followed, the powerful and rich houses competed to lay on the best banquets, and consequentially chefs and their collection of recipes became highly prized. Nevertheless, it was during the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe publications really came of age. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to assembling, verifying, and publishing the recipes of their peers. By the time we get to the 1900s, cook books were highly popular due to better eduction, more spare time and disposable income. The arrival of television gave us TV cooks and the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of the internet, allowing us all to search through thousands of recipes just like those on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Lal Saaker Ghanto (Red Chard & Eggplant) recipe.
