My balcony garden is full of coriander (cilantro) plants which are rapidly going to flower. Using them up requires an Indian meal, since coriander is foreign to Italian cooking - indeed, several Italians I know can't stand the taste of it. So, tonight's dishes...
Dal (Lentils)
3 zucchine on their last legs found in the fridge, plus some carrots, half a red onion, and a few cloves of garlic - throw everything into the food processor and chop fairly fine. (No, zucchine are not native to Indian cooking, but I need to use these up!)
Heat 2-3 tbps of hot pepper olive oil in a deep pot, add 2 tbsp cumin seeds. When these begin to sizzle, scrape in the mix from the food processor. Stir and sauté until softened and somewhat reduced - 5 minutes?
Add two cans lentils, with their water. (Dried would have been fine, but I didn't think to soak them in advance, and I'm trying to clear out the canned stuff from the pantry.)
Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, 2 tsps garam masala, 1 tsp vegetable broth granules, half tsp cinnamon, half tsp turmeric. Stir, lower heat, cover, walk away.
Sweet & Sour Aubergines (Eggplant)
A Madhur Jaffrey recipe involving pre-fried chunks of eggplant re-sauted with pachphoran (five seeds), a bit of onion, toasted and crushed sesame seeds, aamchur (sour mango powder), and sugar.
Green Beans with Coriander and Coconut
Another Jaffrey. This one also called for mustard and sesame seeds, but I left them out so as not to be too similar to the previous dish. So it ended up being very simple: fresh green beans, slightly boiled and then rinsed in cold water to keep them bright. Throw them into the wok with some hot oil and a bit of cayenne pepper, then toss with a mix of rubbed fresh coriander leaves and grated coconut (fresh coconut would taste better, but is way too much trouble even if I had it).
Basmati Rice
The best in the world, native to Dehra Dun near where I used to go to school.
There was also a chutney I made a few weeks ago from fresh apricots. Chutney is very easy to make and is a wonderful accompaniment to strong, aged cheeses as well as Indian meals. Before summer ends I'll make a big batch of chutney from fresh tomatoes. Scalding, peeling, and seeding them takes a lot of time, but the chutney-fied tomatoes come out almost glassé. I've also tried making chutney from canned tomatoes, which ends up more like ketchup, but is okay in its way.