Recipe of the Month

I have been enjoying some chats with Rajeev in Micheldever Village Shop about the Indian food I enjoy cooking (and eating!). He is very helpful and knowledgeable and also able to provide all the ingredients I need. We thought it would be a great idea to include a ‘recipe of the month’ slot in the Dever Magazine, with an emphasis in these challenging times on low-cost, filling meals. We hope it will also encourage people to pop into the shop to buy the ingredients and give the recipes a try. Please do feel free to suggest your own favourite recipes!

Autumn Pilau with Aubergines, Tomatoes and Chickpeas

This is from Meera Sodha’s book ‘Fresh India’. She describes this as ‘an excellent dish for a cold autumn day, which always hits the spot.’

Serves 4

250g basmati rice rapeseed oil

3 medium aubergines (cut into 1 cm slices)

50g unsalted butter

1 large onion, thinly sliced

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of chickpeas

1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/3 teaspoon chilli powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

375 ml vegetable stock

Wash the rice in a few changes of cold water until the water runs clear, then leave to soak.

Meanwhile, put 4 tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. When hot, add a small batch of the aubergines, enough to lay on the bottom of the pan without crowding. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until soft, collapsing and nicely browned on the outside, turning every couple of minutes. Transfer to a plate, then fry the rest, adding more oil per batch.

In the same pan, melt the butter, add the onion and fry for around 8 minutes. Remove a tablespoon of onion to scatter over the top of the rice later. Add the garlic to the pan, fry for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes. Cook for around 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are softened then add the cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, cloves, chilli powder and salt. Stir well, then add the chickpeas and the aubergines. Cook for a couple of minutes then take it off the heat.

Pour the vegetable stock into a deep saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Drain the rice, add to the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Cook for 2 minutes then cover with the lid, turn the heat right down and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender. Turn the heat off and let the rice steam through for 5 minutes. Fluff up the rice using a fork, before folding in the aubergines and chickpeas. Mix well and heat together for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat.

Transfer to a serving dish, scatter over the reserved onion and serve with a cooling dollop of yoghurt and a little pickle on the side.

Bon Appetit!

Alison

“Having

Chris & Lionel from Romsey

WinACC has been taking action on the climate crisis since 2008. This project is completely independent of installers and is to help local homeowners find out how they can make their homes more energy efficient.