Crispy diced Eggplant with Bitter Neem Leaves
The ingredients for this dish are mentioned in the chaitanya Charitamrita, a fifteenth-century Bengali text describing the pastimes and activities of Sri Chaitanya Maha Prabhu. The author describes a feast prepared in honor of the great saint: “Among the various vegetables offered were newly-grown leaves of nimba (neem) trees fried with eggplant”. Bitter-tasting vegetable dishes are popular in Bengal....
Curried Greens and Eggplant
The “heat” in this sak should be noticeable. Fresh green chilies, though unpredictable in strength, are usually milder than dried red chilies. If you are very sensitive to chilies, try fresh Anaheims or yellow wax. To be authentic, this dish should be a bit hot and spicy. Bengalis sauté the greens quickly over high heat, allowing them to wilt, then soften, but still retain exuberant color and fresh flavor....
Savory Chickpeas in tangy tomato Glaze
Soaking time: 8 hours or overnight Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 10 minutes Cooking time: 2-3 hours or 30-40 minutes in a pressure cooker Ingredients • Dried chickpeas – 1 ¼ cups (235 g) • Water (4 cups/1 liter if pressure-cooked) – 5 ½ cups (1.3 liters) • Ghee or peanut oil – 5 tablespoons (75 ml) • Scraped, minced...
Creamy Mung Dal with Chopped Spinach
Moong, North India’s most popular dal, was a great favourite of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. It is easy to digest and has a good flavor and high vitamin content. The spinach, preferably fresh, enhances the texture and marbled color of this power-packed dal soup, and the fried spices poured in at the end of the cooking add lashings of flavor. Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 10 minutes...
Coconut and Cream Cheese Simply Wonderfuls
This mock milk fudge takes only minutes to assemble. I find homemade yogurt cheese a pleasant alternative to cream cheese because it has fewer calories and adds its own distinctive flavor. Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 10 minutes Ingredients • Unsalted butter, at room temperature – ¼ cup (60 ml) • Neuchatel or cream cheese at room temperature or fresh...