“Tamally maak…we law hata ba eed any, fe alby hawak”

Thursday, April 19, 2007

I am always with You
And even when You’re far away from me
Your love is in my heart
-Translation of the Arabic song “Tamally Maak” by Amr Diab

This weekend is finally going to be warm (highs of 70s!) and I have full intension of shopping around Georgetown and enjoy a big dollop of ice cream at Hagen Daaz! The thought of new shoes and clothes….all I can say is YAY! Aside from that I plan on finally coming up with a menu that Bhatji and I can enjoy on our balcony. So far I have a light salad and gorgeous blush wine, but then I am also thinking a tapas style menu. So we’ll just have to wait and see what tickles my foodie fancy :o) No there’s no special reason for this balcony dinner…its just because the weather is going to be beautiful and I think Bhatji and I both find it relaxing to sit out and enjoy a delicious meal and exquisite wine. I also think it would be good to break our habit of sitting on our couch eating dinner and watching TV and instead sit out enjoy the breeze and great food. I mean I like my share of the boob tube sometimes…but I have always felt the best way to have conversations is to just avoid it all together and instead indulge in good company.
I recently made a wonderful typical Konkani Egg plant (vaingan) dish. I have been meaning to add more vegetables in our diet so during our last Harris Teeter shopping trip, I bought a large purple eggplant…with absolutely no idea how I was going to prepare it, All I knew was that I wanted to buy it because it looked so good and my mom always tells me that Vaingan is the one of the best vegetables because it has so many nutritional values. So after doing some research and checking with my mom, I made Vaingana Sagle. Konkani folks make a lot of veggie Sagle’s which is a dry coconut based curry. I made a simple Daal (dalitoy), rice and Vaingana Sagle. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 Large Eggplant
1 cup Grated coconut
8 red chilies
Marble sized Tamarind
2 tsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1tbsp Mustard seeds
2 tbl spns of oil
Salt as per taste
To Make:
Wash and cut the eggplant into large square pieces. Grind the grated coconut, red chilies, tamarind and salt in a food processor. Fry the coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds and add to the existing masala, and grind further into fine paste. Smear this masala on eggplant and let sit for about 10 mins. Heat 2 tbl spns of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add eggplant and just sprinkle a few drops of water and cook on a low flame for about 15-20 mins till the eggplant starts to soften.


Definitely try this dish! its very simple to make and very very konkani :o) Enjoy!