I heart Madhur Jaffrey ♥♥♥♥♥

And I heart my friend Anne who lent me her Madhur Jaffrey's Illustrated Indian Cookery cook book! YAY! If I told you we had Indian for dinner last night AND Indian for dinner tonight, what would you say? You'd say "Ooooh...let's see some photos of it all!!" wouldn't you? Ha dee ha ha ha.... I mentioned to Mr treehugger that I was dismayed I couldn't take a photo of all the wonderful grub and he simply shrugged and said that I will just jolly well have to make it again then! You can see why I love this man! Anyhooo onto the food, and whilst I am seriously lacking in pornz I will try my hardest to portray the wonderfullness of last nights and tonights food 'kay. Last Night Saag Aloo (Madhur Jaffrey doesn't use an ounce of ghee (hee hee hee) in her Saag recipe!!!) Mixed Vegetables in a Mustard and Cumin Sauce Black-eyed Beans with Mushrooms Uncle Ben's Boil in the bag Rice (yes yes I KNOW!!!) Tonight We still had leftovers of everything from last night except the Rice (doesn't Indian cuisine taste better the next day or what!!) So to accompany what was left I made: Chana Saag Spiced Basmati Rice (am I redeemed??) Cauliflower Pakoras Poppadoms Onion Relish Aubergine Pickle (this wasn't Madhur Jaffrey's) And a Partridge in a Pear Tree....LOL! I am so delighted to have been lent this book. I have to give it back on Sunday so I am frantically typing out lots of recipes and out of all the ones I have tried so far, the Spiced Basmati Rice, Cauliflower Pakoras and Mixed Vegetables in a Mustard and Cumin Sauce were just out of this world and are what I will make when I want to impress my omni friends from now on! I used Spices I'd never used before as well which is always exciting! (Kalonji and Black Mustard Seeds). I can post you the Aubergine Pickle recipe because it is one I have tweaked from numerous ones on the interwebs and it is so amazing and so easy you gotsta give it a try next time you make Indian food. Goes perfectly with Poppadoms! Aubergine Pickle Ingredients Red Wine Vinegar (about quarter of a cup plus a little more) 1 tablespoon bottled Water ½ teaspoon dried red Chilies ½ teaspoon ground Turmeric 1 inch piece of Ginger root, sliced 2 cloves Garlic, sliced 6 tablespoons Olive Oil 1 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 tsp Mustard Seeds 1 small Aubergine, peeled and cut into cubes 1 tsp Sugar Salt Method Use a small saucepan to cook this in. This will serve two people quite happily, along with their Poppadoms of course. Grind the red Chilies, Turmeric, half the Ginger and half the Garlic with 1 tablespoon of the Red Wine Vinegar and about a tablespoon of Water (I’ve done this with a hand blender and it worked fine – I just added a bit more water, the lumps didn’t make any difference). Heat the Oil and fry the Cumin and Mustard Seeds with the remaining Garlic and Ginger until browned. Add the ground paste and fry until drier (it will still be quite liquidy – this is good). Add the Aubergines and pour in enough Wine Vinegar to just come half way up the Vegetables. Add the Sugar and Salt and simmer until the Aubergines are tender and the Oil floats to the top. Leave to cool. We still have plenty of leftovers but I think even I couldn't make Indian food three nights in a row......or could I????????? Todays song is by the FANTASTIC Razorlight - Wire to Wire