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I have noticed that I have become a bit more inclined towards celebrating festivals after coming to London, maybe it is out of being homesick during festive times and also to ensure that I remember the traditions involved I guess. ‘Makar Sankrant’ is a Hindu festival celebrated by my community ”Maharashtrians” with great pomp and enthusiasm as it heralds the season of Harvest. Similar to this festival is Lohri which is celebrated by the Punjabis in the North of India, Pongal in the state of Tamil Nadu, Uttaryan in the state of Gujrat. One festival so many names and so varied ways of celebrating! It is not only in India that this festival is celebrated it’s also welcomed in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Laos amongst others!

My mother always used to make a smoked aubergine vegetable dish called Vangyache Bharit – written in Marathi as – वांग्याचे भरीत on Makar Sankrant so I decided to make it too for Sankrant this year which was on the 14th of Jan’14. We also exchange small ladoos made of sesame seeds and jaggery called ”Tilache Ladoo” and wish each other by saying तिळगुळ घ्या गोड गोड बोला -‘Tilgul ghya god bola. It means that we shall forget and forgive any past bitter exchange of words and start afresh with this sweet offering and only speak sweet words of love. Til stands for sesame and Gul stands for jaggery in Marathi, so TilGul means a sweet made using sesame and jaggery as the main ingredients

The recipe is modified in various regions of the state of Maharashtra and also the variety of vanga/eggplant/aubergine or brinjal as we know it in urban India, is different in various parts of the state and in various states of India, of course differing due to climate and soil. Aai ( meaning Mother in the Marathi language – my mother tongue) always looked for the light green vanga or eggplant with white stripes on its skin which she rightly said tastes way better than its darker purple-skinned cousin.

Aai’s recipe which I will share now is how we have always made this dish at home. There are several variations and styles depending on which part of Maharashtra you hail from and also various sub-cultures and availability of local ingredients and palates.I guess what makes this recipe so special is that it brings back happy memories of childhood, festivity, celebration and the unmistakable smoky and rich vanga (eggplant/aubergine) taste with the crunchy red onion and a slap of hot spicy green chilli mixed in between, all balanced so well with the various masalas that go into this bharit Ummm!

Image Credit WebDunia

Serves:2 -as a main with chapatya(Marathi for Indian Naan Bread also called chapatis in Hindi)

Preparation Time :15 minutes

Cooking Time:25minutes

Ingredients:

1 large vanga/baingan/eggplant/aubergine
1 large red onion
2-3 green chillies
5-6 large cloves of garlic
a few mustard seeds
Cumin/Jeera
Garam Masala – 2 heaped tsps
Salt to taste
A pinch of hing/asafoetida
Turmeric – 1.5 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1.5 tsp
Oil – 3-4 large tbsps
Coriander/Cilantro to garnish

Method:

The beauty of this dish lies in the deep and rich smoky flavour of the eggplant, I would love to use charcoals and do this bit on an open rustic fire but well I make do with my hob. You could use the oven but it will take much longer but directly on the hob – though a bit messy , it’s quicker! Roast the eggplant completely turning it on the side and moving it up an down so you don’t miss any bits.

Allow this to cool and then charred skin will come off easily.

Mash with your hands in a smooth mass of soft cooked, smoked eggplant.

While the eggplant is smoking on the hob, finely chop one large red onion.
Skin the garlic and use a mortar pestle to smash the green chillies with the garlic
In a dry saucepan, add the oil and after it is hot, add a pinch of hing/ asafoetida and mustard seeds, as the mustard seeds begin to pop add the cumin seeds and the garam masala powder and the finely chopped red onion and stir it often till it turns colour and is still crunchy to taste.

Now add the turmeric and red chilli powder
Then stir in the ”thecha”(Marathi for the green chilli and garlic mixture) and saute’ till the raw garlic becomes one with the mixture. Vary the green chillies depending on your personal tolerance of heat
Reduce the flame to a low and add the eggplant mash into this mixture and stir well so as to ensure equal distribution of the onion and all other flavours.
Cook with lid for under 5 minutes.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander/cilantro.
Serve with hot chapatya or steamed rice and dal.
We also enjoy this cold, cool the dish completely and serve with a generous helping of set curd/yoghurt.
My aai didn’t add tomatoes to this and at times used some Goda masala as well as it has dry grated coconut which can really alter the taste.
For Baingan Bharta add one finely chopped tomato as well after the onion has been fried.

The first time I ate Jerk Chicken, was at a pop up Caribbean food stall near Haymarket Station, it was served with some tasty rice with red kidney beans and the most deliciously sweet plantain. Ever since I have been waiting to experiment and make this spicy chicken at home. Please resist the temptation of using a jerk sauce out of a bottle, it’s almost a crime because in the recipe I used from the BBC Good Food guide, it makes preparing the marinade a thing of joy. Not only will you learn how each ingredient lends its individual flavour but you can learn how to adjust the ”heat” in this amazing marinade. An advance warning, if you have sensitive skin PLEASE use gloves to marinate the chicken as Scotch Bonnet peppers are PACKED with heat. Ensure you THOROUGHLY wash your hands after you handle these ”hot babies” too! Humm now for the recipe, it’s essentially what was in the original but of course, I have added my own touches and I think they make quite an impact 🙂 So read on folks.

Jerk Chicken

Manjiri Chitnis

Caribbean Jerk chicken is an all-time favourite and tastes even better with a home-mademarinade

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Caribbean

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For Jerk Chicken:

12 chicken thighs with bone
1 garlic sliced through the middle to go in the oven
2 lemons halved to go in the baking tray
1 pair of clean gloves if you have sensitive skin – to marinate the chicken

For the Jerk marinade:

4 Garlic Cloves de-skinned
1 small red onion
1 bunch fresh spring onion roughly chopped
1 portion ginger size that fits inside your closed fist washed, skinned and roughly chopped
1 tbsp thyme – I had none so I used 1 tbsp of Mixed Italian herb powder
3 scotch bonnet chillies de-seeded if you cannot handle very spicy
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oil – I used sunflower
4 heaped tbsp brown sugar – I used dark muscovado sugar
1 tbsp ground allspice powder
1 lime Juiced

Instructions

Blitz all the ingredients for the marinade in the mixer/food processor/blender and make a thick paste, do not add water as far as possible to ensure a thick puree like grainy paste
Wash and deskin the chicken thighs and make cuts using a knife
Then generously apply the marinade paste all over rubbing into the cuts made to ensure the flavour really seeps into the chicken
Marinate overnight in the fridge. Cover vessel with cling film
Keep about 2 tbsp marinade aside for adding in the baking tray
When you are ready to prepare the chicken pre-heat the oven to 180 – 200 degree Celsius, I have a fan oven
Prepare the baking tray by greasing with some oil, place the marinated chicken pieces and surround them with the lime slices and place the garlic halved
Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes or until juices run clear
When the chicken is in the oven start with the rice

Coconut Rice with Peas

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

200 g Basmati Rice
400 g Coconut Milk can
1 bunch fresh spring onion finely chopped
2 large sprigs of fresh thyme
2 large cloves of garlic skinned and chopped very fine
1 tbsp ground allspice
200 g green peas

Instructions

Wash the Basmati rice under cold running tap water
In a heavy-bottomed vessel, add the washed rice and coconut milk, chopped spring onions, thyme, garlic chopped and allspice
Add 300 ml water, mix and add salt to season
Cook with lid on a medium flame till water begins to boil
Stir with a wooden spatula and then add the green peas
Reduce flame and do not cover completely, leave a bit of space for the steam to pass
Cook until done

Although the recipe I followed, uses red kidney beans since I was already using them in my Caribbean Sweet Mini Pepper Salad, I choose green peas for my Coconut Rice. I made my own homemade replacement for allspice powder too, it’s very easy and I intend to make it fresh each time I need instead of the store-bought one, simply because it is so quick and easy to prepare! Actually allspice is a spice by itself but it tastes similar to a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.

Also Known as: Jamaican Pepper or New spice

Home made all-Spice Powder recipe

Home made all-spice seasoning

Manjiri Chitnis

Try myeasy to prepare and store home-made all-spice seasoning

Print Recipe

Prep Time 2 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Total Time 7 mins

Servings 1 portions

Ingredients

1 tbsp Cinnamon powder or cinnamon stick – thumb-sized
1 small tbsp pepper powder
1 heaped tbsp of cloves
1 full nutmeg grated

Instructions

In a pestle and mortar mix the ingredients and grate the nutmeg into it
Then smash together to makes a grainy powder
Some bits of the clove you may not be able to grind fine, I wouldn’t worry about it unless you want a fine powder then the smallest attachment on your mixer. I have an Indian mixer which I use for my coconut chutneys and it has 3 jars I used the one with 3 blades. Or else just use the pestle and mortar it should work.
Store away the remaining homemade allspice replacement powder in a tiny airtight container

A note about the brown sugar vs. dark muscovado sugar

Dark Muscovado sugar is the unrefined form of brown sugar ,its stickier ,heavier,has a longer shelf life than refined sugars and adds a more intense flavour to marinades and since it is stable at high temperatures is great for baking.If you do not have brown sugar its ok to replace it with dark Muscovado sugar. Although as the water content dark muscovado holds is higher one should accordingly taper the use of water in the recipe.

Brown sugar is white sugar and molasses and hence the colour and soft texture. It has the light and dark brown sugar varieties and the lighter it is the milder the flavour.