Eggplant Rice

Vangi Bhath Powder

1/4 cup grated coconut

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp channa dal

1 tbsp urad dal

2 dry red chillies

1/2 tsp asafoetida powder

Dry roast all the ingredients for the vangi bhath or eggplant rice powder and grind them until it becomes a fine powder and keep it aside.

Eggplant with dried shrimp curry

This side dish tastes delicious served with rice or flatbread. For this curry the eggplant is cooked slow with dried shrimp. 

Moroccan Spicy eggplant, tomato and garlic salad

Morocco is a cookery book written by Jeff Koehler.  There are more than 70 Moroccan recipes and awesome pictures in the book.  The rich colourful food pictures are presented beautifully.  The author shares about the landscape, culinary history and ingredients in the beginning of the book.  The content is separated into bread, savoury pastries, soups and legumes, street food, fresh and cooked salad, meats, eggs and poultry, fish and shellfish, couscous, sweets and desserts and drinks.

The book reflects North African cuisine that combines textures, bold flavours, sweet and savoury.  I like how the author describes about buying the food from the souq or market and making, touching and feeling the food when we eat.  The author points out that eating is not an individual experience it is about sharing, equality and sense of community.
Moroccan tables are round as opposed to square so guests can easily take the food and be accommodated.  The food presentation is very important, even when preparing the simplest dish.  I like how the author says "Ainek misanek," which means "your eyes will be your measure" so we have to use our finger and eyes as a guide to decide how long we have to cook, how and when to add the spice to our taste etc.  This is very important when we cook as it makes all the difference.

Spicy eggplant, tomato and garlic salad from the book.
3 eggplants (about 2lbs)
6 garlic cloves unpeeled
1/2 cup olive oil (I reduced the amount of oil to 1/4 cup)
3 tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped, juices reserved
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

Peel some of the eggplant skin and discard.  Quarter the eggplant lengthwise then cut into 1" pieces.
Steam the eggplant and garlic in a double broiler by covering it snugly for about 25 minutes until the eggplant becomes soft.  Remove the garlic and cool.  Squeeze the garlic from the peels and discard the peels.  
In a skillet or sauté pan heat oil, over medium heat and add tomatoes, garlic, paprika, cayenne or red chillie flakes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook stirring until the tomatoes become red and pulpy for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the eggplant and cook covered over medium heat, stirring and mashing the ingredients frequently for about 20 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and serve.

Multicultural food festival
Atrium, a one-stop-shopping and office complex located in downtown Toronto, will be hosting “A World of Flavour” multicultural food festival from October 1-5, 2012.  Each day of the festival they will feature amazing deals, free food samples by local retailers and a grand prize draw for $1,000 in Atrium gift cards from the food retailers. On October 4^th, Celebrity Chef Rose Riseman will be at Atrium to conduct a two hour internationally inspired cooking demonstration and host a meet and greet after the show.

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