RCP: Tamarind aubergines with Thai basil

This week I cooked this dish for the third time and we both really enjoyed it. It'll be a fixture on our rota of dishes

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/n ... eera-sodha

I didn't add sugar; the article says the dish is sweet-and-sour. I can believe it’s sweet if one adds a tablespoon of sugar, but I didn’t and it didn’t taste sour to us.

First time around I couldn't get Thai Basil and used ordinary Basil and it was fine, but the Thai strain is more flavoursome..
I serve it with just plain long grain rice.

I am not familiar with that fruit, but it sounds delicious. I grow a small pot of Thai Basil at my kitchen window, on the side of my sink. So pretty with petite, purple flowers. I could not find a pot with holes on the bottom so I lined pea gravel on the bottom, put in the soil and then the rooted cuttings I grew in water. They were cuttings from my hair stylist's shop. She keeps a pot outside near her door of various plantings. They do fabulous and I do not water until they let me know they are dry when a few of the lower leaves begin to wilt. Then I water and it perks right up. The leaves are very small so it usually takes quite a few to add to a soup, or other dishes, so I use them more for a garnish. It is amazing how that plant produces leaves and flowers so quickly, even after I cut them back.

I am not familiar with that fruit, but it sounds delicious.

To save you Googling, in the USA it's called eggplant (which really puzzled me because I'd never seen a purple egg).

Aubergine is also used in fashion in French and British English fashion to describe cloth of a purple/mauve colour.

The derivation of the word Aubergine is fascinating, and belongs on Bill's unusual words thread

"In Britain, [eggplant] is usually called an aubergine, a name which was borrowed through French and Catalan from its Arabic name al-badinjan. That word had reached Arabic through Persian from the Sanskrit vatimgana, which indicates how long it has been cultivated in India. In India, it has in the past been called brinjal, a word which comes from the same Arabic source as British aubergine, but filtered through Portuguese (the current term among English speakers in India is either the Hindi baingan, or aubergine). Some people in the southern states of the US still know it as Guinea squash, a name that commemorates its having been brought there from West Africa in the eighteenth century."

from http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-egg1.htm

Indian restaurants here (of which there are very many) call it brinjal and binjal bhaji is a common side dish -chopped aubergines cooked with onions in a spicy tomato sauce.

Oh goodness, I focused on the word tamarind. I, love eggplant and do know it is also called aubergine. I pick it up at the Farmer's Market all summer long. Usually make some version of Eggplant Parmesan with less fat and calories. I love the smaller ones referred to as Japanese Eggplant. I find them to be sweeter and have less seeds and I do not peel them.

Thanks for the post Peter. I love anything tamarind and will definitely make this dish but wait utill I have Thai basil in the garden.

And the very tiny ones are called fairy eggplants!

Oh goodness, I focused on the word tamarind.

Apologies. This recipe is the first time I've used tamarind, but it only involved buying a jar of tamarind paste from the supermarket

To save you Googling, in the USA it's called eggplant (which really puzzled me because I'd never seen a purple egg).

Eggplants/aubergines come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. The most common varieties in Europe and the USA are large, purple, and gourd-shaped. A smaller version of the same thing is sold here in New England as "Italian eggplant". Chinese eggplants are purple, long, and narrow. The most common Thai variety is egg-shaped or round and with a mottled green skin. There is a similar variety that has white skin and likely that is the origin of the name "eggplant". The Thais also use a tiny, round, green eggplant variety called the "pea eggplant", although it's about twice the size of a pea. A lot of US Thai restaurants substitute peas for pea eggplants in curries.

Tamarind is a tree fruit that comes in the form of long pods. It's usually bought dried either as whole pods or compressed blocks, either with or without the seeds. To use it you reconstitute the dried tamarind in hot water and strain it. You can also buy pre-prepared tamarind paste, which is what this recipe calls for. I use the paste--a lot more convenient. Tamarind is used to give a sour quality to Indian (particularly South Indian) and some Thai dishes such as Massaman curry. When preparing South Indian dals (dried lentil/bean/pea dishes) it's important to add the tamarind at the end of the cooking time when the dal is soft. Adding tamarind at the beginning interferes with the cooking of the dal.

-Paul W.

Thanks Paul. I did not know that about tamarind and dal cooking. For as much as I like tamarind, I've never used it in Indian cooking but I'm glad to know before I make the mistake.

[When preparing South Indian dals (dried lentil/bean/pea dishes) it's important to add the tamarind at the end of the cooking time when the dal is soft. Adding tamarind at the beginning interferes with the cooking of the dal.

And, as always, the flavor is more pronounced if added at the end.

I think tamarind paste is a great product. It is usually very basic, no extra ingredients, just tamarind, but tons of flavor.

The Thais also use a tiny, round, green eggplant variety called the "pea eggplant", although it's about twice the size of a pea.

Yes, none of the Thai restaurants I've been to in the UK have them, and their food just isn't the same as in Thailand. I've stopped going now.

Same as everywhere, ethnic restaurants adapt to the ingredients they can get and local tastes.

I can get preserved Thai pea aubergines in jars mail-order from importfood.com . I used to be able to get them at our local Thai grocery but, alas, it is closed now because it was destroyed in a fire in the building where it was located. The preserved (in brine) pea aubergines work out well in Thai curries.

-Paul W.

Made it again last night, and there was some left over so warmed it up for lunch today.

It's even better like that.

Here's what it looked like when I made it

tamarind-aubergine.png

The Francophile is a fan of tamarind. His tastes usually run to chicken with tamarind sauces, but he might be tempted by this aubergine recipe. Thank you Peter.

[Jenise]

Same as everywhere, ethnic restaurants adapt to the ingredients they can get and local tastes.

Worst example in my personal experience: Chinese food in Scotland in the winter of '78. The only fresh vegetables were carrot, rutabega (swede), and cabbage.

Thanks, Peter. I happen to have a block of tamarind in one of my fridges and I love eggplant so I put this recipe on the 'to try' list.

It isn't going to win any prizes for appearance but who cares - taste is what counts.