An Invitation to Indian Cooking - Madhur Jaffrey [25]
TO STUFF GREEN BELL PEPPERS AND LONG ITALIAN PEPPERS
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Wash the peppers, then with a small sharp pointed knife cut a small cap around the stem of each pepper. Pull off the cap by the stem. Scoop out and discard the seeds inside the pepper and cut off seeds attached to the cap. Be sure to keep track of which cap belongs to which pepper.
Using a teaspoon, stuff each pepper with the prepared kheema and stick the cap back on. Lay or stand the peppers in one layer in an ovenproof baking dish. Pour Tomato Tamarind Chutney over them, reserving a little chutney to pour over peppers just before you serve them. Cover the baking dish with a lid or aluminum foil, making sure it is tightly covered.
Bake in the preheated oven 45 to 55 minutes, or until peppers are tender.
To serve: Transfer peppers and chutney onto warm serving platter and spoon fresh chutney over them. Serve with Sookhe Aloo, Cucumber Raita, and parathas. Or you could serve with rice, a chicken or shrimp dish, a vegetable, and a salad type of relish, e.g., Cucumber and Tomato with Lemon Juice. Or serve the peppers alone as an appetizer.
TO STUFF TOMATOES
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Wash the tomatoes, then with a small sharp pointed knife cut a cap off at the stem end of each tomato. Reserve the caps. Remove the seeds and pulp from each tomato. (A grapefruit knife or serrated spoon is useful for this.)
Using a teaspoon, stuff each tomato with the prepared kheema. Replace the caps.
Stand the tomatoes in a single layer in an ovenproof baking dish. Pour Tomato Tamarind Chutney over them, reserving a little chutney to pour over tomatoes just before you serve them. Cover the baking dish tightly with a lid or aluminum foil.
Place in preheated oven, and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until tomatoes wrinkle slightly.
To serve: Lift the tomatoes gently with large kitchen spoon and place on serving platter. Pour extra chutney over them, and serve as an appetizer or as in the preceding recipe for stuffed peppers.
TO STUFF EGGPLANT
Pick medium or large eggplants. Wash them.
Bring water to which 1 teaspoon of salt has been added to boil in a pot large enough to hold the eggplants. Since the eggplants will float, you can half-fill the pot with water. When the water comes to a boil, put in the eggplants and boil 15 minutes. Turn them over halfway through boiling time.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Pour water carefully out of the pot, so as not to bruise the eggplants, and leave them to cool. Prepare each eggplant this way: when it is cool, cut off a cap at the stem area, and reserve. Now scoop out the inside, leaving only ½ inch of flesh all around. This is not easy. Use a grapefruit knife, a long sharp knife, spoons, a spoon handle—anything that will help you gouge out the inside—holding the eggplant carefully so you don’t break the skin. (If you begin to despair, cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and scoop out the inside, leaving ½ inch around the skin, then proceed with the recipe.) When the pulp is out, the eggplant will shrink into itself and look like a very sad sack. Fatten it back into shape by stuffing it with lots of kheema. If it is still whole, put its cap on, pour Tomato Tamarind Chutney over it, and bake, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the eggplant is tender. Turn over once halfway during baking time. (If you had to halve the eggplants and stuff them that way, place snugly, skin side down, in a baking dish.)
Follow serving directions for stuffed peppers.
Koftas (Indian meatballs)
SERVES 6–8 MAKES ABOUT 48 MEATBALLS
Koftas take a fairly long time to make, so I suggest that you prepare them a day in advance. They can be covered and left in the refrigerator overnight (they will taste even better) and can be reheated before serving. Take care not to break them while stirring and serving.
FOR THE MEATBALLS
2 pounds finely ground meat from a leg of lamb, or chuck beef (put meat twice through fine blade of grinder, or ask your butcher to do so)