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Vegetable oil for deep frying

8 whole fenugreek seeds

½ teaspoon whole fennel seeds

¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

½ teaspoon black onion seeds (kalonji), if available

4 small oval eggplants, 3–4 inches long

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dash of cayenne pepper, if desired

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Put 1½ to 2 inches of oil in a wok, karhai, or skillet and heat on medium heat.

Measure out fenugreek, fennel, cumin, and onion seeds and keep handy. Wash and wipe the eggplants (leave them unpeeled), and slice lengthwise into flat, ⅛–⅙-inch slices.

When the oil is heated, put in all the seeds. When they change color or begin to pop (5 to 10 seconds), put in the sliced eggplant pieces—only as many as your utensil will hold in one layer. Fry to a golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt, black pepper, cayenne, and lemon juice.

To serve: Serve each batch hot, as soon as it is seasoned. The eggplant should be slightly crunchy. This is really a side dish which should never be the only vegetable at a meal. Serve it along with Carrots and Peas with Ginger and Chinese Parsley or cauliflower as an accompaniment to any meat, chicken, or fish. You can also use it as a garnish for baked fish or a chicken roast by arranging the slices, petal-like around a platter.

Fried eggplants with tomato chutney

SERVES 6

To make this recipe, first prepare the tomato chutney, and 10 minutes before serving, fry the eggplants according to directions in previous recipe. They will be served with the hot chutney spooned over them.

TOMATO CHUTNEY

Lump of tamarind size of large walnut

1 medium-sized onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

⅛ teaspoon ground asafetida, or ⅛-inch lump asafetida

4 whole cardamoms

4 whole cloves

1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds

½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1 cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

⅛–¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon garam masala

⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon sugar

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons finely chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)

Soak the lump of tamarind in ¾ cup hot water. Leave at least 4 hours or overnight. Make paste (about ½ cup).

Put onion and garlic in electric blender with 3 tablespoons of water. Blend at high speed to a smooth paste (1 minute).

Heat olive oil in 2-quart pot, preferably with nonmetallic lining, over medium heat. Put in the asafetida, then add the cardamoms and cloves, and finally the mustard and cumin seeds. When the seeds pop, expand, and change color (10 to 20 seconds), add the paste from the blender, keeping face averted. Fry paste, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, sprinkling a teaspoon of warm water in it if it sticks.

Now add the tamarind paste, tomato sauce, salt, cayenne (if desired), garam masala, cinnamon, sugar, and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and allow to simmer gently for 15 minutes.

While chutney is simmering, prepare eggplants according to previous recipe.

Taste the chutney, and check the salt and sugar. You may want to put in more of one or the other. At this stage, I pick out the cardamoms and the cloves from the chutney and discard them. Mix the parsley with the chutney.

To serve: Arrange the fried eggplants on a platter. Pour some of the hot chutney over them and serve the rest on the side. See preceding recipe for suggested accompaniments.

Eggplant bharta (smoked eggplant)

SERVES 4–6

Until the advent of gas, most cooking in India was done on wood or coal, and one of the waste products of wood and coal is, of course, ash. Not wishing to waste even a waste product, we geared our cuisine so that while some foods were cooking on top of the flame, others were being roasted in the ashes. (Later, the ash was used like Comet to scour the pots and pans.) As a child, I remember begging the cook to put some onions in the ashes, just for me. He would pick out a tiny onion