Indian Ratatouille with Five Spices Recipe

Indian Ratatouille with Five Spices (Panch Phoran Tarkan)

from Easy Indian Cooking by Suneeta Vaswani

Ingredients:

2 dried Indian red chiles, broken in half
2 bay leaves
1 tsp panch phoran
2 tbsp oil
1 lb eggplant, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
8 ozbutternut squash, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 to 3 tsp chopped green chiles
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup frozen peas

This and many other wonderful
recipes may be found in
Easy Indian Cooking
by Suneeta Vaswani
from Robert Rose

Panch phoran, the signature five-seed blend used in Bengali food, is magical. Versatile and easy to use, its distinctive flavor is perfect in both Indian and non-Indian dishes.

1. In a small dish, combine red chiles, bay leaves and panch phoran.

2. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Stir spices into hot oil and saute until seeds stop popping, 30 to 40 seconds. Immediately add eggplant, potatoes and squash and mix well.

3. Add green chiles, milk, salt, sugar and 3/4 cup water. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add peas and simmer until water is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot with an Indian bread.