Sveta and I spent a few miserable days in Varanasi once. It rained the whole time and the room we stayed in was freezing. Consequently we both caught colds. We stayed in a very basic lodge overlooking the River Ganges. We had a terriffic view and spent most of the time sitting on the terrace huddled together, wrapped in blankets watching the river and the activity on its banks. It was warmer out on the terrace than in our room. We saw some amazing things going on along the river bank and some very strange things floating down the river. Surprisingly, there were a lot of river dolphins, so the water couldn't have been as polluted as it looked. At night the river bank was lined with many coloured lights and people set little lanterns, as offerings, to float down the river.
Food could be ordered on our terrace and we thought that, in better weather, this might be a great place to be. Until we tried the food. The tomato soup was ketchup, water and fried onion. The mushroom soup was tinned mushrooms, water and fried onion. The fried rice was full of little black burned bits.
Sveta ordered fried aubergines and they came mixed with lemon wedges. This was possibly the best meal we ate in Varanasi. The standard of cooking wasn't very good but the lemon gave the dish an interesting taste and I resolved to create an improved version when I returned to my kitchen. It was over a year before I got it together.
Ingredients
2 large aubergines
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
A few sprigs of green coriander
1 or 2 small spring onions
A 3 cm piece of root ginger (peeled)
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
A half teaspoon of garam masala
A third of a teaspoon of crushed red chilli
Oil
Salt
Chop the onion garlic and ginger finely and mix together. Top and tail the lemon, cut it into eight wedges. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces and put aside with the lemon. Wash the aubergines and cut off the green stalks and core the pepper.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the mustard seeds for about twenty seconds, before adding the onion, garlic and ginger. While they are cooking, cut the aubergine and pepper into fairly large pieces and then add to the pan with the chilli, garam masala and salt and stir everything well. Cover the pan and cook for seven or eight minutes on a medium heat. Add the tomatoes and lemon wedges, stir gently and cover the pan. After two or three minutes, remove from the heat and serve garnished with chopped coriander and green onion.
Try serving with rice,
cous-cous or pasta.