As soon as I heard the name of the show Spice Goddess, I knew I had to watch it. Bal Arneson is so lovely, warm and friendly… her show and recipes are impossible to resist. Thanks to MDG & Associates and Whitecap Books, publisher of the cookbook Bal’s Quick and Healthy Indian, not only did I get one for review, they agreed to donate a copy to my blog bday party for one of my lucky readers!
The contest for Bal’s Quick and Healthy Indian
In preparation, I went out and bought all sorts of spices. In fact when my sister Jamie was visiting I introduced her to Bal’s show. She was so inspired by Bal and her food that I put together a care package of spices for her. I had recommended Bal’s No-Butter Chicken as a place to begin since I had made it before and loved it. Well I just found out that Jamie loved it too! A good way to begin.
Now the one thing I definitely did not have for Bal’s Crispy Pan-Fried Eggplant with Green Pea Sauce was chickpea flour. I had tried making it myself by putting dried chickpeas in a food processor but all that did was beat on my eardrums and give me a migraine!
I had heard you could make it yourself (Wayne, was it you who told me that?) so I had an appliance epiphany and got out my coffee grinder. Sure enough, after much noise, it did grind up the chickpeas.
To make sure it was fine enough I put it through a sieve and put the remnants back into the coffee grinder over and over again. I know a lot of people can just pick chickpea flour up at their store but not at mine. Sure, I could have just used regular flour but I wanted to stay true to the recipe. A lot of work but I did it!
I would recommend following the recipe here since I only made a quarter of a batch. I was not sure how much I was going to like it, especially since I rarely enjoy eggplant. I want to emphasize the importance of putting enough salt into the batter though and also recommend adding hot sauce of some kind. So good!
I like that this is a shallow fry recipe since I do not deep fry food and these recipes are supposed to be healthy. I think my batter was a little on the thin side but it still worked out great. Make sure that the oil is hot enough and to cook the eggplant long enough so that it is crispy on the outside and tender in the middle.
I made this eggplant dish for lunch along with Chuck Hughes’ Super Burger, to participate in the Hot Pepper Challenge on Food Network Canada’s Site. It is wonderful! Not to mention super impressive that Bal managed to make an eggplant dish that I enjoyed and made two days in a row for lunch. The vibrant green pea sauce is stunning contrast not just in colour, but in texture. I give this recipe four out of five wooden spoons.
CONTEST
- Contest is open to those in the U.S. and Canada.
- Only those who have not already won big prizes can enter.
- If possible, follow my blog.
- You must leave contact info if you do not have a profile or a current blog, otherwise you will be disqualified.
- Please tell me your favourite East Indian dish or why you would like to learn about East Indian cooking.
Contest will be open until Sunday night. Winner will be announced Monday.
Good luck everyone and have a delicious weekend!
I would love to learn how to cook east Indian more because I love the flavours and the spice!!
OMG…so yummy! I love fried eggplant! I have just recently learned more about indian food and I have fallen in love with fried curry leaves…and chutneys. And the okra…so good and I usually HATE okra.
thanks for this post…totally going to try out this recipe!
I LOVE Indian food. My favorite by far is butter chicken and in particular Vij’s Butter Chicken Schnitzel!
I do follow your blog 🙂 And I LOVE all Indian food. I would like to learn more about Indian cuisine, as it’s my favorite. I’m also kind of an Indo-Pagan of sorts.
I am so impressed With Bal’s presentation. She has demystified Indian cooking so much. While I have sworn to forsake getting any more cookbooks I think I would break my rule for this one.
Oh yum! This looks like a great book! I love Indian food. My husband makes a mean curried dal (lentils – usually red). I’ve done a fair bit of Indian cooking also, but never used eggplant! Fun!!
I love Bal’s tv show. And she lives in Vancouver (i mean Canadian cooking shows are all happening in the East coast ;)).
Would LOVE to win her cookbook.
Thanks for the opportunity Suzie <3
Please enter my name, Suzie! I’m a follower of course and I’d like to do more East Indian cooking myself. I love how the spice combinations can make vegetables taste so darn good! I need to eat more vegetables.
I love watching Bal and adore Indian food… was actually thinking of trying the No-Butter Chicken for dinner tonight (my husband usually does the cooking but is on the road today so I get to play in the kitchen for a change 🙂 Would love a copy of this cookbook… Thanks for the chance and for the wonderful blog (and FB page!)
I do hope I win one of your contests Suzie. lol
I love East Indian cuisine and I have not made it much myself. At least not from scratch as I do with most everything else.
When I think of the East Indian foods I’ve had in nice restaurants I think of the desserts mostly. I had to do some research to remember the names but I’ll never forget the flavours of jalebi or Gulab Jamun. I think my favourite in the savoury department would have to be pakoras. But then who could live without naan bread!
Hugs to you and yours Suzie
my favorite East Indian are dosas, or if i make something at home I love veggie or chicken korma. i make my own recipe off a variation of trader joe’s bottled version. Good creamy and spicy sauce for veggies or chicken. Thanks for the chance to win this!
Hi! Please enter my name! I love Indian cooking, especially the street food momos which I learned to make and posted on my blog. I also love homemade Paneer. I have been watching Bal on the food network and she has been an inspiration! She makes Indian food, which seems like a daunting task with so many ingredients and spices, so so simple. I especially enjoy her Lentil Cookies, Potato Paranthas, and Once a Month Lamb Curry!
There is a lovely Indian restaurant near my home that I often frequent and I would love to learn how to make some of the dishes myself. Thanks for the great contest!
ctoan72(at)gmail(dot)com
I love Indian food! Nigel and I have a favourite restaurant and we go a few times a year, for a treat.
We’ve tried a couple of simple dishes at home and I’m going to try making my own chai concentrate soon, but we’d love to try other things to give us yummy dinners in between our trips to our local eatery. 🙂
ksorgenfrie AT gmail dot com
I absolutely LOVE Bal…I watch her show all the time – I am interested in learning how to make her dishes – the spices she uses absolutely fascinate me – and her recipes seem so easy…. I have seen a few potato recipes and eggplant recipes from her show and they sound WONDERFUL…I already follow your blog –
this is a great give away – thanks so much for offering it….
jibaro6543@gmail.com
mmmm..I love indian food, I have seen this show and would love the recipe book!
I love Indian food…the hotter the better! We usually do Indian take-out, but I would love a book with great recipes to learn from. It’s hard to pick just one favourite, but I’d have to say Chicken Vindaloo.
Susie,isn’t Bal’s show a refreshing change in the FN line-up? Love the simplicity of her recipes. Wow! I can’t believe you actually made your own chickpea flour. Nice to have a totally different recipe for eggplant, which is such a familiar vegetable in Italian homes. Looks delicious.
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Indian food is wonderful and I’d love to learn more about how to cook it. I’d also like to learn the differences between the various regions of cuisine. Your photos look great! I love both eggplant and green peas but have never had them together. What a great looking recipe.
I haven’t tried much Indian food so far, so I wanted to wait to enter the contest until after I had lunch on Saturday with my son and daughter-in-law, as we were meeting at an Indian restaurant.
I ordered Butter Chicken, mild, with a side of spinach naan bread. The chicken dish was still pretty spicy but I really enjoyed the bread.
I would really like to learn the healthier aspects of Indian cuisine.
shepherds_lamb2002@yahoo.com
Thank you for all the entries and Indian food ideas! Can’t wait to get to cooking some of Bal’s dishes. Contest is now closed. Good luck everyone!