Family reunion



Last weekend, the Fabulous 5 reunited for the first time in over 6 years, and it was just like old times.

P, P, A, J and I were the best of friends as kids; despite living in different states and different countries, our families would always find a way to get together over a long weekend, summer break or Christmas holiday. The day-long road trips were always worth it, and we would make the most of precious 72 hours, playing the Mowgli game, going on underground adventures and of course, putting on brilliant, lengthy original plays. As we get older, it has become harder and harder to coordinate, so the time we had together this weekend, celebrating A's beautiful wedding to D, was particularly special.

Of my many, many fond memories from family vacations with the Fabulous 5, one of my favorites are of the countless trips to the beach that we made from P and P's house on Long Island. After a morning of playing in the salty waves at Jones Beach, we would all gather on the boardwalk (typically 10 or more of use), and the mothers and grandmothers would unpack lunch - some sort of vegetable (cucumbers or tomatoes), yogurt rice with cilantro and sometimes grapes, Lays potato chips and a big container of fresh vangi bhath, a spicy South Indian eggplant rice dish.

Nostalgic for bygone days, I decided to try my hand at vangi bhath today, using a great spice mix from the MTR brand, a Bangalore restaurant-cum-Indian spice powerhouse whose products can be bought at most Asian grocers or online. There are 2 keys to the recipe: not burning the dal or mustard seeds and cooking the diced eggplant until it is meltingly soft. The result is spicy, flavorful and delightfully multi-textured, fantastic post-yoga paired with cucumber, coriander and yogurt raita.

Vangi Bhath (Eggplant rice)
Adapted slightly from MTR

Ingredients
- 2/3 cups basmati rice, uncooked
- 1 large eggplant, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp yellow dal, uncooked
- 5-6 whole unsalted cashew nuts, or more (to taste)
- 1 small green finger chili (or less, to taste), minced
- 4-5 tbsp canola oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp MTR Vangi Bhath spice powder
- pinch turmeric
- salt, to taste

Prep time: under 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves 3-4 as a main dish

1. Cook rice according to instructions; set aside.

2. In a large wok, heat up 3 tbsp canola oil on medium heat. Add mustard seeds, dal, green chili and cashews; fry for 2-3 minutes until mustard seeds pop and cashews are lightly browned. Remove from work and set aside.

3. Heat up remaining 1 tbsp of oil and add eggplant and turmeric; cook on medium heat, stirring frequently for about 15 minutes, and add more oil if needed. Cook until eggplant has a soft, melting consistency.

4. Add MTR spice mix powder, rice and fried mustard seed mixture. Fold together and add salt to taste.

5. Garnish with additional cashews, if desired, and serve hot.



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