Hungry in Berlin

Here’s a guest post from Bowleserised, a very talented lady who knows both her food, ponies and the writerly life in Berlin, and who often is called upon by bizarre British TV talent to explain the Hauptstadt to them.  This is an ideal Dönerspende dish, as it’s got few ingredients but is also flexible — i.e., what you’ve got in your ‘fridge or pantry will probably get you by. Enjoy.

This is an adaptation of a Claudia Roden recipe for Brinjal Albaras from The Book of Jewish Food. It’s a dish from the Bene Israel community in India. It should have fresh coriander in the coconut milk mix, which might still be possible depending on the pricing, and the courgette substitution is one I’ve improvised.

I usually use a can of coconut milk so my version is more liquid than the purist’s, which involves creamed coconut milk and water. I like the more liquid version though as then you can eke the meal out with rice. Obviously you can use fewer potatoes and more aubergine or any different combination, according to preference and available ingredients.

The recipe:

Brinjal Albaras

1 of those mid-size cans of coconut milk
2 garlic cloves
scant chili flakes
1cm knob of fresh ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
salt, pepper
a little vegetable oil
1 onion cut in 1cm slices
1 smallish aubergine (not a baby one though) or a courgette cut in 1cm slices
1 large tomato or two smaller ones cut in 1cm slices
4 potatoes, also cut in 1cm slices
white rice/naan bread to serve

Mix the ginger, garlic, chili, salt, pepper and spices with the coconut milk and blend.  Oil the bottom of a casserole dish; a small one will do. Dip the onion slices in the coconut mix one at a time and pave the bottom of the dish with them. Then do the same with the potatoes, then the aubergines/courgettes and finally the tomatoes. Tip any extra coconut mix over the top.

Place the lid on the dish and put it on the hob on a low heat (a 1 on your bog standard Berlin hob) for up to an hour. A bit of guesswork is required, but the vegetables should cook gently in their own juices. Serve up with warmed up naans and/or rice if there’s enough coconut mix to sop up.

The cost:

The most “expensive” things about the dish are the eggplant and coconut milk, although since it’s warming and summer’s already hit Spain, eggplants may have dropped in price, finally. (Turkish markets are guaranteed to have less-expensive eggplants than, say, Kaiser’s.) One medium-sized eggplant should set you back from 40 cents to a Euro; a can/box of coconut milk runs from 99 cents to 1.25 Euro.

The rest are bulk items that cost pennies when taken as single-servings; garlic, ginger, onions and potatoes (the tomatoes are the outlier — perhaps you could sub a touch of tomato paste?) shouldn’t equal more than 50 cents when all is said and done.

Yum. Who’s going to take the plunge and make their own naan?

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