Aubergine Moile Masala with Chittiappes
James Ferreira makes an aubergine moile masala, a recipe he learnt from his mother, Thelma, to be served with chittiappes, a decadent cross between a pancake and an appam. The aubergine moile was devised for Ferreira’s dinner parties—a vegetarian option in a cuisine that doesn’t inherently have too many. “I started cooking after mummy died. When she was around I wouldn’t dare to make her recipes, or even if I did she was always there to supervise,” he says. “Now I’m very exacting like she was. That’s the way you get the best food: by being a perfectionist.”
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JAMES FERREIRA’S RECIPE FOR MOILE MASALA
Ingredients
1 kilo baby aubergine
1/2 kilo onions.
70 gm ginger
70 gm garlic
4 medium size green chilies
2 and a 1/2 tbsp bottle masala
2 and a 1/2 tbsp sugarcane vinegar.
Oil to fry
Method
Cut the aubergine into slices and add salt. Keep aside. Cut onion into very fine slices. Slice ginger and garlic into strips as thin as possible. Slit chilies into 4 pieces.
Fry onion in oil on your lowest flame. Allow the onions to first turn pink till a sweet aroma is released. Continue cooking till the onions brown.
Then add the garlic and ginger to the onions and continue frying on a low flame till the garlic turns brown, too. At this point, add the bottle masala and vinegar till they integrate into the mixture well. Add salt to season the wet masala and keep aside.
Wash the salted aubergine slices and pat dry. Fry the aubergine in a vessel till brown and then add the moile masala.
RECIPE FOR CHITTIAPPE
Ingredients
1/2 kilo rice flour
1/4 kilo wheat flour
2 eggs
2 x 200ml packets coconut milk
100 grams castor sugar
2 tablespoons dry yeast mixed in warm water till you get a smooth mixture
Salt to taste
Method
Mix both the flours in a glass bowl and keep aside.
Beat the two eggs in a separate container, add the coconut milk, sugar, yeast mixture, and salt.
Mix well and then add to the flour mixture. Mix well until you get a smooth mixture of pouring consistency.
Cover the container with cloth and store in fridge overnight (at least 12 hours). Stir the pancake mixture till smooth. With a large spoon pour it into the oiled and heated fry pan.
Keep your flame low and fry till firm. Flip over and fry again.
Heat your aubergine moile before plating. Put the mixture onto a pancake and fold over.
Place 2 on a plate with the tossed and dressed salad. Serve hot.
Words by Sneha Mehta, images by Nachiket Pimprikar, illustration by Shawn D'souza.
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