Eggplant You Can Spread on a Pita (a couple of bucks, maybe an hour including pre-baking the eggplant)

This is a recipe I owe to Manjula, sort of -- it's Manjula plus Bombay Cafe minus oil plus a cuisinart (this is exactly the low-rent one I own), which, trust me, makes it all so much easier.

The first thing you need is two medium eggplant, maybe a couple of pounds at the store. Buy the big ones, not the little Asian or Indian ones. When you're buying eggplant, make sure you get unbruised, shiny eggplants whose tops are still a little greenish.

When you get home, stick the eggplants in the oven on 350 and bake them for about half an hour to forty-five minutes. When you poke one with your finger (be quick: they're hot), it should be soft. Set the cookie sheet somewhere to cool. The eggplants should collapse onto themselves entirely.

When you're ready to make the dip, you'll need:

a red or green pepper diced in about half inch squares (roughly a cup)

a cup of frozen peas, set out to thaw

2 cups of crushed/pureed tomatoes

2 tsp ginger, grated

jalapeno mash

1 TBSP oil

two pinches of asafoetida (hing)

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chile powder

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garam masala

4 TBSP cilantro

Take the eggplants, now cool, and cut off the top. With your fingers, peel off the skin and discard it. Put the pulp into the cuisinart and process smooth. It should take no time at all. Set aside.

In bowl that pours (I use my large measuring cup), mix tomatoes, ginger, jalapeno, coriander, turmeric, red chile and salt. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat oil and lightly saute the diced peppers in the oil. Remove to a bowl, leaving the oil behind. If you don't have much, splash in just a hair more. When it's heated so that a cumin seed cracks when it hits it, add the hing and cumin seeds, stirring and cooking one minute.

Add the tomato mixture and cook 2-3 minutes until a little reduced and you can see the oil separating from the tomatoes.

Add pureed eggplant, stir thoroughly, and cook for 8 minutes.

Add reserved peppers, peas, and cilantro. Cook for one minute to heat the peas through.

Remove from heat, stir in garam masala, and EAT. We spread this on whole wheat tortillas I've toasted in a hot skillet. It's AMAZING.

There you go.

Chicken, Peas, White Sauce (under $10; about 15 minutes)

This is not really Chicken ala King. I've looked it up. That dish is way harder. This you can do in your sleep almost. So if you want ACTUAL Chicken ala King, sorry.

I made a big pot of this stuff for a grieving friend recently, called it "chicken in white sauce with peas and biscuits." She said, "Oh, you mean Chicken ala King." I nodded. Um, okay. If you say so.

That may be the first time I heard anyone call it that. I never called it anything, just fixed it, served it, and let it talk for itself. So yeah. Chicken ala King. Whatev.

I don't know where I first ate it or how to cook it. It must have come in a dream. Like this dream where I make a basic white sauce, add some cooked chicken and peas, and drape it over some biscuits. That dream.

Here's what you need:

4 TBSP oil or melted butter

4 TBSP flour

milk

about a pound of cooked chicken, diced into bite-sized pieces (I shred mine)

some frozen peas, maybe a cup

biscuits

thyme, a couple of bay leaves, and a little nutmeg. Or you could use a little sage, I guess. I tend to like thyme.

Pour out about six cups of milk so that it's ready when you need it.

In a large stockpot, heat oil with flour over medium for 2 minutes (this is called making a roux).

Add milk all at once. I use a whisk at this stage to get the roux to break up smoothly in the milk. Otherwise I tend to get sauce with mini-dumplings.

Whisk smooth. Add the bay leaves when you start cooking the milk so they have time to flavor the sauce. Cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring with a regular spoon very often (otherwise you'll burn the milk and have to start over) until it bubbles and thickens.

NOTE: if it doesn't thicken after it starts boiling, take another TBSP of flour in a container you can close and shake. Add 1/2 c water and about 1/4 c of the hot liquid to the flour. Shake until smooth, add to the boiling milk. Bring to a boil again and wait five minutes at boiling. If that doesn't work, do it again. Usually, however, one time works fine.

Once it's thickened, you can add flour to make it thicker using the method above, or add a little more milk to thin it out if you like your sauce thinner.

Add about a TBSP of thyme, and sprinkle some nutmeg over the top and stir in. I tend to just lightly sprinkle the surface with nutmeg. You should taste now, and add salt and pepper if necessary. If you like yours weaponized, now is the time to add jalapeno mash.

Add peas and chicken. Stir and warm them.

Serve over halved biscuits. There's a biscuit recipe on this site -- I think in December 2009 somewhere. Should be easy to find.

There you go.