Homemade Indian Feast

I'll admit, I'm not always in the mood to experiment with new eggplant recipes. Sometimes you're in the store, you see a gleaming eggplant, you stick in the basket, and when you get home all you want is the same exact curry you made the previous week.

For blogging purposes, this kind of cooking redundancy can be problematic. Being the self-proclaimed Aubergenius, I'm supposed to hunt down every eggplant recipe I can find, try cooking each one, tinker, improve, explore, post, rinse, repeat.

But lately, given frigid temperatures and a busy schedule, all I ever want is the quick eggplant-chickpea curry I featured a couple posts ago. My awesome co-chef Zoë and I made a true Indian feast a couple weeks ago, perfect to combat the Chicago winter.

Engrossed in conversation. Co-chef, if you're reading this, pardon the candid paparazza shot.

In addition to the eggplant curry and rice, we had homemade tortillas (courtesy of my mother, who made them on her last visit and stored them in my freezer), spiced okra with roasted fingerling potatoes, carrot-ginger-coriander slaw, homemade cilantro-mint chutney (a Zoë specialty), yogurt, lime pickle, and brinjal eggplant relish.

A feast!

It was one of the best homemade meals I've had in a long time. And goes to show that whether or not you're trying out new recipes, cooking for other people brings out your ambitious side. Plus, the spirit and cheer makes everything taste even better.