Mung Dal with Zucchini

Mung Dal with Zucchini

Mung dal is most often roasted before cooking, but it cooks and tastes very good without roasting. I try to add vegetables to any lentils I cook to increase my family's intake of vegetables.

Cauliflower & Potatoes in White Poppy Seed Sauce

Phool Kopi Alu Posto

White poppy seed sauce (known in Bengali as 'posto') is very versatile and can be used to dress practically any vegetable. Adding a little green chili to the poppy seed paste gives this dish quite a zing!

Burmese Eggplant & Fried Achovies

Khayun Thee Nga Chauk Chet in Burmese
or
Begun Shutki in Bengali

Eggplant is an all-time favorite vegetable in our family and adding anchovies to the mix takes it up several notches.

Burmese stir-fried dishes begin with a base of onions, garlic and dried chili paste. I used oriental eggplant in this dish and to reduce the amount of oil that is absorbed in the frying process, I decided to toss the pieces of eggplant with oil & salt and bake it in the oven. This also freed me up to prepare the base while the eggplant was baking. 

These fried anchovies are available in the Asian stores, preserved in soya bean oil. They're tossed into the pan when the eggplant is fully cooked and simmered for a few minutes more. They add a ton of flavor.