I came across this Eggplant, Potato and Paneer vegetable curry or sabji recipe by Srila Prabhupada in the book “FEAST” written by Kurma Dasa and other veteran ISKCON cooks.
According to Kurma Dasa, Srila Prabhupada showed how to prepare this vegetable dish during his visit to Australia in the year 1974. He gave it a very unusual name “Meat Eater’s Delight” because in this curry paneer cubes are fried until golden brown and then stewed in spiced whey gravy which gives the paneer a meaty appearance. Also, this curry is so tasty that any meat eater will fall in love with this and will prefer this paneer curry over meat dishes.
HOW SRILA PRABHUPADA PREPARED THIS SABJI (STEP BY STEP RECIPE)
- This vegetable dish (sabji) is prepared with Potato, Eggplant and Paneer and these should cut into chunks.
- Take 2 Potatoes and cut into 1 inch cube.
- Take a medium size Eggplant (Brinjal) and cut into 1 inch thick discs.
- Take 200 gm Paneer, cut into 1 inch cubes.
2. Heat sufficient Oil or Ghee to fry the vegetable and paneer. Here, we are using cold pressed Ground nut Oil but Srila Prabhupada used to make this curry in ghee or clarified butter. Fry the paneer cubes till golden brown from all the sides.
3. Fry the potato cubes and eggplant roundels into golden brown.
4. After frying the vegetables and paneer, retain only 2 tbsp of oil and take out the excess oil. The oil is already hot, so we will add 2 to 3 dry Red Chillies and 1 tsp of Cumin seeds and fry together for few seconds.
Next, add the below mentioned ingredients one by one :
- 1/4th tsp of Asafoetida or Hing
- 1 large size Tomato, cut into cubes
- Salt as per taste
- 1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp of Coriander powder
Fry together for a minute or two till the tomatoes become soft and spices starts to release oil.
5. To make the curry, add 2 cups of whey. How to make cottage cheese and separate the whey? Click here to know in details.
Stir the whey with the masala and 1 cup of water. Add the fried paneer cubes first then followed by the fried potato cubes. Bring the curry to a full boil then reduce the flame to medium and cover the curry with a lid and cook for 15 minutes. Do not stir the curry in between.
6. Open the lid after 15 minutes, gently drop the fried eggplants into the curry. Cover with the lid and cook for another 15 minutes. Do not stir the curry. Open the lid after 15 to 20 minutes, and check if potatoes are boiled and paneer has soaked the juices of the stew and became soft. Eggplants will get cooked faster so no need to worry about it.
Switch off the Gas and the Sabji or the Vegetable curry as taught by Srila Prabhupada is ready!!
It is very simple and easy to prepare and tastes very delicious. Really, try it once.
SABJI RECIPE BY SRILA PRABHUPADA – RECIPE VIDEO
