Winter Ratatouille

The food blog universe is suddenly awash with helpful posts about cooking during the quarantine. Most of these posts include suggestions about how to stock your pantry and freezer. The recipes that follow typically include using pantry staples like canned beans, pasta, jarred tomato sauce, and chicken stock. While it is probably a good idea to stock up on dry goods and non-perishables in the event that the shutdown is prolonged, here in California, we are still fortunate enough to get fresh produce. My fridge is filled with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that are claiming priority over the items on my pantry shelves. So, I bookmarked the pantry-centric recipes for another day and set out to recreate a childhood favorite bursting with the vivid tastes and colors of fresh vegetables.

Growing up in India, we definitely had a seasonal cycle of availability for fresh produce. The food cooked at home followed this cycle. While the summer meals showcased different kinds of gourds potol (pointed gourd), jhinge (ridge gourd), lau (bottle gourd), and kumro (pumpkin), the winter table brought forth a bounty of root vegetables, spring onions, cabbage, and cauliflowers. One of my mother's common winter-time preparations was this ratatouille, featuring the star produce of the season -- beets, carrots, and string beans. We knew this simply as beet-gajorer torkari (beet and carrot vegetable), but the Provencal term ratatouille seems to be an apt description for this dish that brings together several vegetables while preserving the distinctive texture and taste of each. The tomato and garlic of the original recipe is here replaced by the traditional Bengali flavor duo of ginger and panch-phoron (mix of five whole spices).

The preparation seems to bridge the generational and cultural divide pretty effortlessly. My children, who usually shy away from the typical ghontos, shuktos, and labras of our cuisine -- readily tuck into this ratatouille. My hunch is that the natural sweetness and candy-red color, both derived from the beets, makes this an inviting treat for them. And, thanks to genetically modified farming, we get beets, carrots, and beans round the year in the US and now, probably also in India. So, we do not need to wait for winter to enjoy this colorful preparation.

What you need:
2 medium-sized beets
3 carrots
12 string beans
1 red-skinned potato
1/2 cup raw peanuts
1 heaping tbsp of ginger paste
1/2 tbsp of panch-phoron
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp saffola oil
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
Handful of coriander leaves


Directions:
Wash all vegetables. Peel the beets, carrots, and potato. Trim the beans. Cut each vegetable into half inch pieces. Chop the coriander.

Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the peanuts and fry till they are golden brown. Remove from pan.

Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and temper with panch-phoron. Wait to hear the spices sputter.

Add the beets and stir fry for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and cover  the skillet to sweat the beets. Cook stirring occasionally, making sure the beets don't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Once the beets are cooked halfway through (about 6-7 minutes), add the rest of the vegetables and stir. Add the remaining teaspoon of salt. Cover the pan again and cook over medium-low heat.

After about 5 minutes, remove the cover, add the ginger paste, cumin, coriander powders, and give the vegetables a good stir.

Once the raw smell of ginger has subsided, add the sugar and a splash of water to help soften the vegetables further. Cover pan partially and cook for another 5 minutes over low heat. The ratatouille is ready when any extra fluid has been absorbed and all the vegetables are cooked through while retaining their shapes.

Add the fried peanuts and give the ratatouille a final stir.

Garnish with chopped coriander.

Disclaimer: When it comes to recipes, I am definitely in the school of eyeballing ingredients and cooking with my senses. If you happen to follow the instructions above, note that it follows the same ad hoc approach.