Weetabix Veg Masala by Sanjana Modha

This celebratory recipe from Sanjana Modha’s (@sanjana.feasts) new cookbook Modern Masala features an unusual ingredient that will make you think twice.

Serves: 4-6
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: Medium

Share article

When Sanjana Modha's aunts and uncles first came to the UK, they couldn’t buy besan in the supermarket, so they had to improvise. Since learning what the cooks in her family had been secretly supplementing her favourite curries with for years, Sanjana had to procure the recipe directly from the source. “Today, we make this for Sunday lunch, to be eaten with dal, rotli and family who express the happy nostalgia I crave more than the meal itself. We call it a Gujarati roast dinner.”

For the masala:

Method

Ingredients

Step 1Make a slit down the centre of the potatoes, stopping about three-quarters of the way through. Do the same for the onions, starting from the top and leaving the trimmed base intact. For the aubergines, cut through the base rather than the stalk. Soak the vegetables in a large bowl of ice-cold water and set aside.
Step 2Make the stuffing masala. Crush the Weetabix into a medium heatproof bowl. They should look like coarse breadcrumbs, with no large chunks. In this order, add the peanuts, turmeric, ground coriander, cumin, chilli powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda, garlic, ginger, chillies, curry leaves, fresh coriander, tomato ketchup and asafoetida. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until smoking hot. Take off the heat and carefully pour the hot oil directly on top of the mixture in the bowl – it will sizzle. Stir well with a spoon to create a thick, smooth paste.
Step 3Drain the soaked vegetables. Use clean hands to stuff them with the prepared stuffing masala, gently prising them open from the cuts and pressing the filling in, taking care not to split the vegetables completely in half. If you do, don’t worry too much, they can always be stuck back together using the stuffing masala. You should have some masala left over in the bowl. Pour the just-boiled hot water over it and set aside.
Step 4Arrange the vegetables in a steamer or steaming basket with a large pot of hot water underneath, ensuring the water is not touching the vegetables. You can either use a large, three-tiered steamer, placing the potatoes at the bottom, aubergines in the middle and onions at the top, or steam the vegetables in batches. In a tiered steamer, everything will take around 20 minutes, whereas steaming in batches will take around 25 minutes for the potatoes, 20 minutes for the aubergines and 15 minutes for the onions. All the vegetables should be cooked through but not falling apart. Carefully lift the vegetables out of the steamer and place them in a 30cm × 20cm (12in × 8in) roasting dish.

8 small floury potatoes, such as Maris Pipers (about 360g/123/4oz)
8 very small brown onions or shallots (about 250g/9oz), peeled and base trimmed to remove roots
8 baby aubergines (eggplants) (about 400g/14oz), stalks intact, trimmed slightly
1 Weetabix, to crumble
2 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro), to garnish
For the stuffing masala:
3 Weetabix
50g (13/4oz) roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
1 tsp ground turmeric
3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 green finger chillies, finely chopped
6 fresh curry leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), including stalks
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1/4 tsp asafoetida
4 tbsp oil
400ml (14fl oz) just-boiled water

For the sauce:

Method

Ingredients

Step 1Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/Gas mark 4. To prepare the sauce, heat the oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to finish crackling before adding the asafoetida and sesame seeds. Quickly add the passata, salt, sugar and chilli powder. Cook, stirring all the time, for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the reserved watered-down stuffing masala and cook for a minute.
Step 2Pour this sauce over the vegetables in the roasting dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and crumble the remaining Weetabix over the top. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve.

5 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp asafoetida
1 tbsp sesame seeds
250g (9oz) tomato passata
½ tsp salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

Rocker™ Green Garlic Crusher

£14.50

SEE PRODUCT

Nest™ Oven Non-stick Large Blue Roasting Tray

£42.50

SEE PRODUCT

“When my aunts and uncles came to live in England, they would make ‘akhu shaak’, also known as ‘ravaiya’, a dish of stuffed, spicy vegetables with a combination of ground peanuts, spices and everyone’s favourite breakfast cereal.”

- Sanjana Modha