Ratatouille, made famous by the French and even more famous by the movie, I believe originated in India. When I look at it I see plants and a cooking method all appropriate for India. The key to my Ratatouille is Fennel. If you change the origin, you change the flavor just a bit and go from there.
If you want it to be completely authentic you would probably cook to whole spices until they pop, then saute the onion until tranlucent slowly adding all of the other ingredients and simmering all day. My method is easier, and I will even give you a crock pot method.
RATATOUILLE
Ingredients
1/2 c butter or olive oil(vegan)
1 medium onion-perferably sweet
1 medium egglplant
1 large green bell pepper
1 large yellow or red bell pepper
1 large zucchini
1 large yellow summer squash
2 28oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes-preferably without any additives like Calcium Chloride
2 bay leaves
1/4 c garlic
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1-1 1/2 T fennel
1 t crushed red pepper(or 1/2 jalepeno seeded)
1 c fresh basil chopped
salt
DIRECTIONS
1) Dice eggplant into 1/2" cubes
2) salt eggplant liberaly and place in colander inside of bowl and weigh it down with a bowl to extrude bitter juices
3) cut all vegetables into a small dice
4) once eggplant has extruded about 1/2-1 c juice rinse it under cold running water until salt flavor is almost gone
5) open tomatoes, retaining juice, squeeze each tomato, crushing it into several pieces
Crock Pot
After completing steps 1-5 above
6) Put all ingredients into crockpot and cook at a low simmer all day
7) adjust salt before service
Stove Top
After completing steps 1-5 above
6) melt butter or heat oil in pan and saute onions until translucent
7) add next 5 ingredients and stir until hot
8) add remaining ingredients, except for basil and salt, bring to a boil
9) reduce to simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally
10) 5 minutes before service add basil and adjust salt as desired
Traditional
After completing steps 1-5 above
5) heat pan dry and roast cumin, coriander, fennel and crushed red pepper seeds until they pop
6) add onions and saute until translucent
7) add remaining ingredients, bring to boil
8) reduce to simmer for 1+ hours
9) serve with rice
NOTES
1) this is great on its own or served with bread. I believe it would traditionally be served with rice or and Indian flat bread like Naan. It also makes a great pasta sauce and I have even made Lasagna with it. You could also simmer a roast in it or serve it as a side dish.
