Ingredients
- Serves 8
- 16 baby eggplants with stalks, washed
- For spice mix 1
- 2 tablespoon peeled roasted unsalted peanuts (shengdana/moongfalli)
- 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds or Til
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds or jeera
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (akha dhaniya)
- 2 teaspoons chana dal or split Bengal gram
- 2 tablespoon shredded white coconut meat or defrosted unsweetened grated coconut
- For spice mix 2
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 4 black peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- For gravy-
- 2 teaspoons red chilli powder or cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon turmeric or haldi powder
- 1.5 tablespoons garlic paste
- 1.5 tablespoons ginger paste
- 1 tbsp jaggery crumbled
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste (extract)
- 75 grams white onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame or regular vegetable cooking oil
- Coriander sprigs to garnish
Instructions
- In a dry skillet roast the chana dal about 2 minutes on a low flame.
- Add all the ingredients for spice mix 1 to the same pan with the chana dal and roast on a medium flame until golden and fragrant about 7-8 minutes. Stir from time to time to prevent burning. Cool completely and grind to a smooth powder. Reserve
- In the same dry skillet roast the all the ingredients for spice mix 2. Cool and grind to a smooth powder.
- Combine both spice mixes with the 2 teaspoons salt, garlic, ginger, tamarind, turmeric and chilli powder and grind again to form a smooth paste.
- Taste the spice mix for salt and adjust. It should be just a little salty before it is added to the eggplant.
- Wipe washed eggplants and using a sharp knife slice them from the bottom in the shape of a small cross. Keep the eggplant intact but cut deep enough to make room for the filling.
- Stuff each eggplant generously with 1.5 teaspoons of the spice paste and arrange on a plate. Add 1 cup of water to the remaining spice paste and stir well.
- Heat oil in a large shallow pan, preferably non stick. Add the onions and saute 1 minute until translucent on a medium flame.
- Add the eggplants one by one into the pan and saute on both sides about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the spice mix and its water over the eggplants. Cook open until water evaporates, eggplants are tender and cooked through. Add more water if required during the cooking process.
- Adjust for salt, spice and sweetness. Garnish with coriander sprigs and serve hot with flatbreads.
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