Eggplant Curry With Gravy

My eggplant dishes are always like a poor belle. This time, I thought of giving them a gorgeous makeover and my SIL who is around, came to my rescue. The beautiful oval shaped, purple eggplants ended up being part of a wonderful dish, appealing both to our eyes and palate. It is going to be a permanent addition on my recipe list and is going to be devoured, countless times from now on. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Brinjals / Eggplants (Small sized) - 10

Chopped Onions - 1 cup

Peanuts - 1/4 cup

Sesame seeds - 2 Tbsp

Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 10

Cinnamon - a small piece

Clove - 1

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind paste - 2 tsp

Salt - Accordingly

Oil

• Heat 2 tsp of oil in a small pan and fry the onions on low flame till they turn golden brown. Remove and cool the fried onions.
• Dry fry the peanuts and sesame seeds individually till they turn golden brown.
• Dry fry the coriander seeds, red chillies, cinnamon and clove till the coriander seeds turn golden brown. Cool the mixture.
• Now grind the onion, peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, chillies, cinnamon, clove and tamarind paste. This mixture is used to stuff the eggplants and for the gravy.
• Wash the eggplants and wipe them dry. Remove the stalks. Leaving the base intact, cut crosswise twice (plus shaped cuts). Stuff the above mixture into the eggplants as much as it can hold.
• Take a wok / pan and carefully place all the stuffed eggplants and spray with oil. Or pour oil on them and move the eggplants in such a way that they are uniformly coated with it. Put the pan with the eggplants on medium flame and keep rotating them so that they cook uniformly. Cook till the skins start to discolor through out. Don't cook till they turn mushy. Turn off the stove.
• Take a pressure cooker (or you can use the vessel that fits into the cooker) and arrange these eggplants and pour the remaining (stuffing) mixture and add salt, accordingly. Let it cook till you hear one whistle. Turn off the stove. Remove after the valve pressure is released. Stir once and serve hot with rice or rotis.
• Alternatively if you don't have a pressure cooker, cook in a wok / pan till the eggplants turn tender.

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