Stuffed Eggplant Sambhar / Sivangi Pulusu

Eggplants are dearly embraced in Indian cuisine. Whether it is for daily usage or any festive occasion, they get a happy welcome sign at Indian homes. They are widely available and are used to prepare a great number of delicacies. Just visit Indian food blogs and you would notice that no two bloggers cook this veggie in the same way and you would end up with hundreds of recipes, if you care.
One of the classic eggplant dishes of Andhra is of course the guttivankaya / nune vankaya koora. This stuffed eggplant/ brinjal curry has been taken to a higher level to please the palates, in the following recipe. Here is an enchanting dish, nune vankaya pulusu or the stuffed eggplant sambhar for you to enjoy....
I must thank Deepthi who gave me this recipe. She happens to be my BIL's DIL, the next generation bahu in our family. She enthusiastically shared some of the coastal Andhra recipes and here is one of them. She said this dish is called 'Sivangi Pulusu', which I found a bit funny. 'Pulusu' is of course the equivalent Telugu name for 'Sambhar'. Sivangi is the Telugu word for a lioness. Though I am not sure why the dish has been given this name, it sure is fiercely pleasing and fit for a royal feast.

Ingredients:
Eggplants, round ones without any blemishes - 10
Chopped cilantro - 1/4 cup
Sambhar Powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 2-3 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Asafoetida (hing) - a few pinches
Powdered Jaggery - 1 Tbsp (or 2 packets of sweetener)
Chillie powder - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind juice extracted from soaked tamarind (according to your taste or half of 1/4 cup of thick tamarind juice)
Few Curry leaves
Salt

Ingredients for filling:
Sesame seeds - 1/2 cup
Red chillies - 4
Salt

Preparation:
Dry fry the sesame seeds on low to medium flame, till they start to turn brown and start to crackle. Also warm the red chillies. Let them cool. Grind them into a fine powder along with required amount of salt.
Wash the eggplants and wipe them dry. Cut off the stalks. Keeping the base intact, cut twice vertically (like a + sign). Gently open up the slits with your left fingers and fill them with the above sesame seed powder using a spoon or your right hand fingers. To get an idea, see the picture here . You can fill as much as the eggplants can hold.
Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan and add the stuffed eggplants carefully to the pan. Just turn around the eggplants with a spatula so that the eggplants are uniformly coated with the oil. Let them cook on low flame with in between stirring till they soften. (For beginners, here is a hint. Keep turning the eggplants till they change their color on all sides. By the time they change their color through out, they will be soft and cooked). Remove the eggplants carefully and keep them aside.
Take another pan and heat 2 tsp of oil. Add mustard seeds and when they start to crackle add asafoetida, curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds and turn off the stove. Now add 4 Tbsp of sesame seed powder (to thicken the gravy), tamarind juice, jaggery, sambhar powder, salt, chillie powder, chopped cilantro leaves to the pan. Also add required amount of water (may need 2 to 2.5 cups) and adjust the salt / tamarind/ sugar accordingly. Now carefully drop the cooked, stuffed eggplants to the pan. Turn on the stove and let the mixture come to a rolling boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for a couple of minutes more. Turn off the stove.
I was told to serve this dish with rice and mudda pappu (lentils cooked with only required amount of water and salt added). It tasted excellent with plain rice too and this can be served with rotis as well.

This goes to JIHVA - Eggplant hosted by Sangeetha of Ghar Ka Khana and the creator of the event happens to be Indira of Mahanandi.
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