Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Vankaya/Brinjal/Eggplant Koora/Curry


I had the purple Indian eggplants in the refrigerator. They were not perfect i.e. some brown spots on some of them but I wanted to use them up anyway. I made a simple curry with them as I didn't think they were worth any thing fancy.

Software
---------------

  • 8-9 purple eggplants
  • 3-4 small golden potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 2-3 tomatoes chopped or a cup of canned tomatoes
  • 1/2 onion, chopped fine
  • 1" piece of ginger, chopped fine
  • 1 large dried red chili, broken into 1" pieces
  • 1 tbsp shanaga pappu/chana dal
  • 1 tbsp minapa pappu/urad dal
  • 1 tsp aavalu/rai/black mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp jeelakarra/jeera/cumin mustart seeds
  • 1/2 tsp pasupu/turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp dhaniya/coriander powder
  • 1 tsp red chili powder
  • a pinch of garam masala
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 sprig curry leaves, chopped (optional)
  • cilantro and mint to garnish, chopped fine (optional)

Hardware
---------------
One pan

Method
---------------

  • Cube the potatoes and put in a little bit of water and microwave them until they are more than half cooked but not completely cooked. Keep aside.
  • Meanwhile, cube the eggplants, I usually take the stems off because they are dried out anyway. If you are lucky enough to have fresh looking stems I would trim them a little and keep them.
  • Put the pan on medium high heat and add the oil. Add the broken red chili peppers, the chana dal and the urad dal. Also add the jeera and rai seeds. After they splutter, add the onions and the curry leaves.
  • After the onions are translucent, add the chopped ginger and the turmeric.
  • Add the potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, salt and chili powder. Cover and cook.
  • After the eggplant and potatoes are soft to touch, add the coriander powder, chopped mint leaves (optional) and the cilantro (optional)
Serve warm with rice, roti, parathas, couscous.

Tip: Between the cilantro and the mint, I add about a big handful. I love my herbs, so I add them. If you are not a huge fan, omit them.

No comments: