It was a day of fresh veggies,a sight I got to see after a long long time and with the kind of cities I have been living in the past year...the sight of fresh indian veggies was a feast to the eyes.This was something I decided to cook for my friends Sharel & Sandeep and im glad it came out .
So here goes my recipe:-
Ingredients:-
- small purple or green brinjals(slit to a '+' and soak in salt water)
- onion(diced) - 1
- tomatoes(diced) -2 big ones
- green chillies 3-4
- peanuts(handful)/can be substituted with cashew
- red chillies -2
- a ball of tamarind soaked in lukewarm water
- mustard seeds
- curry leaves
- coriander to garnish
- salt to taste
Stuffing:-
- Roasted peanuts
- Onions
- Red chili powder
- coriander powder
- jeera powder
- roasted channa dal
Method:-
- Make a coarse paste of the stuffing ingredients and stuff the brinjals by splitting it gently so as not to break them to pieces.
- In a pressure cooker(or pan),put little oil and saute the mustard seeds until they start to splutter.Add jeera,red chillies,channa dal and curry leaves and saute for some more time.
- Add turmeric powder,chilli powder,coriander powder and sesame seed powder(optional).
- When the powders are well roasted,add onions and fry till they turn translucent,then add 1tsp ginger-garlic paste,green chillies and fry till the oil separates.To this mixture,add the diced tomatoes,salt and tamarind paste(enough to make the paste tangy) and cook for 10 mins with a covered lid.
- When the tomatoes look well cooked,add peanuts and fry for 5 mins.Once done,turn the heat off and let the mixture cool before it goes into the blender.
- Make a fine paste of the above and set aside.
- In the cooker used,add 2 tsp oil and add some curry leaves and roasted peanut powder if you have any.
- When the oil is hot enough,add the paste and let it cook for sometime.Add water if necessary to dilute.
- To this paste,add the stuffed brinjals one by one and make sure you don't break them in the process.
- Pressure cook this until 1 whistle(the brinjals should have cooked and become soft).Check for the tanginess and also the salt,else add more tamarind water and salt and let it cook over a low flame.
- Garnish with coriander and serve wit ghee rice or hot rotis.
Note:- If cooking in a pan,make sure u tie the stuffed brinjal with a thread and boil them in salted hot water until they become soft before adding to the paste.
