Eggplant – one of our favorite veggies. It can be made into different kinds of sabzis, chutneys, used in sambar, stews, etc. Every household tends to have their own take on this vegetable. And each variation tastes great! In fact, there is a Telugu movie song from years ago which mentions of quite a few varieties. Anyways, here’s a variation we make often at home and truly treasure! We tend to eat it with hot rice and good dollop of ghee.

This sabzi requires the long purple kinds of eggplants. Those work best, but if those are not available, you can use the green long ones too. Try not to use the round bottomed eggplants though, to the extend possible. Eggplant once cut tends to oxidize rather quick and develops an irritating flavor – literally can irritate your tongue if left to the elements for long. To avoid this, put in the sliced eggplants in a bowl of water with some turmeric and/or salt.

We personally love the flavor of ginger and green chillis a lot, and I believe eggplant is the perfect vessel/veggie for this mix. Pound in some ginger and chillis with some coriander leaves and cook eggplant pieces that spice blend. That’s it! That is the recipe in a nutshell.

Ingredients

Eggplants – 2 long ones, about 400g

Ginger – 1 inch knob

Chillis – 3 (used pretty spicy ones, please adjust according to taste)

Coriander leaves – a fistful

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Salt – to taste

Tempering

Oil – I used peanut oil, 3 tbsp (eggplants need good amounts of oil, do not skimp here)

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Split urad dal – 1 tsp

Chana dal – 1tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Hing – fat pinch

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp

Servings – 3, 10 minutes prep + 20 minutes cooking

Recipe

• Cut eggplants into longish slices and drop them in a bowl of water with 1/4 tsp turmeric and about 1/2 tsp salt

• Peel the skin of ginger knob and grind the ginger, chillis, half the coriander and curry leaves into a coarse paste

• Now, heat a kadai and heat up 3 tbsp of oil
• Once oil is hot, add in tempering in the following order: chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Let the cumin seeds and mustard seeds splutter, the dals should look fried. Now add in the hing
• Add in the ground masala paste of ginger + chilli + coriander + curry leaves. Fry for about 30 seconds

• Now add in the eggplant slices. Toss them in the oil for a few seconds, until all slices look coated in oil
• Cover the kadai with a plate and let everything cook and blend in for about 5 – 7 minutes
• Now the eggplant slices should look partially cooked
• Add in the remaining turmeric and salt to taste and toss again to evenly coat all slices
• Cover again and let it cook until eggplant is completely cooked
• Check for salt and turn off flame
• Garnish with remaining chopped coriander and serve

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