Stuffed Eggplant / Vankaya Dhaniyala Karam

Hi Buddies,

I love anything and everything made with eggplant but this is my favorite dish. We got some tender eggplants from market and I have curry powder also ready (sent by my mom). So, it was just so simple to make it. Only variation from my mom’s recipe is that I use Microwave for cooking brinjal (as my mom’s recipe consumes more oil :P), but it’s equally yummy 🙂 . As I use this curry powder in lot of my recipes, its preparation is also included in this post. Check this recipe and hope you would love my microwave version (less oily).

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
No of Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Eggplants: 12
Curry Powder: ¾ cup
Tamarind: Big Gooseberry size.
Oil: 2 tbsp.
Salt: As per taste
Cilantro: few leaves
Green chili: 2

Curry Powder (approx. Makes 200 Gms):

Oil: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 1 cup
Chana dal: 1 cup
Dhania: ¾ cup
Methi seeds: 1 tsp
Red chilies: 6-8 (as per taste)
Asafoetida/Hing: pinch
Mustard seeds: 2 tbsp.

Curry Powder Method:

• Heat a pan with 1 tsp. of oil and add Urad, Chana dal.
• After a while, add Dhania, Methi seeds, Red chilies.
• When they are almost roasted, add hing and mustard seeds.
• Let it cool down and grind it.
• Store it in a air tight container.

Stuffed Eggplant Method:

• Wash the eggplants. Don’t remove the stems and slit them lengthwise from the bottom on both sides without breaking them.

• Place them in salt water.
• Make a thick tamarind pulp out of gooseberry size tamarind.

• Add salt, 1 tsp. of oil to ¾ cup of curry powder. Mix it well.

• Add required water to make it a paste (it shouldn’t be too thick or too watery).

• Stuff the eggplants with this stuffing.

• Microwave them for 6-7 minutes (it varies with different microwaves). Turn them in middle and sprinkle little water.

• Heat a pan with 2 tbsp. of oil. Add the microwaved eggplants to pan and sprinkle water.

• After a minute, add 3-4 tbsp. of tamarind pulp to curry and mix it slowly.
• Let them cook for 6-8 minutes. Turn them in between and sprinkle water generously (if required).

• When it’s almost done, garnish it with coriander and place 2 slit green chilies in the pan (this gives nice aroma without being spicy).
• Turn off heat and serve it with rice.

Notes

1. You can add garlic in curry powder.
2. Onion paste can also be added to the curry paste.