I have a soft corner for certain vegetables that are not quite popular with other people. Somehow I fell in love with vegetables like Bitter gourd, cabbage , brinjal to name a few and coax my folks into eating them. I try to cook such vegetables in different forms and methods and try to convert my folks into liking them eventually.
One such attempt was when I cooked this creamy curry with brinjal.
I adapted this dish from Nalini’s blog and it was served when my nephew
stayed with us for a couple of days last summer.He is one of the few who
brave my cooking experiments and it is always a pleasure to watch him
savor my trials.
This dish goes well with steamed rice and roti / Chapathi. The kids had it with Chapathi and we had it with rice. Since everyone at home gave it a thumbs up, I can gladly say I did convert them to liking brinjal even if it was for just a day!!!
I used:
Adapted from Nalini’s Kitchen
For the paste
Melon seeds- 1/8 cup
Coconut,grated-1/8 cup
Poppy seeds- 1 tablespoon
Saunf / Fennel seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
For the masala spice mix
Sambar powder- 2 tablespoons / as per need
A generous pinch of salt
For the curry
Baby eggplant / brinjal – 1/4 kilo
Onion, finely chopped- 1
Curry leaves- a few
Tamarind extract- 2 teaspoons / adjust to taste
Fennel seeds-1/2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds-1/2 teaspoon
Finely Chopped ginger-1/2 teaspoon
Finely Chopped garlic- 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- a large pinch
Coriander leaves- a handful,chopped
Oil-1 tablespoon
Take the ingredients for the paste in a mixie jar and grind to a smooth ,thick paste adding a little water.Keep aside
Mix the ingredients for the spice mix and keep aside.
Wash and pat dry the brinjal and make X shaped slit marks as shown.I kept the stalk intact. You can trim it if you prefer. Fill the brinjal with the spice powder and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the mustard and fennel seeds. When the mustard pops, add the onion,curry leaves, ginger and garlic. Saute till the onions turn light brown.Add salt and the brinjal.
Put in the ground paste, remaining spice powder mix,turmeric powder and about 1/4 cup of water.
Add the tamarind juice and pressure cook for 10 minutes or till the brinjal is soft yet not mushy. Open the cooker after the pressure releases and add teh coriander leaves. Give it a mix and serve.
Goes well with Rice and Roti.
- You can use [soaked]cashews/ almonds instead of melon seeds
- The quantity of the spice mix depends on the brinjal and the quantity used to stuff the brinjal with
- The tamarind should add just a hint of sourness and should not taste like puli kuzhambu. Well, that was how little I added.
- You can also use a pan instead of pressure cooker. It will get done a little slowly though.
I have another interesting recipe with brinjal coming up tomorrow. Do come back to check it out..
Bon Appetit…
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68
Even I like some of the vegetables others don't like. Brinjal curry looks very nice. would love this with some steaming white rice.
Lipsmacking brinjal curry Pj, glad to see u back to Mega BM.. And this curry will definitely please everyone at home.
I love brinjal in any form and this curry looks fantastic.
The brinjal curry looks so delicious! I love brinjal and look forward to making different recipes with it.
Looks really good! I love most vegetables! Got some bitter gourd. I usually cook it by slicing and marinating it in salt & turmeric for a day, squeezing out the juices, drying it in the oven, then shallow frying it with onion, garlic and other spices. Will look up some of your recipes this time.
Thanks for the mention PJ,looking forward to see your recipes.Brinjal is one of my favorite veggie and like to try varieties.Curry has come out so creamy and glad that you liked it.
This looks like a gourmet gravy PJ! Good one to kick off the carnival!
Sounds like a great option for eggplant lovers.
Me too love brinjal and I get weird looks from others when I say that. This stuffed brinjal curry is one of my hot favourites. Looks so divine..
aah pj, what a delectable gravy there, naaku oorarthu!!!
I love brinjals most ways, other than a Baingan Bharta :)) this looks like an easy yet flavourful curry. will try !
And good to have u back, PJ 🙂
This Brinjal stuffing is very different and looks rich. The dish looks so.. yummy PM.
Drool drool. You have come back with a bang PJ. Love the brinjal curry
PJ I had to double take to see if you missed out something, yes yaar you missed out talking about the Mega BM..heheheh..anyway I love stuffed brinjals..and waiting for tomorrow to see what your theme or category is…delicious pictures too..
even i love stuffed vegetables and this one is top of my list, this is different recipe….nice one
This creamy brinjal curry is looking so delicious. Lovely click!!
I was a brinjal fan , but due to my allergy have given up , but for sure the recipe sounds delicious .
Love the addition of melon seeds.. The gravy looks very inviting. I love brinjals so this goes to my bookmarks 🙂
I'll have to make it soon to relish it's taste… You did justice to this humble veggie😊
The brinjal curry has come out so well. Love how creamy and yummy it is!
What a delicious looking eggplant curry PJ. You know I'm going to bookmark and make it soon, right??
Brinjal is my favourite too. The addition of melon seeds would have made the recipe very interesting and different. Would love to try this…