These are baby eggplants stuffed with a delicious, tangy spice mix! Serve this easy-to-cook dish with plain white rice and lehsuni daal (garlic-flavored yellow lentils).
Ingredients
6 baby eggplants, stalk trimmed and partially slit into quarters
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 tablespoons grated dried coconut
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
3/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
6 to 8 curry leaves
2 dried red chilies
1 dash salt, or to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, or canola or sunflower oil
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Method* Gather the ingredients.
* Place coriander, cumin, turmeric, red chilies, coconut and chopped garlic in a bowl and mix.
* Add the tamarind paste to the spice mix a little at a time to get a thick paste. Add salt to taste and mix well.
* Fill the slits in the eggplants with this spice paste. Keep aside.
* Heat the oil in a pan (on a medium flame) till hot. Add the mustard seeds, dry red chilies, and curry leaves and cook till spluttering stops. Add the eggplants and gently stir.
* Cook till the eggplants are done. Stir occasionally but do it gently so as to avoid knocking the filling out of the eggplants.
* Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve with plain white rice and lehsuni daal (garlic-flavored yellow lentils) if desired.