Ennai Kathirikaai Kuzhambu/Brinjal Curry

Freshly ground masala, stuffed inside the brinjals this mildly spiced and thick curry with steaming hot rice would summarize a perfect meal. You need not necessarily have a side dish to go with it; the perfectly cooked melt in mouth brinjal inheriting all the tanginess and spice in enough to finish off your meal.

I know its plenty of oil used in the recipe, but that defines the name of the dish. Do not compromise with the amount of oil, that makes the curry delicious.

Ingredients

Brinjal 10

Shallots 12 chopped

Tomato 1 chopped

Tamarind 1 big gooseberry sized ball

Salt as needed

Sesame Oil 8 tablespoon

Mustard seeds 1 teaspoon

For Fresh Masala

Sesame oil 2 tablespoon

Urad dal 1 tablespoon

Coriander seeds 1&1/2 tablespoon

Chana Dal 1 tablespoon

Red Chilli 8 to 10

Pepper 1/2 teaspoon

Fenugreek 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin seeds 2 teaspoon

Garlic 5 cloves

Shallots 10 to 12

Tomato 2 chopped

Curry leaves 2 sprigs

Coconut grated 3 tablespoon

Coriander leaves 1 tablespoon chopped

How to Start

First lets make the masala needed for the gravy. Heat a kadai with 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Add Urad dal, chana dal, coriander seeds, red chilli, black pepper, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and fry until golden. Set aside. Now in the same kadai, heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil.

Add garlic and onion first and fry until onion turns translucent. Add tomato, curry leaves, coriander leaves and sauté until tomato is soft and mushy. Add grated coconut and fry for a minute. Let it cool and grind everything together into a smooth paste adding little water and salt.

Soak tamarind in hot water and extract juice. Discard the pulp.

Clean the Brinjals. Slit the brinjals in to 4 but keep the stem intact. Cut until 3/4 th of brinjal. Do not cut the brinjals until bottom. Just cut half way and little more down. Stuff the ground masala inside the brinjal.

Set aside the remaining ground masala.

Now heat a pan with 2 tablespoons sesame oil and temper with mustard seeds. Add 10 finely chopped shallots, let it fry. Now add tomato, salt and cook until it gets mushy.

Arrange the stuffed brinjals in the pan and top with remaining sesame oil. Let it get cooked well in low flame. Keep it covered with lid for 15 minutes.

Flip the brinjals in between for even cooking. Scrap the bottom if it sticks. Once the brinjal is well cooked, add the remaining ground masala, and tamarind extract. Add around 3 cups of water, mix well without lumps. Check for salt. Add if needed. Let it cook under medium flame for atleast 20 minutes, until oil floats on top.

Serve with steaming hot rice.