Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Stuffed Baingan

There are two kinds of people. The ones who hate brinjals and the ones who absolutely love brinjals.
I hate brinjals. Till a few months back, I wouldnt have eaten a piece of brinjal even if that was the only sabzi on the table ! I hate the taste,texture, everything about it. But for some reason (and I know what that is), I enjoy cooking brinjal.

I have always had friends who love brinjals and we end up eating it frequently. Though I just stick to the gravy and never the star vegetable of the dish ! And this particular sabzi is the masterpiece of my good friend Jitu. He began cooking a couple of years back and now is an awesome cook. This dish is what he is famous for amongst colleagues and friends ! I dont follow his recipe entirely. There are changes I have made, yet each time I make this dish, I think of him as the reason I made it the first time ! His tastes yum. Mine ALSO tastes yum !! :)

This also happens to be one of the first few sabzis I had made for Ashok and he was mighty impressed.He loves baingan (and not jus baingan!) :)

So here we go – a dish that looks good, tastes good and is super high in calories (thats a disclaimer!)

A picture to start with :                                                               
(taken by Ashok just before we sat down for dinner. Thats to make sure that I post this on my blog ! )

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Probably if I had taken a pic immediately after cooking, the coriander leaves on top would’ve looked nice and fresh. Anyway..

What we need :
Small sized brinjals - 4-5
Peanuts - a handful.
Grated coconut - 3 tbsp
A big onion chopped coarsely.
A medium sized onion finely chopped.
Red chilly powder
Kasuri methi
Ginger Garlic paste
Coriander powder
Amchur (Dry mango) powder

How we make it :
Slit each eggplant vertically into four till a little below the stem. Do not slit entirely. This is just to put in the stuffing. Cook in microwave till its soft. This can take close to 3-4 minutes.
Dry roast the peanuts and powder them. Most people take off the skin. I didnt have the patience to do that. Trust me, it tastes good even if you dont undergo that pain ! I always explore such short cuts.
Roast the grated coconut till brown.Next fry the coarsely chopped onion till they're brown.
Mix together the coconut, onion, chilly powder, coriander powder and salt.Grind it to a thick paste. Add water if necessary but it needs to remain thick. Mix the peanut powder to the paste. This is the stuffing.
Stuff each eggplant with this mixture.
Heat oil (liberally) in a pan and lightly fry the stuffed eggplants and keep them aside. In the same pan, add the finely chopped onions and saute till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste and let it fry for a minute or so. Then add the remaining portion of the mixture to the oil and let it cook. Add amchur powder and kasuri methi too.Once the mixture is cooked and turns a little darker in colour add the eggplants to it. Add some water to achieve the consistency you want. Add a little more salt according to the amount of water added. Cover and  let it all cook together for about 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Its not the easiest dishes to make. But its worth the efforts and sure to impress baingan lovers !




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