Sep 11, 2011

Gutti Vankaya / Stuffed Baby Eggplant with Tamarind and Onion Masala

'Necessity is the Mother of Invention' that is exactly what happened today in my kitchen. If i havn't told you yet which is my favorotie veggie of all, no doubt that is the King of all vegetables 'Egg Plant' ( Brinjal / Vnakaya). I like this vegetable in any form, stir fry, curry, stew, chutney, vangi bath, cooked with curd ( perugu vankaya) or cooked with milk etc etc there is no stop for the number of varieties that you can make with this vegetable.  Of all 'Gutti Vankaya' (Stuffed Baby Egg Plant) is my favorite and also this variety has been refereed as the symbol for romance( or romantic dinner ) in our state's local Sahityam (Literature).  There are so many recipes and forms (based on the regions) that you can make for this 'Gutti Vankaya' variety. Okay now my mouth waters... and I will stop here bragging about this vegetable.

Okay, now let me come to the real story of this recipe. As we have recently moved to BLR, I am with no kitchen gadgets yet and missing the basic Grinder in the my Kitchen 'The Mixie'. It is the Indian version of Blender and yet powerful with so many other tools and jars to make to smooth pastes, fine powders, batter etc. So basically 'The Mixie' is a combination of Blender, Food Processor and Grinder. Not sure if i am not finding time to buy a new one or confused with the so many options and brands here, but i surely miss it whenever I want to make any masala curry or chutney.  So one day at the grocery store the round, small , tender and cute baby egg plants caught my eye and without remembering that not having mixie in my kitchen I have bought these. Only on the day when I want to make a curry with this romantic vegetable to make one Friday evening special to my better half then only i realized the fact that my kitchen is missing this basic gadget. As the tender baby egg plants are tempering me to make this curry anyway, and I can not back off my plans, and that's how this recipe got invented in my kitchen. I should say this is a combination of the my mom's signature recipe and Hyderabadi's famous recipe, so it got to taste good. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Baby Egg Plants - 6
Onion - 1 small
Green Chili - 3
Tamarind Paste - 1 Tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
salt - 2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 sick
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Bay Leave - 1
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Cilantro - 1/3 cup

Stuffing:

Onion - 1 small
Green Chili - 2
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 4 cloves
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
salt - 1 tsp
Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp




How to make it:
Stuffing:
1. Heat the Oil in the Non Stick Pan and Onions ( very thinly diced onions) and Green Chili
2. Grate the Ginger and Garlic and add to the Pan after 5 min
3. Once the onions are getting cooked and becoming like paste, add tamarind paste
4.  Mix it well and add salt and Garam Masala, let it cook on slow for 5 more minutes
5. Taste and Adjust the seasonings and turn off the heat and let it cool

Gravy:
1. Heat the 1 tbsp of oil in the deep non stick dish
2. Wash and pat dry the Baby egg plants and make  four slits and add to the pan
3. Fry the Egg Plants until the skin becomes tender or wilted ( or turned into dark purple color) approx 5 min
4.Take out the Egg Plants into a plate and let them cool
5. To the same pan, add remaining 1 tbsp oil and Bay leave, Cinnamon Stick, Cloves and Cardamom, Cumin seeds and fry them for 2 min (you will get nice aroma of these spices)
6.  Add the Onions ( thinly diced onions) and Green Chili, saute them for 5 min
7. Add salt, red chili powder and coriander powder and close the lid and let it simmer for 5 min
8. Add Tamarind paste and add 1/3 cup of water and keep it in low and simmer
9. Mean while stuff the stuffing into baby egg plants evenly and add the stuffed egg plants to the gravy.
10. Add milk and cilantro to the gravy, close the lid  and cook on low for 15 to 20 minutes.



Turn off the heat and taste and adjust seasoning accordingly, transfer into serving bowl and garnish with some more cilantro. Serve this Yummy Stuffed Baby Egg Plants (Gutti Vankaya) with gravy over  hot white rice and wander in heaven for a while.


Note:
 If you have mixie or grinder handy for the stuffing, you can fry the onions and grind them along with spices.


I am sending this to Torview's Food Pallette Series Rainbow Event.







Take Care until we meet here again
-Mythreyi




13 comments:

  1. this is a favourite delicious don Mythreyi
    hope you can join the food palette series rainbow colours
    the grape leaves are from the garden it maybe available in bottles hope you can find and give it a try
    regards

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. I so love baingans too!!!! whether stuffed, fried, sauteed etc etc!! Your version looks deeeeliiicious!!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats

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  4. Omg, just drooling over those irresistible stuffed baby eggplants..

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  5. 3 cute awards are waiting for you...at my space...do accept them..

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  6. Hi Mythreyi I have tagged you in the 7 links award. Please do collect it.& pass it on
    Do check out my event and send me your entries.

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  7. Thanks for dropping by Mythreyi. You have a lovely name.
    Happy to follow u too..

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  8. I have always felt that photographing a dish like that id difficult but you have done it so beautifully.

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  9. I love eggplant dishes of all kinds and this one looks wonderful! Such pretty photos too!

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  10. thank you for linking this delicious looking eggplant

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Hi,

Thanks for visiting Yum! Yum! Yum!. I really appreciate your time in dropping a note for me. Your comments are truly motivating and feedback allows me to improve more to bring the best.

Thanks
-Mythreyi

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