Yum! Yum! Yum!

1. Bagara Baingan - Hydarabadi Style
2. Gutti Vankaya for Non-veg Lovers
3. Ulli Kaaram Gutti Vankaya

Lasooni Baingan

• Chop Onion length wise. Chop tomatoes into very thin pieces or if you have chunky tomatoes, grate them. Peel and chop ginger into very thin sticks (julienne cut)
• Trim and chop Eggplant into 1 inch cube size and keep them in warm water with salt. This prevents eggplant from blackening.
• Remove peel from garlic pods and trim edges of green chilies. Grind garlic cloves and green chili in small mixie jar to coarse paste.
• Heat 1/4 oil Oil in kadai. Drain eggplant pieces from salt water and squueze with your hands to remove any excess water. Then fry egg plant pieces in kadai for about 5 min on medium flame. This helps in Eggplant pieces retaining their color and shape with out getting mushy in the curry. Eggplant pieces become tender, take them out of oil and transfer them into a plate and keep aside.

1. Heat the same kadai that is used to fry eggplants. There will be some oil in it already. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds. Once mustard splutters add roughly ground fenugreek seeds. 
2. Add chopped onions and ginger slices and saute well with tempering. Add turmeric powder and keep the flame to medium to low, allowing onions to saute and caramelize.
3. Now add ground garlic and green chili paste to pan. saute for 5 min. Now, Add tomato pieces or grated puree to pan and mix everything very well. Add red chili powder and let the curry simmer. The curry comes together becoming thick. 
4. Now add fried eggplants to curry and mix with onion & tomato masala. Close the lid and let it cook covered for 5 min.
5. Open the lid and increase flame to medium to high, cook uncovered until curry comes together. Now add Coriander powder and salt, mix well with curry. 
6. Cook on high for couple of minutes, then switch off the stove. Transfer curry to serving bowl and garnish with Cilantro. 

• Good thing about this curry is you can use any chunky variety of Brinjal/Eggplant. American style Eggplant or Italian Eggplant will be perfect for this recipe. 
• This recipe calls for large amount of oil compare to any typical curry, don't skim on Oil that will discount the taste. 
• Fenugreek is another secret ingredient that enhances the flavor greatly for this curry. Make sure you add right amount and grind seeds coarsely in hand mortar while adding them to tempering. Fenugreek is bitter in taste, use it sparingly.
• Garlic is star ingredient in this curry, used in large amount and the reason for bold flavors in this curry. If you can't use Garlic for religious purposes, unfortunately there is no alternative to replace garlic in this curry. However this Eggplant Tomato Curry should be your go to recipe.

1. Grind Onion, Green Chili, Cilantro, Ginger, Garlic and Tamarind in a small mixie jar and blend into coarse paste. Now add red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder to the onion paste and mix it well together and grind again until it becomes smooth paste. 
2. Wash egg plants, trim the edges and make 4 slits at the bottom making sure they are still intact at the top. (keep the eggplants in water to avoid them from browning). Stuff eggplants with Ulli Kaaram Masala and keep them aside. 
3. Take a wide pan and heat on stove on medium heat. Add Oil, once oil is hot, add cinnamon, clove and cumin seeds. As cumin start spluttering add stuffed eggplants to pan gently one-by-one. Keep them separate from each other allowing eggplants to be cooked on all sides. Keep rotating eggplants gently on all sides and saute them for 5 min. Now add remaining Onion Masala paste to pan and distribute evenly. Cover the lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 15 to 20 min. 
4. After 20 min, remove lid and you notice egg plants are fully cooked becoming tender and masala comes together. Increase heat to medium to high and cook for another 10 min for all the gravy to come thick and together. 
5. Switch off the stove and transfer Stuffed Brinjals to serving bowl and serve hot with White Rice. 

• Gutti Vankaya Recipes

• Vankaya Recipes

• Andhra Recipes

Dry Roast Peanuts in a small non-stick pan for 2 min. Switch off the heat, in the same pan add sesame seeds so that they can get roasted while the pan is still hot for 1 min. Take it off from the heat and let it cool, transfer this to small mixie jar and grind it into fine powder and keep it aside.  Chop Onions, Tomatoes into small cubes.  Remove the stems of Eggplant and chop into medium size cubes. Heat 2 Tbsp of Oil in a medium size non-stick pan, once the oil is hot, add Eggplant Cubes to the Pan and saute them for 3 to 5 min until the eggplants becomes tender with out getting mushed up ( or loosing their shape).

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in the heavy bottom pan. Add red chili, chana dal, urad dal, as lentils starts browning, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. 
2. Add chopped green chili and onions to the tempering. Add 1 tsp of turmeric powder to onions and saute the onions for 5 min until the raw smell goes away. Add chopped tomato cubes to the onion mixture and mix well; close the lid and cook for 5 min. By this time, tomatoes comes together and becomes like gravy. Now add red chili powder and coriander powder to tomato gravy and mix well into the gravy. 
3. Add sauteed eggplant pieces to gravy and coat with gravy. Now add Peanut and Sesame masala to the gravy, mix it into gravy and cook for 5 min. Top with Cilantro, switch off the stove. Leave the curry in pan for 5 min and then transfer it to serving bowl and serve  with hot white rice. 

• For more authentic taste you can grind the peanuts and sesame powder in mortar & pestle by hand than using mixie/grinder.  Sesame masala adds lot of flavor to this curry and making it delicious. 
• Frying the eggplants up front keeps their shape to be remained with out getting mushed up, even they dropped into gravy. so don't mix often with spatula while frying the eggplants.
• Use Juicy and Cluster tomatoes to make this gravy. 

• First chop Onion into thin slices length wise to match with eggplant pieces.
• Wash and pat dry Eggplants, remove the stem and cut into 3 sections width wise and cut each piece into long thin slices length wise.
• Grind Fresh Coconut ( chop into small pieces), Peeled Garlic Cloves and Green Chili in a small mixie jar until everything is combined and get powdered consistency. this will be little wet but shouldn't become like paste. 

1. Heat non-stick pan and add Oil. Once the oil is hot add Red Chili, followed by Chana Dal, Urad Dal. As lentils brown add cumin seeds and mustard seeds, as mustards start spluttering add Curry Leaves. 
2. Add onion slices to the pan and mix with tempering, saute for 2 min until onions are wilted.
3. Add Eggplant slices to the pan and mix well with onions and keep the flame in sim and saute for 5 min. Add salt and coriander powder and mix well until eggplants are coated with spices. Saute on low heat for another 5 min. 
4. Now you notice eggplants are fried and wilted to half, now add the Coconut & Garlic Masala powder to non-stick pan and mix well with eggplants pieces until well combined. Now increase the heat o medium high and saute on high for another 5 min or until eggplant pieces are fully cooked.
5. Taste and adjust salt or any seasoning. Top with Cilantro and switch off the stove, leave the pan on stove for 5 minutes for the flavors to settle. Now transfer to serving bowl and serve immediately with White Rice and enjoy the delicious flavors! 

• Add 1 tsp of salt to 1 cup of luke warm water and add eggplant pieces to this water in a bowl. This stops the eggplant from becoming black. 
• When you are adding the eggplants to pan, squeuze the eggplants to remove any excess water and add to pan. This tip helps the eggplant fry to make little dry. 
• I usually won't add red chili powder as this masala is subtle and loaded with green chili spicy flavor. If you want more spicy version or your green chili are not that spicy, then you can add 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder in step 3 along with salt. 

1. Mix all the ingredients under Spice Powder section in a small bowl and keep it dry.
2. Wash Eggplants and remove the stem.  Make a slit into 4 slices but they need to be intact at the top. 
3. Rub Eggplants with 1 Tbsp of Oil and dust with spice powder mixture all around. 
4. Sauté Eggplants in the non-stick pan for 10 min, turning all over so that the eggplants gets soft with out changing their color .

1. Take non-stick pressure cooker and add remaining 1 Tbsp Oil to it. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds, as they splutter add Ginger Garlic Paste. 
2. Add green chili, chopped onions to the pan and mix them well with ginger garlic paste. Close the lid and let the onion mixture cook on low heat for 5 min. 
3. Now add Tomato pieces to the onion mixture and let them simmer for 10 min ( until tomato pieces are mashed up). Add 1 tsp of salt to the tomato onion mixture and mix it well. 
4. Now add the sautéed spiced egg plants to the pan. Add any remaining spice powder mix to the pan. Mix Eggplants with Tomato & onion mixture.  Add garam masala powder to it.
5. Close the lid tight and cook on pressure for 2 whistles and switch off the stove. 
6. After 15 min, Take the weight off and remove the lid. Don't mix it up Eggplants will be tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings, add cilantro to gravy. Switch off the stove.
7. Transfer the curry to serving bowl carefully and serve with Hot White Rice immediately. 

Gutti Podugu Vankaya Vepudu

Ingredients: Long Eggplants - 10 ( Podugu Vankaya) Onion - 1 medium Green Chili - 2 Coriander Leaves - 2 Tbsp Salt - 1 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder - 1 tsp Rice Flour - 1 Tbsp Oil - 1 Tbsp Tempering: Oil - 1 Tbsp Whole Red Chili - 2 Chana Dal - 1 tsp Urad Dal - 1 tsp Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Curry Leaves -  10 ( or 2 stems)

Preparatory Steps: Mix 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp of red chili powder and 1/2 tsp of coriander powder and 1 Tbsp of Rice flour in a small bowl and keep it aside. Wash and pat dry eggplants. Shorten the stems and make 4 slits by keeping it intact at the stem end. Rub the spice mixture inside and outside all over eggplants carefully making sure the eggplants are still intact at the stem.

1. Heat the non-stick pan, add 1 Tbsp Oil. Once the oil is hot, add red chili, followed by Chana Dal, Urad Dal, Cumin seeds. Sauté for 1 min until the lentil are turning into golden color, then add mustard seeds and turmeric powder. As mustards starts spluttering, add curry leaves and reduce the heat to low. That completes our tempering.
2. Add chopped Green Chili and Onion to the pan and mix with tempering.  Close the lid and let onions cook until their raw smell is gone. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp coriander powder  to the onion slices and mix it well. 
3. Now add the spice covered eggplants to the pan one at a time making sure each one is touching the pan. 
4. Cook on low heat for 5 min, and turn each eggplant to the other side holding gently at their stems. Cook on other side for 5 more minutes. Now close the lid and let the eggplants simmer for few more minutes. Now add 2 Tbsp of coriander leaves to eggplants in the pan. Cook for 2 more minutes.
   
5. You notice eggplants are cooked on all sides and becoming very soft and changing their color.
6. Turn off the heat and keep them in the pan for 10 more minutes and after that transfer them to the wide bowl and serve with hot rice. The taste and flavor of this simple stir-fry will take you out of the world.
   

• For this stir-fry, the eggplants should be very tender and thin.
• you need to cook these on low heat, otherwise eggplants can easily burnt as these cook very fast.

White Thai Eggplant Stir-Fry

• These thai eggplants will have lot of seeds in it, so you need to saute them in oil first to make them soft. Trim the stem edge and Cut the Eggplant into round circle and saute them in 1 Tbsp of Oil and keep them aside.
• Grind the ingredients under Spicy Seasoning into fine paste in a small mixie jar. 

1. Take the same nonstick pan that you have sauteed eggplants before, add 1 tsp oil to it. Once the oil is hot, add thinly sliced onions to it, saute until onions become translucent.
2. Now add the sauteed Eggplant rounds to the pan. Once the eggplant slices are mixed with onions, add some salt to it and leave it on medium flame for 5 min. 
3. Now add the spicy seasoning to the pan and mix it well gently, and stir fry for another 5 min until the everything is well combined and cooked. 
4. Taste and adjust salt and Finally top with some cilantro on top and switch off the stove.
5. Transfer to serving bowl and serve immediately with hot white rice.

• Dry Roast the Sesame Seeds and Peanuts separately in the non-stick pan. Once they are cooled off grind in the small mixie jar along with Coconut Powder; first grind into fine powder. Add 2 Tbsp water and grind into smooth paste.
• Soak the Tamarind in warm water and extract the tamarind juice and set aside
• Trim the edges on Egg Plants and make 4 slits and keep them salted water to avoid any blackening.

1. Heat the non stick pan or heavy bottomed vessel. I have used my non-stick pressure pan. Add 2 Tbsp of oil.
2. First fry the egg plants for 5 min in the non-stick pan, until they become slightly soft but still retain their shape. Take them out and keep them on a plate aside.
3. In the same pan, Add cumin seeds and curry leaves,. once they splutter, add finely chopped onions and saute them well. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 5 min or until the raw smell goes away. 
4. Now add the ground peanut,sesame, coconut paste to the pan and mix well. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and coriander powder and mix it well. let it simmer for few minutes. 
5. Add tamarind juice to the pan and mix it well. Add some more water and let the gravy simmer on slow heat for 5 minutes. Now taste and adjust the salt and seasonings accordingly.
6. Now add the brinjals to the gravy, loosely close the lid and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes on slow heat. Once the brinjals become soft and gravy comes together, top with cilantro; switch off the stove and transfer to serving bowl. 

Take a Close Look!

• Keep stirring while the gravy is simmering so that gravy will not stick to the bottom. 
• Peanut Paste can easily become thick, add water while it is simmering to that you will get gravy like consistency.

small baby eggplants / Aubergines

1. Take a non-stick pan and add  2 Tbsp oil to it. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. As they start spluttering add curry leaves.
2. Add finely chopped green chili and onions to the pan and saute them for 2 min. Now add turmeric powder, salt and coriander powder and mix it well. 
3. Add stuffed eggplants to the pan and mix it with onion mixture. Turn the heat to medium low and close the lid and let it cook for 10 min. 
4. Now open lid and check the tenderness of eggplants, turn the eggplant to other side to allow to cook on all sides and add any remaining peanut and sesame stuffing powder to the non-stick pan. Close the lid and cook another 10 min. 
5. Open the lid and now the eggplants must be fully cooked, looking tender and about to start getting roasted. Taste and adjust salt or other seasonings. Garnish with Cilantro and turn off the heat. Let it stand there for 5 min. Serve hot with white rice to get the best flavor out of it. 

Take a Close Peek! Don't you feel like take one and eat right away!

Gutti Vankaya Curry (for Non Veg Lovers)

• Chop 1 onion into big pieces and grind into smooth paste in the grinder or blender.
• Roast the red chili and poppy seeds in the pan. Cool it off, and grind it into smooth paste along with cashew nuts. Keep this paste aside.

1. Cut the baby eggplants into 4 quarters (make slits). Fill the onion stuffing in the baby egg plant slits.
2. Heat the remaining oil in the non-stick pan, add cardamom, clove and cinnamon. Once the nice aroma comes, add the chopped onions and green chili. Let the oil separate from onions. Add the Stuffed Eggplants to the pan and fry them on medium until they are cooked well on out side. Now add the remaining onion paste and add chopped tomatoes.
3. Add the salt, red chili powder, coriander powder and close the lid. Let the baby egg plants cook with the masala for 5 min.  until they are soft inside.
4. Now add the cashew and poppy seeds paste to the gravy and close the lid and cook for another 5 min. 
5. Taste and adjust the seasonings, top with remaining cilantro and close the lid. Switch off the stove, but leave the pan on the stove for 5 min. 

• This goes very well with any mild flavored rice like Pualo or Jeera Rice.
• As all the masalas we used in this curry are used in chicken curry, non veg lovers will love this version for sure. 

Brinjal Comes in Bengali Style

• Wash and Pat dry the Eggplant. Slice horizontally into 1/2 inch thick slices. 
• Place these rounds in slated water for 5 - 10 min to avoid dis-coloring or turning into black. Drain these and pat dry the rounds and keep aside.

1. In a small bowl mix the salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder.  Coat the egg plant rounds with this spice mixture and marinate for 5-7 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Take rice flour in a plate. Coat each slice with rice flour on both sides. ( do not coat on the side edges leaving the skin open)
3. Now pan fry these rounds till crisp and golden brown on both sides.
4. Serve hot with rice or roti along with some raita on the side.

You have to add at least 2 foods form purple group to your plate per week.

all spiced up and looking slurpyy already!

Coat with Rice Flour for crispier outside...