Its been a while since a vegetarian dish made an appearance on the blog.

Cooking brinjals ( eggplants) doesn’t exactly scream weekend food but when stuffed with a splendid masala of roasted coconut, peanuts , onions and garam masala, I  couldn’t pass it up!

 

Actually, you can use this masala for any vegetables you do not fancy, I promise you will gobble everything up and end up licking your fingers.

To make this  brinjal / baby eggplant gravy, it is a good idea to use small sized brinjals as they have less seeds in them plus they take less time to cook.  However, if you are out of luck and do not find them, use the bigger ones just chop them into smaller pieces and no need to stuff them. Just coat them evenly with the masala and they will taste the same. As for the masala (stuffing), you can use up the excess stuffing for the gravy.

I usually add around half cup water at the end to make more gravy. and bring it to a boil. That’s just the way I prefer, you can skip this if you want. Also, the brinjals may take some time to cook and a good way to check if they are done is to see if they appear wilted and smaller in size.

 

This meal for two was ready under 40 minutes and goes well with rice, chapati and bread.

 

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Served: Hot
Serves: 2-3 people

 

Ingredients:
6-8 brinjals/ baby eggplants
2 medium sized onions (roast until golden brown)
1/4 cup grated coconut (dry roasted)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Salt to taste
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp red chilly powder (or according to your preference)
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
1. Dry roast peanuts and coconut and keep them aside to cool.
2. In another pan, saute onions until golden brown along with ginger and garlic.
3. Blend the ingredients mentioned in above two steps along with chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, lemon juice, sesame seeds and  garam masala powder into a course paste using a spice  grinder. Adjust salt and red chilly powder according to taste and preference.
4. Wash the brinjals /baby eggplants and slit them into four without breaking them all the way.
5. Stuff the course paste we made into the slits of the brinjals and set aside. Reserve the extra stuffing.

Gravy:
1. Heat pan with a teaspoon of cooking oil and to that add our stuffed brinjals. Toss them to evenly coat with oil. Also add in the extra stuffing.
2. Cover and cook on a medium flame until the brinjal appears wilted and soft. Keep checking after 15 minutes.
3. Uncover and flip them occasionally so that they cook evenly.
4. When the brinjals / baby egg plants are cooked completely add 1/2 cup of water to them and let the water come to a boil. Add more water if the gravy isn’t thick enough.
4. Garnish with some coriander leaves and lemon and serve with hot rice /chapatis with ghee.