Egg Plant/Brinjal/Baby Aubergine Curry

This egg plant curry is yet another recipe that I learnt from my roomies during my working days at Chennai. My room mate Maha was an awesome cook and she made delicious non vegetarian and biryani dishes. But we used to make fun of her tea making abilities though she was good at it. I learnt this dish from her and made my own changes. It is a time consuming dish but I bet its worth it. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Egg Plant/Brinjal/Baby Aubergine - 10
Curry leaves - 10
Oil - 2 Tablespoon
Onion (big) - 1 (roughly chopped)
Tomato (big) - 1 (roughly chopped)
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Fresh coriander leaves - to garnish
Salt - to taste
For Dry Roast
Cumin seeds - 1/2 Tablespoon
Pepper corns - 5
Coriander seeds - 1/2 Tablespoon
Fennel seeds - 1/4 Tablespoon
Red chilli - 2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Curry leaves - 15
Masalas
Turmeric powder - 1/4 Tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 Tablespoon
Sambar powder - 1/4 Tablespoon


Method
1. Dry roast all the items mentioned under the for dry roast header one by one in a medium hot pan and allow the roasted items to cool.
2. Use the same pan and heat a tablespoon of oil and sauté the onion, tomato, garlic and ginger. Once they are half done, turn off the heat and allow them to cool.
3. Now grind the dry roasted items and the sautéed items along with the masalas into a fine paste.
4. Make 2 deep vertical cuts, one at each pole of the egg plants in opposite directions and keep them aside.

5. Heat 1/2 a tablespoon of oil in a pan and sauté the egg plants until the dark purple colour changes to light brown colour.

6. Once the colour of the eggplants change transfer them to a plate.
7. Use the same pan to heat 1/2 a tablespoon of oil and sauté the ground paste with 1/2 a cup of water until the raw smell of the masalas go away.
8. Now add the egg plants and salt to the gravy, reduce the heat to medium, close the pan with a lid and allow it to cook until oil separates from the gravy. This will take 20 to 25 minutes. Do not forget to give a stir in between.

9. Make sure that the egg plants are completely cooked and turn off the heat.
             Serve the curry with garnished coriander leaves. This curry goes well with rice and roti.

Note
* You can also dry roast coconut and grind along with the paste.
* When you select the egg plant in the market make sure you choose the tiny ones for this dish.