Gutti Vankaya Koora (Stuffed Brinjal Curry)

Ingredients:

For Masala (stuffing):

1.Groundnuts(peanuts) – one fistful
2.Dry Coconut – 20 grams (cut to pieces)
3.Whole Dhaniya (coriander seeds)- one tablespoon
4.Khas-Khas (poppy seeds)- 2 teaspoons
5.Jeera (cumin seeds) – one teaspoon
6.Methi (fenugreek seeds)- one teaspoon

For Curry:

7.Brinjal (medium sized rounded ) – ¼ kg (make four deep vertical cuts on each of the brinjals )
8.Onions (medium sized) -2 ( sliced vertically)
9.Oil (refined) – 4 tablespoons
10.Ginger Garlic paste- one teaspoon
11.Fresh Coriander- ½ cup
12.Tamarind juice- ½ cup
13.Chilli powder- one tablespoon
14.Turmeric powder- ½ teaspoon
15. Salt- to taste

Procedure:
For Masala:
Heat a kadaai on medium flame. Add groundnuts and fry till they turn dark brown (two to three minutes). Next fry ingredients 2 to 6 for two minutes on low flame. Grind the fried ingredients into a fine paste by adding a little water. Keep the paste aside.

For Curry:
Take a pan and put one tablespoon of oil and heat on medium flame. Add the cut onions and fry till they turn golden brown. Now remove the fried onions and add one tablespoon of oil and continue to heat. Add the brinjals ( each brinjal is cut into four parts with vertical slits, the cuts not extending across the crown) to the pan and fry them for 10 minutes on low flame with the lid closed. The brinjals should be turned a couple of times in between. Remove the fried brinjals from the pan.

Take part of the prepared masala and stuff small amounts of it into the already cut and fried brinjals and set aside. Add two table spoons of oil to the heating pan and add fried onions and ginger garlic paste and cook for two minutes. To this add the remaining masala paste along with chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and fry for 5 minutes, stirring. Now add the stuffed brinjals and cook for 10 minutes. Finally add the tamarind juice and continue to cook for 5 minutes more ( till the oil comes out) with closed lid on medium flame. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot. Best served with rice.