Gutti Vankaya Koora

I had heard about this dish often but never really tasted it before. However just reading the ingredient list and remembering the rave reviews from anyone who has tasted this curry wanted me to give this a shot and hence I decided to prepare this curry - thanks to this website. I pretty much followed the recipe, except for some modifications and I replaced the green brinjals with young purple brinjals since that's what I had with me. Make sure the brinjals are tender (no brown/black mature seeds inside). The gravy was just perfect and lipsmackingly good.


GUTTI VANKAYA KOORA (Stuffed Eggplant Curry)


Ingredients:

Tamarind - lemon sized , soaked in warm water and juice extracted
Brinjals (green or purple) - 6 or 7
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Sambhar powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Salt - to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp
Jaggery/Brown Sugar - couple pinches (or to taste)

To Grind:
Red Onion - 1/2 of a big one or Shallots - 6
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 3 cloves
Cinnamon stick - 1 small
Cloves - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds (white) - 3 tbsp
Peanuts - 3 tbsp
Dried Red Chilli - 4
Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
Dessicated coconut flakes - 1 tbsp

Method:
1) Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, red chillies first and finally add the coconut flakes. In a tsp of oil, roast the ginger, garlic and onions till browned and grind along with the rest of the ingredients in the 'To Grind' list.


2) Remove the stems from the brinjal and from the opposite end, make a cross shaped slit till about 3/4th of the brinjal (take care to not do it completely or the brinjal will split into two).


3) Carefully stuff the brinjal with the ground paste. There will be paste left over. Dilute that with a cup of water and set aside for now.


4) Heat oil in a saucepan and add mustard and cumin seeds, when they splutter add the curry leaves. Carefully place the brinjals in the oil (in a single layer) and allow them to cook on a medium flame. When one side is done a bit, turn them gently over till all the surfaces are cooked.


5) Now add the diluted paste, tamarind juice, red chilli powder, turmeric, sambar powder (if using) and salt. Once this begins to boil, reduce the heat a bit, cover and allow to cook for about 20 minutes till completely done. You could add some jaggery or brown sugar to taste and let it boil a few more minutes before removing from the stove and serving.




I would like to send this as my entry for Pooja's 'Vegetable of the Week' - Brinjal. Thank you Pooja for hosting this.