Vazhuthanaga / Egg plant Theeyal

People always ask me. Which is better US or INDIA?? Irrespective of whether I am in India or here, the question is bound to be asked and I am obliged to answer it. The answer is I haven’t thought about it at all. The nomadic in me never really had any special attachments to any places I have grown up. Anyway I had arrived in US with the preconceived Hollywood notion of US and apprehensive of what lay in front of us. It was just few days after our arrival, handicapped without car, with loads of vegetables in our hands and a wailing toddler in another, staring into the downpour wondering when it will stop. It was then that a hand touched my shoulder asking whether I would like a drive in the car. Yes, we had no other option but she had, didn’t she?? Yet, she had chosen the option to help. I have also experienced collective stares in the church while lil chef threw tantrums out of nowhere, and sympathetic smiles at the same time from different aisles. It was no different when I was Back in India. We have experienced housebreak in US and haggler cheating me under my nose in Commercial Street in Bangalore. Looking back I never come with an image of Bangalore without at least one of our friends cropping up, or of Nashville without them. It is not actually the place I remember when I look back, it is the people. So the answer is I haven’t thought about it and don’t think I am ever obliged to answer that question.

Over to the Recipe

Ingredients:

To roast and Grind:

Coconut, Grated - 1 cup

Coriander powder -  1 tbsp.

Kashmiri chilli powder - 3 or 4 

Shallots, Sliced - A scant 1/4 cup

Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp.

To cook the vegetable:

Egg Plant/Vazhuthanaga, Sliced - 1 and a 1/2 to 2 cups

Turmeric Powder - A pinch

Salt- to taste

Water - Just enough to cook the vegetable

Tamarind-one lemon ball size or to taste

Green chilli slit-3

To Temper:

Mustard- 1/2 tsp

Coconut oil-1 tsp

Shallots- 2

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Whole red chilli- 1 or 2

Soak the tamarind and squeeze out the extract. Take a pan; add the vegetables, tamarind extract, green chilies, water, salt, turmeric to cook the vegetables on medium heat till it is half cooked.

Roast the coconut, shallots on a medium to low flame taking care not burn it. Add the rest of the ingredients and roast till the coconut is dark brown color and roasted well. Keep aside to cool.

Grind the mixture and add to the veggies and cook till the veggies are fully cooked and you attain the desired gravy thickness.

Heat the pan, add oil. Add the mustard .Once it splutters add the rest of the ingredients and temper till the shallots attain a golden brown color. Add it to the gravy and close the lid for the flavors to combine.