Vankaya Kothimira Vepudu (Eggplant and Coriander Stir-fry)

This is a recipe from Sailu's Kitchen that is now a regular in mine.

Ingredients:
6-7 small Indian eggplants, diced

To grind to a paste:
1 small bunch of coriander leaves (I used the stalks as well)
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tiny piece of ginger
2-3 green chillies

For tempering:

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
A pinch of asafoetida
5-7 curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves.

Add the eggplant pieces and cook well.

Stir in the ground paste (coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies) and cook for some more time. Serve hot with rice.

Eggplant Caponata Bruschetta

I made a caponata of sorts a few weeks back using the small purple brinjals (Indian eggplants) that I’d purchased from the store.

Caponata is a Sicilian dish made from eggplants, tomatoes, olives, celery and capers, cooked in olive oil and flavored with vinegar and sugar. It is basically a sweet and sour cooked vegetable stew that is traditionally served as an appetizer with crackers or is accompanied by fresh crusty Italian bread.

Having made these bruschettas just the day before, I had Italian bread and mozzarella cheese left over. I decided to go for eggplant caponata bruschettas this time. I just toasted a few slices of the Italian bread and topped it with some mozzarella cheese and the caponata mixture.
Here are my ingredients for this recipe, listed in the order in which they’ve been used.

For the caponata:
(Adapted from Giada DiLaurentiis’ recipe)
Ingredients:
2 –3 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ large onion, sliced
5-7 yellow peppers, chopped (I used Vlasic pepper rings along with a little bit of the liquid that the peppers came in)
5-6 small Indian brinjals or 1 large eggplant, cubed
1 tsp oregano
Salt
Pepper
2 tsp sugar
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Method:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, sliced onions and sauté. Add the chopped pepper rings followed by the eggplant cubes and cook until they soften. Add oregano and season with salt and pepper. Add the vinegar and sugar. Mix well. Simmer over medium-low heat until the flavors blend and the mixture thickens, stirring often.

For the bruschetta:
Ingredients:
A loaf of Italian bread, sliced 1-inch thick
Fresh mozzarella, sliced ¼ inch thick
1 garlic clove
Salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
On a baking sheet lined with foil, line up the bread slices. Toast in oven for about 5 minutes or until light golden brown. Working quickly, rub the garlic clove on each slice and then place a piece of mozzarella cheese on top. Sprinkle a little salt on each slice. Place bread back in oven and melt cheese slightly. Remove from oven and spread one tablespoon of eggplant caponata on each piece. Serve warm.

Kathirikai Pitlai (Eggplant/Brinjal curry)

The eggplant is not one of my favorite vegetables. I rarely buy one and when I do, I end up making the one dish I am most familiar with- baingan bharta. I recently bought home a few baby eggplants with the intention of trying out something else for a change. As always, I looked toward Taste of India for some much needed inspiration and it came to me in the form of these two wonderful pitlai recipes. Pitlai, I understand, is a very popular preparation in the Tamil Brahmin community. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:
6-7 brinjals, cubed and placed in a bowl of salted water to prevent discoloration.
A big ball of tamarind soaked in hot water
1-2 tsp brown sugar or jaggery (optional)
½ cup cooked toor dal/split pigeon peas

For roasting and grinding:
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp urad dal/white lentils
1 Tbsp chana dal/split chickpeas
1 ½ Tbsp coriander seeds
5-8 red chillies
2-3 Tbsp coconut

For seasoning:
I Tbsp Oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal/white lentils
4-5 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida

Method:
Cook the eggplant cubes with some salt in the tamarind extract. Add the jaggery. Cook till eggplants are soft.

Add the roasted and ground spice mixture to the cooked eggplants and cook on medium heat for 2-4 minutes.

Add the cooked dal to the above mixture. Add desired amounts of water depending on the consistency required. Cook for 5 minutes or so. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

In a small pan, heat the oil and add all the ingredients for seasoning. Pour the seasoned oil over the pitla.

Serve hot with some rice and appalams.

This is the first time I have used eggplants in this manner and I can’t say that I was too disappointed. It tasted really good!


This is my entry for Abby's Vegetables, beautiful vegetables.


On another note, Court Cooks considers me worthy of this.



Anjali has passed this onto me.



Thank you for thinking of me! I really appreciate the friendly gesture, Court Cooks and Anjali.
I’m going to be a spoilsport now, and selfishly hang onto these for as long as I can. ;-)