Sunday, June 24, 2007

JFI-Sweet ‘n’ spicy Brinjals

Indian Brinjals;after all they too are "egg" plants...placed on a real bird's forbidden nest in my garden,the birds are off but I replaced this real nest back on the tree,hoping for their next visit!.


Brinjals, rightly named as the King of veggies in South India ,belong to the category of easy to prepare,tasty and that can be mixed up into a real wide variety of dishes.Boiled,smoked,grilled,mashed,stuffed,curried and the list goes on and on…

Believed to help in lowering the cholesterol levels of the blood,the cooked vegetable does hold the complaints of its sliminess,having not much of nutritive value and fibre content etc,but it’s definitely popular due to its availability, lightness and delicacy in dishes.

I simply ventured preparing the dish using the Indian Brinjals, seeing the wide Hindustani varieties.As Indiraji,the brain behind this monthly event, votes more for Indian..:),I chose the pale green local varietied ones ultimately entering JFI-eggplants hosted by Sangeetha of Ghar Ka Ghana!.

How does this soft veg turn when boiled lightly,sauted and left soaked in saucy,spicy,sweetish ingredients?Thatz where this “easy to make” recipe leads you..

Get ready with:

250gms-Brinjals
½ cup sliced onions
1 tsp of finely chopped garlic
½ tsp of turmeric powder
A tsp of curry powder
A tbsp of tomato ketchup
Salt-to taste
Cilantro-to garnish

To temper,
1 tbsp refined oil
½ tsps each of mustards and urad dal
A stalk of curry leaves

How to make:

1.Cut Brinjals lengthwise into 6 parts each,after discarding the green calyx and stalk.Cook half done in salted water with turmeric powder and the pieces 'just' immersed..(turn off the flame when the water starts boiling).Avoid over cooking.

2.Drain the pieces,discarding the water,in a perforated bowl. (If the easy-to-be-cooked long brinjals are used, avoid this precooking part completely.Check the quality of the veg.A little precooking was necessary for my Indian ones).

3.Heat oil in a shallow and wide kadai, splutter mustards and brown the urad dal.Add the chopped garlic and the onions and sauté till they turn golden.Add the curry leaves.

4.Lower the flame.Sauté the curry powder lightly, immediately adding the tomato ketchup next and then the brinjal pieces.

5.Keeping the flame medium, toss or turn the pieces lightly, allowing the gravy to coat all over.

6.Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice, chappathi, nan or with anything you please.

28 comments:

  1. Hi Bharathy,those eggplants are looking so nice in the nest, and you have chosen white brinjals for this, gr8 idea!
    The brinjal sabzi is looking really spicy and tasty. Have you added the same sambhar podi in this or curry powder is different?
    Best is the brinjals are not looking mushy. Liked the recipe :)

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  2. I liked your "egg"plant presentation..so cute it looks....I also got a real bird nest, a smaller one, it fell down from the maple tree in front of our house..I kept it safe with me as I was not able to keep it back...tree was too tall !

    Shn

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  3. bharathy,
    nice pics. those brinjals looks adorable.

    re: 'brinjals being the king of veggies in south india', they probably are in TN, andhra and karnataka, but keralites don't eat them very often. my mom's family is from kerala, and they hardly ever eat it.

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  4. The brinjals in the nest look so cute!

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  5. 'egg'plants - Lovely presentation :) The curry sounds tasty too, being both spicy and sweet.

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  6. Hi Bharathy,
    Beautiful presentation and delicious recipe...

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  7. cute presentation with the eggaplants in the nest. the palya looks delicious.

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  8. This "egg"plant idea is fabulous! They were looking very cute!

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  9. Did you grow the brinjals too ? They look so cute on that nest

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  10. Hi,
    brinjal looks yummy and spicy too...Brinjals in the nest looks cute.

    http://priars.blospot.com

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  11. I love the you have put them in the nest!! Very cute,Dish looks like yummy recipe.Thanks B!:)

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  12. eggplant ..wow!!! excellent presentation ....very neat and clean

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  13. Hope ur doubt is cleared,Archana.

    This home-nest is a sentimental issue,Mishmash..good for the family if a bird nests in our yard trees,but the owners are supposed to take care of the nest and if it gets damaged it's bad omen for the fmly..
    My birdie nest is located just 3 steps from my front door!!!In a Ficus shrub..the branches being sturdy and bushy,the birdie might have felt safe.the height being just 6 feet,my kids and me could view every stage of the nestlings..till they flew away for good!!!!!

    Yeah!Bee..I do support ur view.My mom makes only "Theiyal",with this veggie.Keralatiles complaint abt the sliminess in it when cooked and prefer Vazhuthananga..the long slender variety,with thinner skin!!

    Thanks for your sweet words,Cooker,Sugi and Roopa :)

    Madhu,Nirmala and priars...warm welcome to my place!!:)

    IT IS homegrown,Sandeepa..not my home product...but my veg boy's..!!!

    I was virtually waiting for ya ASHA!!:),and I am happy to see you here!!:)

    hmmmm,thanks Deepa :)

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  14. Hi Bharathy,

    I saw your comment on Priar's blog,the funny ness dragged me into your blog...again here after seeing eggplants placed in real nest.....:))you are really a creative [person and seems to have sense of humour too..good...Between nice collection of recipes...

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  15. the first picture is too good ! looks like a birds nest !

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  16. Bharathy,
    sorry dear , if i have made you feel that I commented without reading a line on our post...
    you are mistaken, I don't comment with out going through the whole .I was fascinated b our innovativeness in giving an apt place for the egg plants! I went through your recipe , but was not very serious in noting the steps as my family just frowns when they have these slimy vegetables on the table . they eat them without much enthusiasm...
    i like visiting your blog as you give god vegetarian recipes.mark me as a regular visitor!

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  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  18. Thats a good one! And your idea of the picture of the eggplants in the birds nest is awesome...

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  19. Bharthy, Lovley photographs and the dish sounds great. I love baingan raja and always bookmark good recipes to try out of them and yours is one among them too. Thanx a bunch.

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  20. such a quick simple recipe :) those eggplants in the nest look so cute :)

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  21. Good one bharathy. The recipe looks tempting and the nest looks cute!!!

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  22. Hi Bharthi,
    Love those little egg plant in the nest.Lovely recipe also .Simple and quick.Love the first picture.Keep up the good work gal.

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  23. Nice to see someone appreciating my humor sense :)..Thanx Usha..and welcome to my blog..

    Nanditha believe it or not..except me all the others in my family are brinjal haters..I made the dish for myself,photographed,and finished the food on the plate,as I got sooo hungry..:)BTW..it's a pleasure to have you with me here..

    Poonam,Ayiye Ayiye..most welcome!!..

    Nice to note such words from someone like you Seema,who is a fabulous blogger!...the recipe is my own..

    Hugs to you,Richa dear..

    Prema and Dr Soumya...I missed you TERRIBLY..just cant explain in words...hope you are fine with things around u and in good health...If busy...okay..will soon tide over..:)Thanks to both of you..(u were much awaited)..:)

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  24. beautiful pics! i am so so glad the way ur blog is turning out :) keep it going

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  25. Love those eggplant on the nest. nice dish :) Spicy eggplant looks delicious.

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  26. Hi Barathy.
    I love Indian Brinjals.....Ur curry is looking YUM!...Love it.

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  27. Hi Bharthy,
    Really happy that I came across your blog. Your recipes are just too YUM!

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