Gutti Vankaya

Roast or toast in an iron skillet:

Needed: quarter cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, ¼ teaspoon and a hot iron skillet. One by one or all together, however it’s convenient for you, roast the following items listed below. Take care not to black or burn them. Ingredients quantity is for 12 brinjals.


Quarter cup each of:
Chana dal, urad dal, sesame seeds, grated coconut and peanuts

- Tablespoon each of:
Coriander seeds and cumin
- Quarter teaspoon each of:
Cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorn and fenugreek(methi) seeds
- 15 dried red chillies (for 12 brinjals)

Once they are cool enough to touch, take them all in a mixer. Add a tablespoon each of - jaggery, tamarind juice and a teaspoon of salt. Blend them to smooth consistency.

Baby Brinjals:
12 young fresh looking brinjals. Make two cuts in each brinjal, one horizontal and one vertical Like plus (+) shape. Keep one end intact.
(The brinjals I’ve used for this recipe are young and tender, too small to stuff. So I directly added them to the skillet after making a plus shaped cut. If these were somewhat medium size, I’d have stuffed them like I did in this method.)

Cooking:
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a big skillet. Season - add and toast few curry leaves and a teaspoon each of cumin and mustard seeds.

Add the cut brinjals to the skillet and also the masala powder you have ground earlier. Add about a glass of water. Stir in turmeric and salt-½ tsp of each. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring in-between. When brinjals are cooked to tender and masala sauce thickens up a bit - time to turn off the heat. Let the curry sit on stove for another 10 minutes like that, giving more time for the flavors to mingle well.

Serve warm with rice or roti.