This is something that Amma makes very very well. I just tried it out yesterday and it wasn't too bad. Has a tangy-sweet flavour to it. You can make it with a thick gravy or dry...whichever way you like it. Goes well with rotis and rice.
Ingredients
- Purple brinjals - cut into thin, long pieces (you can cut it anyway you like..am just used to this :))
- Jaggery and tamarind soaked in a cup of water.
- Roasted and coarsely crushed peanuts
- Jeera
- Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
- Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
- Oil for cooking
- Salt to taste
How to do it:
Heat about 2 - 3 tbsp oil in a deep pan and add jeera and turmeric powder. After a few seconds, add the cut brinjals and sautee till the brinjals become soft. Add a pinch of salt while sauteeing. You can multi-task and soak the tamarind and jaggery (a small piece of jaggery and about an inch of tamarind) and keep squishing the tamarind in the water till the jaggery dissolves completely and the water becomes thick and full of flavour. Add the tam-jag water and the roasted and crushed peanuts to the sauteed brinjals, add salt and let it simmer. If you want a thick gravy, you need to add more of the tam-jag water and the peanuts as well. Let it simmer for a few minutes till the brinjals soak in the flavour completely. Keep mixing well. You can garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve hot. :)
For those who like onions, you can also add finely chopped onions to the brinjals as a variation.
An experiment. A tasty one.
Late last evening, I was hungry and had to fend for myself. the in-laws had duties relating to their son's wedding which they had to attend to. Expecting them to return and then cook is unfair. Also, it was a chance for me to try out something new. We had some batter for dry rice rotis which my mom-in-law would have for dinner. Made some hot rice for the others. With rice, we had only rasam and no vegetables.
Quick idea: a chutney which can be mixed with rice and will also taste good with the rotis. Checked for the veggies and supplies readily available at home to mae it as simple and quick a preparation as possible.
Took a cup of peanuts and put them in the mocrowave to roast. 3 sessions of 1 min each and put it aside to cool. took about 5 onions and cut them into thich slices. Sauteed them in oil for just a bit, with green chillies and allowed it to cool.
Put the onions, chillies, peanuts, salt and an inch of tamarind into the mixer. After a minute of grinding, added some water. Figured it was tooooooooooooo salty (i can never get the proportions right with rock salt). So, chopped 2 more onions and put it into the mixie (without sauteing, this time, as i was in a hurry). This neautralized the saltiness. Also added a handful of roasted chana dal for taste. Ran all these in the mixie for one more minute till it became a thick fine paste. for those who want it liquidy, just add more water.
Garnished it with the regular seasoning (oil, mustard seeds, jeera, and asafoetida and a few curry leaves). This took me less than 10 minutes to make. My dad-in-law and sathys thoroughly enjoyed the chutney.
It's quite tasty when eaten with piping hot rice. Am thinking it'll also serve as a tasty dip with crudites / crackers.
