Ennegayi - Stuffed eggplant curry

Most of my friends are thinking that I am passionate about cooking, since I started a food blog and all. But the truth is far from that. I don’t like spending a lot of time cooking at all! My tendency is to cook as quickly as possible, clean, and then get out of the kitchen. But mind you, I don’t want to compromise on the taste. Any dish that tastes good with the least amount of cooking time is my type of dish. If I spend more time in the kitchen, then I get really cranky :) 

My husband, on the other hand, thinks cooking is cathartic, even though he hardly cooks! But me, no. I am happy spending the least amount of time cooking. I am obsessed with getting the taste right though. It bothers me when I cannot make the perfect pulav, or perfect chapathi.. So I end up trying it many many times, till I am satisfied with the taste.

Ennegayi is one such dish on which I have worked very hard to get the taste right. It took me a lot of effort to perfect the skill. Even though making this dish takes a lot more time than I am willing to spend in the kitchen, the taste is very well worth the effort. 

Somehow whenever I made it before, it would burn invariably. But now, I must say, I am quite comfortable making it. Now if it burns, it's only because of my over confidence :)

I make two versions of this, one as taught by my cousin Chethana, and other from the link my friend Veena suggested. Both very different, yet equally tasty.

This is the latter version. I will also post the first version sometime. 

Ingredients

Small brinjals - 6-8 (really small ones - around 12)

for the tadka

oil - generous amount

mustard

hing

1/2 medium sized onion 

for the masala

2 tsp - Coriander seeds

1 tsp - jeera

3-4 cloves

a small piece of cinnamon

3 red chillies(very mild)

2 tsp - sesame seeds

2 tbsp - peanuts

1 tbsp - kadle pappu/dalia(optional, not in the original recipe, but I added it)

1/2 tsp tamarind paste

1/2 tsp shredded jaggery

1/2 medium sized onion

1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded coconut

salt

Method

Roast the “for the masala” ingredients from coriander to kadele pappu  in medium flame, all together. Make sure they don’t burn. Grind with the remaining ‘for the masala’ ingredients to a semi-coarse paste. 

Remove brinjal stalk, and then slit the bottom length wise and breadth wise, making sure that it is not cut all the way down. Stuff the masala(I’ve found that using a spoon is helpful) 

Heat oil in a pan. Make the tadka. Place the stuffed brinjals. Then cook in a low flame. I’ve gotten good results only in low flame. If the heat is even a little bit higher, the stuffing masala burns. So I use low to medium flame. Cover and cook. Turn the brinjals carefully in between. Once all the brinjals are reasonably cooked, add water to the remaining masala and add it to the pan. Stir in between making sure that the gravy doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook till the oil separates, and the brinjals are all well cooked. 

Serve with rice or chapathi. 

Recipe Source - http://maneadige.blogspot.com/2009/01/badanekai-yennegai.html