[Indian Recipes] Baby Eggplant with Tamarind & Black Pepper

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables. I love them boiled, baked, roasted, fried and even mashed! They are also very versatile as they can be added to anything from pastas, Thai curries to pizzas as topping. I simply love them in Indian cuisine though…

This Eggplant recipe is one of my mom’s signature dishes. Every single person who has tasted it has loved it

It’s tangy with the tamarind. Jaggery balances out the sour with sweetness. Black pepper and roasted red chilies add the right amount of heat. With just a handful of ingredients, I have always been amazed with how unique it tastes.

It’s simple, easy to cook and takes just 10 minutes as tiny baby eggplants cook very fast. Serve it with hot rotis or rice and I assure you some smiling faces!

Notes:

If you don’t have baby eggplants you can use bigger eggplants cut into big chunks. In this case, you might have to reduce the cooking time.

Use fresh and best quality spices here. It’s a very simple dish so the flavor of every ingredient really shines through.

I have used homemade coriander powder which was made by slightly roasting coriander seeds and then grinding them into a coarse powder.

Baby Eggplant with Tamarind & Black Pepper 

Ingredients:

10 -12 small baby eggplants
3 table spoons of oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3-4 table spoons of tamarind pulp
2-3 table spoons of jaggery
10-12 black pepper corns
8-10 dry red chillies
1 teaspoon coriander powder
salt

Instruction

Trim the stalks of the eggplants, make cross marked slits on them and soak them in water for 30 mins. Discard the dark bitter water. This takes away the bitterness from the eggplants and prevents discoloration.

For the spice mixture – dry roast black pepper. Roast the dry red chilies with a drop of oil. Grind them dry without water into a course powder and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Add the eggplants when the mustard starts crackling. Sauté for a minute or 2 until they are coated with oil. Now add the tamarind pulp, jaggery and salt and let it took till soft. Add water if it looks too dry. When the eggplants are soft, turn off the heat, add the dry spice mixture and coriander powder and mix well.

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Lovefoodeat.com. Thanks so much!