Eggplant Masala/Gutti Vankaya kura

Eggplant masala / gutti vankaya kura:

Eggplant is popularly known as vankaya, king of vegetables in Andhra Pradesh India. Eggplant masala is one of my all time favourite curries. It tastes good with rice, chapathi / roti or biryani. There are a lot of varieties to make this dish but according to me the time at which the ingredients are added to the dish makes it different in taste. I hope you like and enjoy making this method.

Ingredients:

• Small sized Eggplants: 1/2lb
• Medium sized Onions: 1
• Medium sized tomatoes: 5
• Cashew nuts: 15
• Garlic: 4 cloves
• Small piece of ginger
• Garam Masala – 1 teaspoon
• Coconut powder – 1 teaspoon
• Chili powder – ½ teaspoon
• Water – 8 oz
• Salt for taste
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

• Slit the Eggplant/Vankaya into two for one side and do the same from the opposite side of the eggplant. Do not cut them into pieces.
• Put Onions, Tomatoes, fried cashew nuts, garlic, ginger, garam masala, coconut powder, chili powder together in a blender and blend them into a smooth paste adding some water as needed.
• In Frying pan heat 3 teaspoons of oil. Add the Slit Eggplants and fry them until they are completely cooked.
• Take out the eggplants from the frying pan and in the remaining oil add a teaspoon of oil. Add the Masala paste into the frying pan and water. Let it cook until you start to see oil floating. Stir the masala paste frequently while cooking.
• Add the fried eggplants, salt and chili powder to the masala paste and cook it for 2 more min. A delicious eggplant masala/gutti vankaya kura is ready to eat. Serve it with plain rice, pulav, biryani, roti or tortilla.

Warning:

• Add the salt, chili powder and garam masala according to your taste.

Alterations:

• Bigger Eggplant which is commonly available can be used if you don’t find the small sized ones. Cut the bigger Eggplant into squares of 1.5’ approximately.
• Peanuts can be used instead of cashew nuts.
• Tomato paste can be used instead of whole tomatoes.