10-12 Baby Eggplants/Brinjal/Aubergine
2 tbsp Oil
Masala for the Stuffing:
½ heaped cup Roasted Peanuts
2 heaped tbsp Desiccated Coconut
¾ tbsp Dhania/Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Saunf/Fennel Seeds (Optional)
4-5 Dry Red Chillies (Kashmiri Chilli, Byadagi Chilli or
any other mild variety. Adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Sugar (Optional, but recommended)
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Slit the baby aubergine in the centre to ¾ th keeping the
stems intact. Make another slit making + mark. Place
these baby eggplants in a bowl filled with cold water
and a tsp of salt.
2. Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds
and dry red chillies for 2 minutes on medium flame until
the whole kitchen smells like a piece of heaven!
Transfer the roasted spices to a bowl.
3. In a same pan, dry roast desiccated coconut till it turns
light golden in colour, about 1 minute. Transfer it to the
bowl with roasted spices.
4. Let the roasted spices and desiccated coconut cool
completely before grinding them all with a roasted
peanuts to fine powder. Add sugar, salt to taste and dry
mango powder to ground powder and mix them well.
5. Now start stuffing the baby eggplants with about ½ to
¾ tbsp of spice powder depending on the size of baby
eggplant. Take care not to break the eggplant from its
stem. Once you have stuffed all of the baby eggplants,
you will still be left with the ground spice powder. Keep
it aside until needed.
6. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan on high flame till it
reaches smoking point and then lower the flame to
medium.
7. Arrange the stuffed baby eggplants in one single layer
and cover the pan with lid. Let it cook undisturbed for
3-4 minutes.
8. Remove the lid and gently flip the baby eggplants on
other side. Cover the lid again and let it cook for another
3 minutes. This will help in bringing the smoky flavour
to the baby eggplants by charring their skin to dark
brown colour.
9. Now mix in the remaining ground powder and add about
1 to 1½ cups of water. Mix them well and cover the lid.
Let it cook for 7-10 minutes or until the baby eggplants
are cooked well, stirring in between to make sure that
the gravy doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Add
little more water if you find the gravy to be too thick.
10. That’s it!!! The delicious bowl of Quick Stuffed Baby
Eggplants/Brinjal is ready to be served with any Indian
flat breads (Whole Wheat Naan or Butter Naan or Akki
Rotti with any stuffed parathas) or plain/flavoured
Basmati rice.
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