Eggplant lovers will rave about this Andhra Stuffed Eggplant – Spicy Stuffed Eggplant Curry with a spicy and tangy glaze. The beautiful bold colors make this an impressive side dish with rice. Yes, it’s possible to have delicious and flavorful eggplant by skipping the frying process.
Ingredients needed for Andhra Stuffed Eggplant – Spicy Stuffed Eggplant Curry
Small eggplants, raw peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, 2 inch cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods, cloves, dry desiccated coconut, onion, garlic cloves, ginger, oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, tamarind, and water.
What to Look for When Shopping for Eggplant
First, we will us Indian eggplants for this recipe. They are small spherical eggplants. Here is a link that provides the details of Indian eggplants.
- The skin is vivid, smooth, and shiny.
- The stem is green.
- It feels slightly firm.
METHOD –
Prep
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First, rinse and slit the eggplants with 4 slits but keep them intact. Further, the slit should be about an inch to 1.5 inch long so that they can be easily stuffed.
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Second, place the slit eggplants in 2 cups water with a pinch of salt and set aside.
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Third, chop the onions and cilantro finely.
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Further, dry roast the peanuts and set aside.
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Furthermore, place tamarind pulp (15 grams, lemon sized ball) in a glass bowl and add 1 cup boiling water just to cover. Allow the tamarind to soak in the water for about 10 minutes. This process helps to soften the tamarind, which in turn helps make extraction of the pulp easier. After 10 minutes, using your fingers, mash the tamarind well into the water until it feels completely soft. This process helps to extract the juice and sourness from the tamarind. Strain the tamarind water into a fresh bowl and squeeze out as much extract from the pulp as possible. Set the water aside.
Cook
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On low heat in a pan add in the dry roasted peanuts. Further add in the sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods, and whole cloves. stir. Let them sauté for 2 minutes. Then add in the coconut and sauté for another minute until coconut is golden. Monitor it as it can burn quickly. Turn off heat. Let it cool and place it in in a dry spice mixer.
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Then add salt, ground turmeric, red chili powder, garlic cloves and ginger to the blender. Blend everything together. Further add in 1 cup onions and 1/4 cup water and blend it again.
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Then remove the eggplants from the water dry them with a napkin and stuff them with the blended filling. There will be some extra filling. Set it aside as we will use it in the gravy.
Gravy
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In a deep bottom pan add in oil. Further add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and curry leaves. Once the cumin seeds splutter add in the chopped onions (1 cup).
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Let them turn golden.
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Add the stuffed eggplants in the pan. Cover and cook the eggplants on low heat for 5 minutes. Then turn the eggplants and add in the remaining mixture with 3/4 cup water. Cover and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes on low heat.
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Finally add in the tamarind water, increase the heat to medium and cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat and garnish with cilantro. Serve with rice.
Moreover, try some of our other recipes
Carrot Peas Curry – Gajar Matar Sabzi
Turnip Curry Instant Pot – Kashmiri Turnip Tscchuta Gogji
Kashmiri Tomato Eggplant Curry – Tamatar Wangun
Kashmiri Haak Aloo – Instant Pot Kale and Potato Curry
Swiss Chard Curry – Instant Pot Kashmiri Haak
Andhra Stuffed Eggplant – Spicy Stuffed Eggplant Curry
Ingredients
- 11 medium Indian eggplants
Dry Roasting the Ingredients for Stuffing
- 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds (til)
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
- a 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 whole green cardamom pods (hari elaichi)
- 4 whole cloves (laung)
- 1 and 3/4 tbsp dry desiccated coconut
Stuffing 2
- 1 onion (1 cup chopped)
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves, large
- 2 inch fresh ginger (1 tbsp chopped)
- 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground turmeric (haldi)
- 1 tsp red chili powder (cayenne pepper)
- 1/4 cup water
For gravy
- 1 tbsp oil of choice
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 6 to 7 curry leaves
- `1 onion (1 cup finely chopped)
- 15 gms tamarind (soaked in 1 cup water)
- 3/4 cup water (for cooking)
- 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped finely)
Instructions
Prep
- Rinse and slit the eggplants with 4 slits but keep them intact. The slit should be about an inch to 1.5 inch long so that they can be easily stuffed.
- Place the slit eggplants in 2 cups water with a pinch of salt and set aside.
- Chop the onions and cilantro finely.
- Dry roast the peanuts and set aside.
- Place tamarind pulp (15 grams, lemon sized ball) in a glass bowl and add 1 cup boiling water just to cover. Allow the tamarind to soak in the water for about 10 minutes. This process helps to soften the tamarind, which in turn helps make extraction of the pulp easier. After 10 minutes, using your fingers, mash the tamarind well into the water until it feels completely soft. This process helps to extract the juice and sourness from the tamarind. Strain the tamarind water into a fresh bowl and squeeze out as much extract from the pulp as possible. Set the water aside.
Cook
- On low heat in a pan add in the dry roasted peanuts. Further add in the sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods, and whole cloves. stir. Let them sauté for 2 minutes. Then add in the coconut and sauté for another minute until coconut is golden. Monitor it as it can burn quickly. Turn off heat. Let it cool and place it in in a dry spice mixer.
- Then add salt, ground turmeric, red chili powder, garlic cloves and ginger to the blender. Blend everything together. Further add in 1 cup onions and 1/4 cup water and blend it again.
- Then remove the eggplants from the water dry them with a napkin and stuff them with the blended filling. There will be some extra filling. Set it aside as we will use it in the gravy.
Gravy
- In a deep bottom pan add in oil. Further add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and curry leaves. Once the cumin seeds splutter add in the chopped onions (1 cup).
- Let them turn golden.
- Add the stuffed eggplants in the pan. Cover and cook the eggplants on low heat for 5 minutes. Then turn the eggplants and add in the remaining mixture with 3/4 cup water. Cover and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes on low heat.
- Finally add in the tamarind water, increase the heat to medium and cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat and garnish with cilantro. Serve with rice.
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