Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Prep
- The yogurt needs to be at room temperature. Keep ¾ cup out of the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. Add rice flour and whisk it well with a spoon until it is slightly liquid and set it aside. This step is key to prevent curdling of yogurt.
- When ready to cook, clean the eggplants by running under cold running water and wiping dry with a paper towel. In Kashmiri recipes, you don’t slice off the top of the eggplant. You keep the stem intact. Cut the eggplant body in half lengthwise/vertically. If the eggplant is small then two halves are good. If the eggplant is slightly large like over 5 inches then chop them in to 4 parts each.
Cook
- Select sauté on the Instant Pot and adjust to normal. Second, add oil to the pot.
- When the oil is hot add in the chopped eggplants and let them sauté for 8 minutes until they brown.
- Move the eggplants to the side in the pot and add in asafoetida, whole dried chili peppers, black cardamom pods, cloves, cumin seeds and cinnamon stick. Stir and let it all sauté for a minute.
- Add in Kashmiri chili powder and 1/2 cup water. Stir well. Then in about 30 seconds to a minute add in ground fennel, ground ginger, ground cumin and stir gently without breaking the eggplants.
- Finally add in salt. Again, give it a good stir.
- Finally, close the lid and select manual/high pressure for 2 minutes. When cooking is complete, use quick pressure release to depressurize. Open the lid.
- Then, add in ¼ cup water and right away keep adding in a tablespoon of whisked yogurt and rice flour gently and continually. Keep mixing the yogurt in the pot as you add it. This step will prevent curdling. Repeat until you run out to yogurt. Mix the added yogurt well in the gravy. Select sauté and sauté until the curry boils. Keep mixing. Press cancel.
- Transfer the cooked dish in a serving bowl, garnish with serrano peppers and serve over steamed rice.
Notes
- The yogurt needs to be at room temperature. Keep ¾ cup out of the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. Whisk it well with a spoon until it is slightly liquid and set it aside. This step is key to prevent curdling of yogurt.
- In the traditional recipe the eggplants need to be deep fried first before cooking. However, I have sautéed them in the pot. Also, my method of sautéing the eggplants is a spin off the authentic Kashmiri method, but it allows me to pull off a beautiful, juicy, flavorful stir-fried eggplant dish that doesn’t require at least 1/2 cup of oil. However, you are welcome to deep fry; but, I do feel that sautéing works just as well. Moreover, it is really a personal preference. I am too lazy to deep fry.
- The whole spices (cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, and whole dried red chili pepper can be discarded, they don't need to be consumed).