Monday, March 20, 2006

Deconstructed Gutti Vankaaya kura



This is a Rachel Ray-like take on my favorite, Andhra classic Gutti Vankayaa kura, a delicious stuffed eggplant curry. It not only takes a lot of time but it relies on the availability of tiny, round brinjals at the local market. Good, small, round fresh eggplants that look like these are hard to come by. So this recipe recreates all the flavors and is also very quick-cooking dish.

Adding channa to eggplant dishes is my mom's tradition. I like the protein component. You can always leave it out.

Ingredients:

Tender, medium sized Indian eggplants or the Japanese ones- you should get about 4 cups, when they are quartered

1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp grated jaggery
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
salt
1 cup cooked channa

Dry roast and powder the following:

1 T sesame seeds
2 T roasted peanuts
1 T coriander seeds

Heat 1 T oil and saute the onions and ginger garlic paste until onions turn golden. Add tomatoes and turmeric and fry till pulpy and mashed. Add eggplant slices and salt. Sprinkle some water and cover and cook on medium-low heat till eggplant is 3/4 th cooked. Add tamarind paste, sesame powder, red chili powder and saute for another minute. Now add 1.5 cups of water, channa and the tamarind paste and let it come to a boil. The sauce will thicken quite a bit. If you want a watery gravy, you can add about 2 cups water. Garnish with cilantro.


Serve with rice or chapathis.

18 comments:

  1. I love the addition of chana dal (for the protein, and because I have some in the pantry waiting to be used). Thanks Mika!

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  2. That is a very interesting variation on an old favorite. Quite painless too! I'm going to try it one of these days!

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  3. Hm... i'll probably try this on my sister-in-law :) I like the idea of not using perfect baby brinjals (or round ones, whatever) because I havent seen 'em here ever!

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  4. Looks gr8 Mika..Nice combo..Gonna give it a try..!!

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  5. Bouquet of flowers aha..:)

    Mom's addition of chickpeas turned it into really special dish. Love the combination, Mika.

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  6. Mika: one more yum curry. Goes to my "must-do". I never found those immature green eggplants around, always seedy, would try with purple Indian ones. SO many egg plant recipes are blogging:) around today

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  7. Looks delicious buddy! The combo looks inviting! :)

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  8. Wow, that looks delicious, and so hearty!

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  9. Anonymous7:16 AM

    yes, those fresh little purple eggplants are hard to find!! Lovely recipe. I have heard so much about this curry...I have to give it a try :) :)

    cheers!

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  10. Mika:

    Cool..my mom often make deconstructed gutti vankaya when she was pressed on time but never added the chana dal.

    Will try it some time!

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  11. nice term to use" the deconstructed way".i liked it

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  12. Mika, your version of mango rice (from Indira's post and your comment) sounds interesting too... you said you grind the mango with coconut. Could you possibly email me a recipe, please, whenever you have the time? My email is shyam69@gmail.com
    Thanks! :)

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  13. HiMika,
    I never tried brinjal with bengalgramdal.
    I will try this recipe.
    Vineela

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  14. Hello,
    I need to try this out some day.
    I have tagged you for a Meme on food bloggers. Pl see here
    http://menutoday.blogspot.com/2006/04/foodbloggers-meme-around-world-i-have.html

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  15. Hi Mika - Have just stumbled across you very nice blog and all your mouthwatering recipes! I will definitely be one of your regular visitors. I am a blogger too but it's all in Farsi. Very pleased to meet you.

    http://mithras.org

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  16. Forgot to mention I live in Sydney, Australia.

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  17. In case you're interested, I think you can buy the very small round green eggplants at Thai and Vietnamese supermarkets in Oakland and San Jose.

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  18. I tried this today after browsing through mahanandi .. she is my all time fave and this recipe of yours is amazing , out of world ..
    I had only black sesame seeds yet i went for it and the look of the dish wasn't impressive but when i tasted a tsp I was taken back .. I said shut the front door �� Then took a cup and started eating it with nothing on side this is gonna be my all time fave hereafter and I suppose am gonna be visiting ur blog often too �� Keep rocking !!

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