Temper jeera in a wide pan with oil. Immediately add the onions and fry till it is transparent.

Add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes. Add the tomatoes and tomato puree, with a little salt and mix well till it becomes soft and mushy.

Fry till the raw smell completely leaves. Now add turmeric, red chilli, coriander powders and mix well.

After the masalas are well blended with tomatoes, add cashew nut paste and fry for a min till oil separates. Add the capsicum and fry in medium flame for a minute.

Now add the sauteed bhindi, adjust spice levels and salt at this stage. Sprinkle water for bhindis to get cooked well.

Keep covered for 2 mins and switch off! Serve hot with rotis/pulao! Ajust water according to the consistency of the gravy you need. Recipe courtesy: www.

sharmispassions.com RELATED RECIPES Kadai paneer Aloo bhindi masala Kadai chicken Kadai Paneer Khatti bharwan bhindi Ingredients: 12 - bhindi/ladies finger 1 - onion, medium sized, finely chopped Tomato puree - from 1 tomato 1 - tomato, big sized, finely chopped 1 - capsicum, big sized, cubed 2 tsp - ginger garlic paste 2 pinches - turmeric powder 2 tsp - coriander powder 1 tsp - red chilli powder ( according to taste) 1 - green chillies, finely chopped 5 - cashew nuts, ground to a fine paste with a little water Salt, as needed To temper: 2 tsp - jeera 1 tsp - oil (less)

Temper jeera in a wide pan with oil. Immediately add the onions and fry till it is transparent.

Add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes. Add the tomatoes and tomato puree, with a little salt and mix well till it becomes soft and mushy.

Fry till the raw smell completely leaves. Now add turmeric, red chilli, coriander powders and mix well.

After the masalas are well blended with tomatoes, add cashew nut paste and fry for a min till oil separates. Add the capsicum and fry in medium flame for a minute.

Now add the sauteed bhindi, adjust spice levels and salt at this stage. Sprinkle water for bhindis to get cooked well.

Keep covered for 2 mins and switch off! Serve hot with rotis/pulao! Ajust water according to the consistency of the gravy you need. Recipe courtesy: www.

sharmispassions.com RELATED RECIPES Kadai paneer Aloo bhindi masala Kadai chicken Kadai Paneer Khatti bharwan bhindi Ingredients: 12 - bhindi/ladies finger 1 - onion, medium sized, finely chopped Tomato puree - from 1 tomato 1 - tomato, big sized, finely chopped 1 - capsicum, big sized, cubed 2 tsp - ginger garlic paste 2 pinches - turmeric powder 2 tsp - coriander powder 1 tsp - red chilli powder ( according to taste) 1 - green chillies, finely chopped 5 - cashew nuts, ground to a fine paste with a little water Salt, as needed To temper: 2 tsp - jeera 1 tsp - oil (less)

. Now add sliced onions and fry until brown.

Add coconut and stir fry until browned, remove and allow to cool. Grind the mixture to a paste using blender.

Add little water if needed. Slit each eggplant lengthwise into four, keeping the stem end intact.

Now in the grinded mixture mix cayenne powder, salt, sugar, tamarind paste, cashews and turmeric powder. Stuff the eggplants with this mixture, reserving some.

Roll the potatoes in the remaining mixture. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and add the vegetables.

Cook over low heat without burning, add little water if necessary, until done. Keep an eye.

Serve hot with roti (less)

In this stuffed brinjal recipe, slices of dry coconut is fried along with red chiles and few cloves of garlic. They are then ground into powder and stuffed in to deep fried eggplants.

Makes: 5 Stuffed Eggplants Ingredients: Small Purple Eggplants 5 Dry Coconut (Sliced) 1/2 Cup Dried Red Chiles 4 – 6 Powder 1/4 tsp Garlic 5 Pods Green Onion 1 Salt to taste Oil for Deep Frying + 1 tsp Method of preparation: Wash and slice the green onion. Peel and slice the garlic pods.

Wash and slit the eggplants vertically making a plus cut keeping its stem intact. Soak the eggplants in salted water until ready to be deep fried.

Deep fry the eggplants in medium hot oil for 20 – 30 seconds or until eggplants turn little soft. Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan on medium heat, add sliced dry coconut, broken dried red chiles and garlic pods.

Fry until the coconut starts to change color. Cool and grind all the ingredients along with turmeric and salt into powder using a spice blender.

Don’t add water, start grinding with red chiles and then add in dry coconut and finally garlic pods. Stuff a spoon full of ground dry coconut red chile powder into deep fried eggplants.

Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan, add chopped green onion and place the stuffed eggplants into hot pan. Cook covered for around two minutes or until eggplants are completely cooked.

Uncover and fry for a minute. Serve brinjal with dry coconut stuffing over steamed rice.

Notes: Make sure not to over fry the eggplants. But make sure they are completely cooked before removing from the heat.

Suggestions: Eggplants are little raw – Put back the stuffed eggplants back into the pan. Sprinkle water and cook them on low heat till completely soft from inside.

Variations: , , , etc… Other Names: Bharwan Baingan, Kopra Stuffed Baingan, Stuffed Baby Eggplants (less)

Grated coconut is ground into smooth thick paste with tamarind, onion, green chiles and other spices. Eggplants are stuffed with this spicy and sour coconut paste.

Oil is tempered with few spices and stuffed eggplants are cooked covered in little oil till soft. Makes: around 3 Servings of Coconut Stuffed .

Ingredients: Baby Eggplants 8 – 10 Grated Coconut 1 Cup 2 inch Sized Ball Onions 1 Small Green Chiles 5 – 7 Garlic Paste 1 tsp Garam Masala 1 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/4 tsp a pinch 10 Salt to taste Oil 1 tbsp Method of preparation: Wash thoroughly and pat dry eggplants. Remove stems if you prefer and slit twice vertically keeping one end intact.

Peel and roughly chop the onion. Remove stems, wash and roughly chop the green chiles.

Soak tamarind in few tablespoons of hot water and extract all the thick pulp. Grind coconut, onion, tamarind extract, green chiles, ginger garlic paste, garam masala and salt into smooth paste with sufficient water.

Make sure the mixture holds together to enable stuffing. Stuff each eggplant with a tbsp or more of the prepared stuffing and keep aside.

Heat half a tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. When mustard seeds start spluttering, arrange the stuffed eggplants along with any leftover stuffing mixture.

Cook covered for around 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Uncover and fry for a minute and garnish with curry leaves or cilantro.

Serve stuffed Indian eggplants with plain steamed rice and dollop of ghee. Notes: Make sure to choose small baby Indian eggplants for them to cook well.

Suggestions: If the insides of eggplant tastes raw, put back in the pan, sprinkle a tbsp of water and cook covered on medium flame till done. Variations: Stuffing varies according to one’s preference.

Red chilli powder, coriander powder can also be added along with other stuffing ingredients. Other Names: Bharwan Baingan, Kobbari Koru Gutti Vankaya Kura, Coconut Stuffed , Stuffed Baby (less)

Gutti vanakaya kura is quite famous in Andra. There are tens of recipes for stuffing eggplants but this is the basic and most common of them all.

Some dals are roasted and ground together with other spices and stuffed into the eggplants. The eggplants can be partially cooked by deep frying first to reduce cooking time.

Or can be stuffed raw and cooked on low flame till done. Makes: 5 Gutti Vanakaya Ingredients: Indian Eggplants 5 a pinch Powder a pinch Oil as required Salt to taste Stuffing: 1 tbsp 1 tbsp 1/2 tbsp a small pinch Whole Red Chillies 3 – 5 Method of preparation: Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, roast all stuffing ingredients separately until aromatic or until golden brown.

Cool and grind all the roasted ingredients into fine powder along with turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt. Add a tbsp of oil to the ground masala powder and mix thoroughly.

Wash thoroughly and pat dry eggplants. Remove stems if you prefer and slit twice vertically keeping one end intact.

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan, add the eggplants and cook covered turning occasionally till they soften a little. Alternatively, deep fry the eggplants in medium hot oil for around half a minute.

Remove the softened eggplants from the pan, stuff each of them with the prepared masala stuffing. Heat half a tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan, arrange the stuffed eggplants.

Fry the eggplants till they cook from inside and stuffing gets crisped. Serve stuffed Indian eggplants with plain steamed rice and dollop of ghee.

Notes: Make sure eggplants are soft and cooked from inside before removing from the pan. Suggestions: If the insides of eggplant tastes raw, put back in the pan, sprinkle a tbsp of water and cook covered on medium flame till done.

Variations: Stuffing varies according to taste. You can also grind tamarind and garlic pods along with other stuffing ingredients.

Other Names: Bharwan Baingan, Gutti Vankaya Kura, Spices Stuffed , Stuffed Baby (less)

In this version of stuffed eggplants, onion and tomatoes are cooked in spices and ground into smooth mixture. Baby Eggplants are stuffed with the cooked onion tomato mixture and fried for couple of minutes in tempered oil.

It is then slowly cooked or pressure cooked till eggplants are soft. Makes: around 5 servings of Stuffed Baby Eggplants in Gravy.

Ingredients: Baby Indian Eggplants 6 – 7 Onion 1 Large Tomato 2 Medium Green Chiles 2 Garlic Paste 1 tsp 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder 1 – 2 tsps Powder a big pinch 2 inch Sized Ball few Sprigs Salt to taste Oil 2 tsps Talimpu: 1/4 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/4 tsp 6 Oil 1 tsp Method of preparation: Thoroughly wash the baby eggplants and make a slit vertically twice in each eggplant keeping its stem intact. Check to make sure eggplants are good and keep them soaking in water until required.

Peel and dice the onion. Wash and roughly chop the tomato.

Remove stems, wash and slice the green chiles. Wash and finely chop cilantro.

Soak tamarind in quarter cup of hot water and extract all the thick pulp. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add chopped onions.

Fry till onion turns translucent, add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes turn soft. Cool the cooked onions and tomatoes to room temperature and grind them into smooth paste using a blender.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add ginger garlic paste and fry for few seconds. Then stir in ground onion and tomato paste and cook for around 5 minutes for the paste to come together a bit.

Stir in cumin powder, garam masala powder, red chilli powder and salt. Cool the above mixture to room temperature and stuff a tsp or more of it in the eggplants.

Reserve the remaining onion tomato mixture for later use. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan or pressure cooker, add all talimpu ingredients in order.

When mustard seeds start spluttering, add green chiles, stuffed eggplants and turmeric. Stir and fry the eggplants for 2 – 4 minutes and then add the remaining onion tomato mixture.

Pour half a cup of water, tamarind extract and salt. Pressure cook for a whistle (if using pressure cooker) and remove from heat.

Alternatively, cook covered on low flame for around 15 minutes or until eggplants are completely soft. Adjust any seasonings if required and garnish the gravy curry with chopped cilantro.

Serve stuffed baby eggplants in gravy with plain or flavored rice or with roti. Notes: Make sure eggplants are cooked from inside before removing the curry from heat.

Suggestions: If eggplants are not cooked inside, put them back on heat, add quarter cup of water or more and cook covered on medium low flame till done. Variations: Grind the raw onion and tomato first and then cook it, which takes much longer time to cook.

Other Names: Stuffed Baby Eggplants in Tomato Onion Gravy, Ullipaya Masala Gutthi Vankaya, Bharwan Baingan Masala, Stuffed Brinjals Andhra Styel (less)

Tomatoes and onion are cooked in tempered oil till mushy. Roasted eggplant is then cooked in it along with spices.

Baingan bharta can be served with steamed rice or with any flatbread. Makes: around 4 Servings of Baingan Bharta.

Ingredients: 1 Large Onion 1 Large Tomato 3 Medium Green Peas (Fresh or Frozen) 2 Tbsps 1 inch Piece Garlic 2 Cloves Green Chiles 3 – 5 Red Chili Powder 1/2 tsp 1 tbsp 1 tsp Powder 1/4 tsp 1/2 tsp Few Springs Salt to taste Oil 1 Tbsp Method of preparation: Wash and pat dry eggplant. Place the eggplant directly on the flame turning occasionally until the skin is completely charred on all sides.

Cool the cooked eggplant and remove the charred skin with the help of wet hands. Remove stem and lightly mash the roasted eggplant.

Remove stems, wash and slice the green chiles. Peel and finely chop the onion.

Peel, wash and grate the ginger. Peel and grate the garlic.

Wash and finely chop the cilantro. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and fry till it splutters.

Add chopped onion and fry till it turns light brown. Stir in sliced green chiles, grated ginger, garlic and salt.

Fry for few more minutes, stir in chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes becomes mushy. Once the tomatoes comes together, stir in cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder.

Fry for a minute, stir in mashed up eggplant, peas and cook covered on low flame for few more minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve baingan bharta with steamed rice.

Notes: Alternatively, eggplant can be microwaved for around ten minutes or cook in oven at 400 F for around 40 minutes. Suggestions: Make sure to cook the tomato mixture down before adding the eggplant.

Variations: You can also add few pinches of garam masala during the last stage of cooking process. Other Names: Baingan Bharta, Baingan Bhurta, Baingan Bhartha (less)

It takes about 15 minutes on medium flame. Turn it regularly so that it cooks evenly.

Set aside to cool. Heat oil in a pan.

Add jeera, ginger, garlic, green chilli, onions and fry till onions turn golden brown. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and tomatoes.

Cook till tomatoes turn soft. Peel the skin of roasted brinjals and add the flesh to the veggies.

Mash well with a ladle. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis/pooris More about brinjals | Check out our brinjal special RELATED RECIPES Shrimp Baingan Bharta Baingan Bharta Baingan Bharta Bagara Baingan Baingan Bharta Ingredients: 2 - brinjals, medium 1 - small onion, chopped 2 - small tomatoes, chopped 1 - green chilli 1 tsp - ginger, chopped 2 pods - garlic, chopped 1 tsp - jeera 1 tbsp - oil 1/2 tsp - turmeric powder Chilli powder,as required Coriander leaves, to garnish (less)