Ennai kathirikkay (Stuffed eggplant)
People tend to avoid making this South Indian dish as it is labour intensive and uses a lot of oil (needs to be pan fried in small lots). But here is an easy and relatively oil free method of ennai kathirikkay. Well, not completely without oil but reduced drastically.
If you have the stuffing which is nothing but karimedu (curry) powder handy then it is even quicker. Here is my guilt free ennai kathirikkay.
Ingredients
For the stuffing
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds – 3 tbsp
Dried red chillies – 2
Asafoetida – a pinch
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Dry roast all the ingredients except coconut and salt till golden brown. Add the coconut and continue frying till coconut is nicely browned. Remove from fire, cool and grind a little coarsely adding the salt. This powder can be stored in the fridge for a few months and will then be readily available for adding to other curries also.
For the curry
Small round eggplants – 20 (wash and dry)
Oil – 3 tsp
Salt – to taste
Slit (not completely) the eggplant lengthwise from the broad end into 4 sections so that whole eggplant is still intact. Taking a spoonful of the curry powder stuff in the slits made in the eggplant so that powder fills all the sections. Press the stuffed eggplant in your palm to ensure that stuffing doesn’t spill out. Once all the eggplants are stuffed add a tsp of oil on a baking tray and spread well.
Arrange the stuffed eggplants on the tray and with the remaining oil spread on the eggplants so that all of them are coated with oil. Sprinkle some salt on the eggplants and bake at 190C for 15-20 mins till eggplants are cooked.