Ninchudu Vankaya (stuffed brinjal fry)

Since childhood, I loved the stuffed brinjal fry which my mom would often make. Now my girl too, loves it. I wonder…can the preference for dishes be inherited ?😉 Are these some ‘genes’ linked to this trait, too ?😀

Brinjals rule and more in Andhra. I find this purple beauty with a glossy skin to be the most good looking vegetable.

This dish is a dry dish used as a side food for any main course. It holds an iconic place amongst the entire recipes from the Andhra region. Tender and small brinjals are usually used for this. Few spices are roasted, made into powder and is stuffed inside the brinjal. A very unique dish I must say.

Everyone has their own touch of making this dish but I adopted from my mom’s recipe. This is a non-gravy curry and is well suited as an accompaniment for steamed rice or roti or rasam rice.

This recipe makes use of a powder that is always found in my kitchen since I also use it for other purposes. Really it imparts a wonderful aroma.

Let’s move to the recipe….

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Serves 4 Nos

INGREDIENTS :

• 15 tender and small brinjals
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Few curry leaves
• A pinch of asafoetida

For grinding masala powder :

• 1/4 cup grated dry coconut
• 12 roasted dry red chillies
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 6 pepper corns
• 7 garlic pods
• 1 inch tamarind
• 1 tsp jaggery
• Few curry leaves
• 1/4 cup fried gram
• Salt

Preparation :

1. Blend the grinding ingredients into a fine powder. Keep it aside.

2. Wash and slit brinjals by keeping them intact towards the stem

3. Then deep roast the brinjals until soft, by now they will open a bit, remove from fire and let them cool off.

4. Now stuff the brinjals with grinded powder well. Keep the remaining powder aside.

5. Now heat oil, temper the mustard seeds, add asafoetida and curry leaves. Then add stuffed brinjals and the remaining grinded powder.

6. Give a gentle toss for a minute. Make sure to toss at low flame. Then take off from fire.

7. Serve with hot steamed rice or goes well as an accompaniment to rasam rice.

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Other variants on my blog….

Gutti Vankaya Koora

Stuffed Bitter Gourd

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NOTES :

Choose healthy (no dents or no black spots) fresh looking purple brinjals. Smaller ones cook fast while bigger ones take time, so make sure you select all brinjals to be even sized for proper cooking.

Prepare enough masala to stuff and also keep some to top the curry later.

Be really generous with the stuffing and stuff it all the way to the tip. This is the trick to a delicious stuffed brinjal in every bite.

It is very easy-to-prepare, provided you have the powder ready.

The masala powder can also be used in stir fries of raw banana, okra, potatoes, yam etc.

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ENJOYYY….

HAPPY COOKING….JYO