Brinjal (Eggplant) Thogayal

Ingredients:

1. Finely chopped brinjal pieces - 1 heaped cup
2. Red chillies - 5
3. Coriander seeds (Dhaniya) - 2 tsps
4. Urad dal - 1 tsp
5. Tamarind - 1 tbsp
6. Salt - to taste
7. Diced big onion - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

• Heat little oil and fry red chillies, coriander and urad till it turns golden color and then powder it in mixie
• Fry the vegetable pieces in 3 to 4 tbsps of oil till complete moisture is absorbed.
• Remove excess oil after frying
• Add the fried pieces to the powdered ingredients along with the tamarind, salt, and diced onion.
• Pound together to coarse paste.
• Season mustard seeds in hot oil and mix with the paste.

The eggplant can be substituted with ladies finger, snake gourd, ridge gourd, tomato ripe or raw, raw wood apple.

If using ladies finger, add 1 tsp of curd (yoghurt) to prevent it sticking to each other.

Here - more oil is used for frying which helps the veggies to fry evenly and it gets fried fast. Drain off excess oil before pounding.