Brinjal Chutney ~ Vankaya Pachadi

Are you wondering why my blog was silent for almost two months and I have not even posted any recipes for the event I am hosting this month? Well, I went to India for 6-7 weeks and got back few days ago. Hence I could not update the blog. I had a wonderful time back home at my niece’s wedding. I was glad I escaped the winter this year and was looking forward to spring like weather when I got back. To my disappointment, Mother Nature greeted me with freezing temperatures and some snow. The cold weather made my lazy bones lazier and was not motivated to blog. Now that the temperatures are rising, I hope to get more active here.

Total Time: 20 – 30 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 – 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3 – 5

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. Oil
• 8- 10 Green Chilies
• 3-5 Curry Leaves
• ½ tsp. Mustard Seeds
• ½ tsp. Cumin Seeds
• ¼ tsp. Fenugreek Seeds
• 1 tsp. Coriander Seeds
• 2-4 Garlic Cloves
• ¾ – 1 tsp. Salt
• Turmeric Powder
• 370 grams or 3 large long purple Brinjals
• 1 tbsp. Tamarind Paste (homemade)
• Cilantro chopped
• 2 tbsp. Sesame Seeds Powder (seeds dry roasted and then ground to powder)

Preparation:

• Wash and cut brinjal into semi circles. Put them in a bowl of salted water until ready to use.
• Grind mustard seeds, cumin, fenugreek seeds & coriander seeds to fine powder. I used by hand blender to grind the chutney and spices do not grind well with the hand blender. Hence I powdered the seeds. If using a regular blender, this step can be skipped.
• Take oil in a frying pan or a skillet and heat the oil.
• Once the oil is hot, add green chilies & curry leaves. Sauté until chilies are change color. If using whole spices, first add the seeds and when they splutter, then add the green chilies & curry leaves.
• Add spice powder (if using, otherwise add whole spices before adding green chilies in the above step) garlic cloves and sauté for few minutes.
• Add turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
• Remove the brinjal pieces from water and add to pan. Sauté brinjal pieces for couple minutes until brinjal changes color.
• Cover the pan and cook on medium high heat for 2-4 minutes or until the brinjal pieces are soft. Remove the cover and continue to sauté the brinjal for another 5 minutes until soft, mushy & finely roasted.
• Add tamarind paste and mix well.
• Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool completely.
• Transfer the brinjal mixture to a bowl, add sesame powder, chopped cilantro, and little water and blend it to a fine paste using a hand blender or transfer to blender jar and grind the mixture to a paste.
• Adjust salt and tamarind according to taste and serve with hot rice.

Variation:

• I used green chilies but can use ½ dry red chilies and ½ green chilies. Red chilies will give a reddish color to the chutney and the taste varies as well.
• I ground the chutney to a fine paste but it can also be ground to coarse paste too.
• Chopped onions can be added to ground chutney before serving.