Masala Vankaya Kura

Readers following the blog regularly know I do blogging marathons, where a group of us blog 3 consecutive days in a week. Twice a year we do month long marathons. The person behind these marathons and the organizer is Srivalli. For me, blogging marathon is a way to keep the blog active and a motivation to update it on a regular basis.

We the blogging group call Valli a superwoman as she maintains two blogs, has been organizes blogging marathons for the past 5 years, has a full time job and also manages her home beautifully. Today is her birthday and Vaishali suggested we do something special for Valli’s special day. One of the ideas floated around was cooking a recipe from her blog and post it on our blogs and we all agreed to it.

I made a simple vankaya kura from Valli’s blog, which her sister-in-law made specially for Valli during this past Christmas break. Valli is fond of flatbreads. When I made the kura yesterday, I served it with flatbread. However, I think it would have paired better with rice. This is a very quick and easy recipe. This is a good one to include in a party menu as it is a breeze to cook. I did not do much prep work before hand, yet the curry was ready to serve in less than 30 minutes.

Source: Srivalli
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3 – 4

Masala Paste –
Ingredients:

• ¼ cup chopped Coconut (I used frozen coconut)
• ⅛ cup chopped Coriander ~ Cilantro Leaves
• 1 Clove (While I type this post I realized I should have used the spice clove and not garlic clove which I used.. 🙁 )
• ½” Cinnamon Stick
• 2 small Green Chilies

Preparation:

• Grind everything to a fine paste with some water, if necessary. You will need only half of this paste. According to Valli, the rest can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for a month.

Masala Vankaya Kura –
Ingredients:

• 10 Thai Eggplants (Green long brinjals would work best, since I could not find those, I used thai eggplants instead)
• 2 tbsp. Oil
• 1 cup chopped Onion, approximately ½ large Onion
• 1 cup chopped Tomatoes, approximately 1 ½ medium – large Vine-Ripe Tomato
• 2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ – 2 tsp. Coriander Powder
• 4 tsp. Masala Paste (recipe above)
• 4 – 6 tsp. Roasted Peanut Powder
• Coriander ~ Cilantro Leaves for garnish

Preparation:

• Cut eggplants to four pieces.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and saute onions till soft.
• Add ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell is gone.
• Add tomatoes and give a good stir.
• Add masala paste, coriander powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric and cook until tomatoes are soft and mushy. Sprinkle some water if the masala burns.
• Add eggplants and saute well.
• Add peanut powder and give a good stir.
• Add water to cover the eggplants.
• Cover and pressure cook for 1 – 2 whistles. I kept it for two whistles and turned off the heat. I gradually released the pressure 5 minutes after turning off the heat. I was afraid eggplants would become mushy. I would recommend 1 whistle and let the pressure release naturally.
• Give a good stir, garnish with cilantro, serve with flavored rice, white rice or with roti.