Brinjal in Spiced Yoghurt

Fried Brinjal Rings in Spiced Curds

As children, none of us liked brinjal or aubergine as it is called in the Western world.  No matter that my Mum did her best to entice us with various recipes.  None suited us and in fact it was our pet hate.  The sight of it was enough to send us into the doldrums.  My children are the same.  It is only now as an adult that I appreciate the humble brinjal.  This is a recipe from my Mum and goes well with rice as a side dish or even with any kind of spiced rice.

The Recipe:

1 large brinjal, sliced into 5 rounds ( I used the round purple variety; 250 ml curds; salt; 1 tsp chilli powder; 1/4 tsp turmeric powder; 1 tbsp vinegar; salt to taste; oil for shallow frying.

1 clove garlic, smashed; coriander leaves for garnish- optional.

Soak the brinjal in salted water for 15 minutes. ( Add enough of water to cover the brinjal with 1 tsp salt).    Drain and marinade with the chilli powder, turmeric, salt to taste and vinegar for 15 minutes.  Heat oil in a nonstick pan to medium heat and gently fry the brinjal slices till brown on both sides.  Drain on kitchen paper.

After all the slices are fried, add the garlic to the residue in the pan and gently stir fry for a minute.  Scrape this mixture into the curds (yoghurt), add salt to taste and beat with a fork until smooth.  Arrange the brinjal in a shallow dish and pour the beaten, spiced curds over.  Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with the rest of the meal.  This is a very simple dish that goes extremely well with biriyani, pulav, spiced rices and white rice.

 If You Liked This Recipe Do Attend My Cooking Class