Every night while doing my homework I used to ask my mom "Mom , anything interesting tonight?" If she says she got some fish to cut or a big brinjal to broil, then I will grab a stool and start watching her. I love the way my mom pricked the giant size Eggplant and her broiling technique.
Ok , Coming back to our chutney,
We may need a big purple or white eggplant to do this. Otherwise 3-4 small size brinjals are enough. I served this as side dish with steamed rice, (ketti paruppu) fried dhal and paruppu rasam.
Ingredients:
Big size eggplant - 1 (1/4 kg)
red chillies - 3
Tamarind - a strawberry size
salt - to taste.
olive oil (or any oil)- few drops
Equipments needed:
Hand mortar - (optional..we can use a blender also)
metal skewer
gas stove (electrical stoves don't do that good).
Method:
wash the eggplant. Remove its crown , dab with a clean kitchen cloth and remove the moisture. Poke a few holes into it. Then coat it fully with a few drops of olive oil or sesame oil. Insert the skewer in to the eggplant through the crown area. Switch ON the stove and broil it by holding the skewer.
I used a vadai kambi (a sharp metal rod used to flip vadai).
Broil the eggplant , till its skin becomes dark .
Now you can see the eggplant cooked tenderly. (If in doubt, press it gently with a spoon and the eggplant with fall apart).If not cooked properly, then broil it again.
But I am sure within 5 minutes , it will be cooked softly.
Then Cool it and remove the skin. Put it in a blender or hand mortar. Using a hand mortar will definitely enhance the flavor, but I used a blender.
Add red chillies, salt and tamarind to it.
Grind it to a coarse paste. No need to temper(thalippu) it. But if you like , you can crackle a few mustard seed with curry leaves and run it over the chutney.
But I like the traditional chutney which does not call for any tempering.
Eggplant chutney is ready.
Serving suggestions:
It can be best served with dosai, idly , roti or steamed rice.
