Sutta badanekai bajji | Sutta badane gojju | South Indian Smoked eggplant Curry : Vegan eggplant side dish

.................a South Indian baingan bharta or Smoked eggplant curry!

This sutta badanekai gojju is my mom-in-law's recipe. She makes it often to go with rice. It uses very less ingredients and yet tastes delicious! It is quite healthy too. This could be used as a side dish to rice, roti, phulka or akki rotti.

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: An hour for smoking the eggplant
Serves:2-3

Ingredients:
One large eggplant: about 1 pound
Finely chopped red onion: 1/2 cup
Finely chopped green chilli: 4-5 nos
Brown sugar/jaggery/bella: 1 tbsp
Tamarind water: 1/4th cup (extract from a small lime sized taramind)
Salt: As needed

For tempering:
Coconut oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4-5 nos, torn
Hing/Asafoetida: a big pinch

Method:
Wash the eggplant & pat dry. Prick the eggplant using a knife at several places. Roast the eggplant on a stove top or in an oven. I normally roast it in the preheated oven at 375‭⁰F for about an hour.
Let it cool. Once cool, peel the skin & finely chop the flesh of the eggplant.

Add the chopped onion, green chilli, jaggery, tamarind water, salt to the chopped eggplant.

Get your hands dirty now. Mash the whole thing thoroughly until the spices mix well.

Let it sit aside for 30 mins for the flavors to develop.
Prepare the tempering. Heat the oil, once hot, drop in the mustard seeds & curry leaves. When the leaves wilt, add the asafoetida & turn off the heat.
Pour the tempering over the eggplant mixture. Mix well & serve.

Notes:

• You could roast the eggplant on the stove top. Stove top method of roasting the eggplant takes much less time than roasting in the oven.
• I do not add coriander leaves to this curry recipe as I do not want any other herbs to overpower this dish.