You would think I would have posted it immediately, hanging my head in shame for being such a slacker, right? Nope. I waited another 4 months before actually posting it here. I blame it on the relocation and all, but let’s face it, I am not my mother’s daughter when it comes to lack of laziness and inertia.
Anyway, less about me and more about the Vindaloo. It’s an Indian adaptation from a Portuguese dish originally made with wine. Most popular in Goa, Vindaloo is meant to be a dish with meat, usually pork or lamb. Lots of Indian restaurants outside India serve this dish with an addition of potatoes and marked spicy. Since the Vindaloo has evolved so much and become so Indianised anyway, why not a vegetarian version of Vindaloo, eh?
Other Brinjal Recipes on Edible Garden I love – Bagara Baingan, Iyer-syle Gotsu for Pongal, Brinjal Masala.
VEGETARIAN BRINJAL VINDALOO RECIPE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe source: Malayala Manorama Weekly Magazine
PIctures courtesy: Amma and Radhamama
INGREDIENTS:
500 grams of baby brinjal or eggplant
2 cups of thinly sliced onions
1 tbsp of tomato sauce
2 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1 tsp of cumin or jeera
1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds or uluva (menthayam/methi)
1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
1″ piece of ginger
1 tbsp of vinegar
1-2 tsp of sugar
1/4 cup of oil (we used coconut oil)
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Make a mix of turmeric powder and required amount of salt in a small bowl. Wash and pat dry the brinjal. Amma used these small green variety of brinjal but use any kind you get. You can even use large eggplant, cubed.
2. Make deep vertical slits in the brinjal without slicing them. Rub in the salt+turmeric mix and set aside.
3. Heat the oil and add the brinjal. Shallow roast them until they turn soft and semi cooked as seen below. Drain and set aside on paper towels so the extra oil is absorbed.
4. In the same oil, add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown. You can top up more oil if needed.
Drain and set aside.
5. Grind the garlic and ginger together into a coarse paste. Highly recommend using fresh ginger and garlic in this recipe rather than the bottled stuff.
6. Add this paste to the same pan used for the brinjal and onions and saute on low flame until browned and fragrant. Take care not to burn it.
7. Powder the spices – jeera, fenugreek, chilli powder, mustard – and add to the ginger garlic paste. Saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Then add the tomato sauce and saute a bit more, you should see the oil clearly separating from the masala.
8. Add a 2 cups of water to this and the cooked brinjal and the fried onions. Bring to boil and add the vinegar and sugar. Let it simmer for about 3-4 mins or until the gravy reaches the consistency you desire. Add salt and garnish with coriander leaves or mint leaves if preferred.
This brinjal vindaloo is a great combination with chapati or roti but you can also serve it with a simple vegetable pulao or jeera rice.
Can I use mixed vegetables instead of brinjals?
sure why not!
Amazing, just loved it.????
Made this yesterday and it turned out really yum! I used a larger eggplant cut into cubes. Thanks for the recipe.
It was delicious. I don’t leave comments for recipes usually but for this I had to. I had no idea brinjal could be so tasty. Thank you.
This was absolutely delicious. Added half a cup of dried prawns to it, and it tasted exactly like how its made in Goa. Thanks for the recipe.