Eggplant Chutney - Andhra Style..

Before meeting my Andhra friends, my knowledge of Chutneys was very limited. In Konkani cuisine we do make a lot of Chutneys but mainly with coconut present in them. Its very few vegetables like tomoto, raw mango, ridge gourds that we make chutneys of, and most of them are used for pairing with Idlis/Dosas. I was quite surprised by the various other kinds of chutneys people make with eggplants, ridgegourds, ivy gourds, and literally every other vegetable. More surprised when I learnt that most of these chutneys are used to mix with rice and eat. Ahhhh, how wonderful they taste and what a great meal just a chutney and rice forms !!!

Ingredients

Eggplant, chopped into small cubes and soaked in water - 4 cups
Tomato, roughly chopped - 1 cup
Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies, chopped - 2 or more as per ur taste.
Garlic cloves, roughly chopped - 3
Tamarind - a small marble size ball
Turmeric powder - 1/4 pinch
Cilantro - to garnish
Salt - to taste

For tempering

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Udad dal - 1/2 tsp
Chana dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 4

Optional - Chopped red onions, as per choice.

Method

- Heat oil in a deep pan. Add the green chillies, cumin seeds and the drained eggplant pieces and saute. Add salt and Turmeric. Let it cook till eggplants are half done.

- Then add the tomato and saute. Leave it cook and when done, switch off heat.

- Put in the garlic and tamarind and cover the pan.

- Once the mixture cools down, blend it in a mixie/blender WITHOUT adding any water. Take out the blended chutney in a serving bowl.

- In a separate small pan, heat little oil, add mustard seeds, when they crackle, add the udad dal, chana dal, and the curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the blended chutney. Add chopped cilantro to garnish.

- You can serve it like this OR go one step further and top it with some chopped red onion along with chopped cilantro and mix well and serve.

Note :

- This chutney is mainly mixed with rice and had, but also works extremely great for dosas, idlis and rotis.

- Adding the chopped red onions at the end of it is optional, but gives a great crunch and bite to the chutney.

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