Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Kaththirikkaai (Eggplant) Rasavaangi

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and once again, wish you all a very happy new year! I had a great, relaxing holiday season myself and tried quite a few new recipes from many of your blogs (which will be featured in the upcoming posts :-)). It feels good to get back to the business though, after all the eating that I have done in the past few weeks. I haven't been able to keep up with your blog updates lately, but definitely hope to get there slowly. Let me start the first post for this year with one of my Mom's recipes that tried over the holidays.

Ingredients (3 - 4 servings):

Eggplant - 1 lb cut in to bite sized pieces
Toor dhal (optional, but I add it to make it more nutritional) - 1/4 cup cooked
Tamarind soaked in warm water - 1/2 inch ball
(If using paste, about 1/4 teaspoon of it)
Turmeric powder - a couple of pinches
Curry leaves - a few
Salt to taste

To fry in a drop of oil separately and grind into a coarse paste:

Grated/powdered coconut - 3 to 4 full teaspoons
Coriander seeds - 2 teaspoons
Dried red chillies - 4 to 5
Channa dhal - 3 teaspoons

For seasoning:

Coconut oil (a must) - 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a couple of pinches

Procedure:

1. Extract the thick pulp of soaked tamarind and set aside.
2. Fry the ingredients to fry in oil, one after the other, grind them into a coarse paste and set aside.
3. Pressure cook toor dhal with turmeric powder until done and set aside.
4. Boil eggplants in water and turmeric powder until they are mostly cooked but not completely cooked.
5. Add the tamarind paste/pulp to step 4, mix it in and wait until the eggplant gets cooked thoroughly.
6. Add the ground paste, cooked toor dhal and salt to step 5, bring it to a boil and turn off the stove.
7. In a small pan, heat some coconut oil, pop mustard seeds, add the urad dhal and asafoetida and fry until the urad dhal turns light golden brown in color. Transfer the contents of the pan to step 6.
8. Garnish with curry leaves.

Note:
My Mom says that eggplant does not cook if the tamarind is added at the beginning of step 4.


Enjoy with piping hot steamed rice topped with a teaspoon of ghee or with sambar/rasam.

40 comments:

Rohini said...

Hey babe..Welcome back!!! Glad I am the first one to comment!!
Eggplant rasavangi looks great...But who can the convince the eggplant-hater at home that this would taste heaven? Hence I am reserving it for myself! :)

Faiza Ali said...

Welcome back dear..that curry looks mouthwatering.

Rekha shoban said...

curry looks thick and delicious...goes well with rice.

Sree vidya said...

Hey classical recipe.
I love this.
Tastes heavenly with rice,ghee and papad
My mother also does this with unripe tomatoes, other than eggplant.She adds some channa too

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

rasavaangi my favourite has come out well and delciious

kitchen queen said...

lovely and delicious rasavangi to go with hot rice.

Tina said...

Spicy and yummy..Perfect with hot rice...

Unknown said...

Looks perfect, welcome back.

Namitha said...

Good to see you back !!!Glad to know that you had a great time :-) rasavaangi looks spicy and delicious..Must have tasted great too...

Ash said...

A warm welcome to you..... & a good recipe... I'm not into it... but my hubby loves it ... so that helps me help him... ;-)

Happy Sankranti!!!!

Ash..
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! Happy New Year once again!!
This looks yummy! Will try this soon :)

prasu said...

wow..............A warm Welcome to you dear.........Happy New year....this brinjal curry looks delicious dear.

Unknown said...

welcome back anupama..Hope u had a great time..:)
Nice recipe..looks very tempting dear..Will try sometime..Love anything with egg plant..
Wish u happy New Year and Pongal!!

Padhu Sankar said...

Welcome back Anupama Wish you a very Happy 2010.Yummy recipe that goes well with hot rice.

lata raja said...

That is one real traditional recipe. What a change from our regular sambhar.

Mythreyi Dilip said...

My favorite Rasavangi, looks perfect Anu!

Wish you and your family a very happy Pongal

my kitchen said...

Welcome back Anu,Rasavangi looks delicious.Happy pongal to you & your family

Anupama said...

Thank you very much for the warm welcome everyone. I really appreciate it :-). Once again, I'm still catching up... so, some more time and I shall be back on track...

Urmi said...

Curry looks delicious and mouth watering. Thanks for this lovely recipe.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Kathirikkai rasavangi looks so juicy and catchy. I will follow urs soon to make a great lunch. Mom's tips on tamarind n brinjal is very useful . Thanks dear.

s said...

the dish looks mouthwatering..love ur selection of dishes...

Malar Gandhi said...

Dear Anu,

Welcome back, hope you enjoyed ur vacation...

Eggplants in this rich-tangy curry is absolutely refreshing my mind...you know I love authentic food, right...this is best looking picture..bet it tasted great.

Please check out 'Kitchen Mishaps Event Roundup' at my blog.

http://www.kitchentantra.com/2010/01/kitchen-mishaps-event-round-up.html

I appreciate, your comforting words to the participants. I believe, it will greatly boost their energy...who daringly shared their cooking disasters.

Thank you,
Malar Gandhi
www.kitchentantra.com

Hayley said...

Hi

first time here..you have a nice space..rasavaangi looks delicious and very colourful...following u so don't miss a post..

cheers and do visit me

http://joyofcooking247.blogspot.com

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

The name is so different for me!!! looks very comfoting and neat!!! btw welcome back and hope you had a great holiday season!!!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

never tasted this dish. try panren... it will be yummy with rice for sure.

Padmajha said...

I love love love rasavangi and each time I go to india i ask mom to prepare it atleast once a week and I can eat it with all 3 meals even as a side dish with tiffin items!!But sadly I cant get the small variety brinjal here and the big one does'nt work even if cut into smal chunk.Wish i could taste yours :)

Sunitha said...

Yum.. looks divine..with rice and roti they will be good..thanks

Urmi said...

Thanks for your lovely comment. Awaiting for your new recipe.

AnuSriram said...

Looks delicious! Yummy recipe..

Namitha said...

Hi Anupama ! How are you doing? Hope everything is fine with you :-)

amna said...

my MIL makes an amazing version of this. memories...

Haddock said...

Just when I settle down to enjoy some good recipes, they are talking about Bt Brinjal.

Srikitchen said...

join with us in the EFM-Mutton Series going in my blog!Deadline for the event is 15th of February! Visit http://www.srishkitchen.com/2009/12/efm-mutton-series.html for more details

அண்ணாமலையான் said...

hi wish u a very happy b'day...

Preety said...

Happy valentines Day and wish you a very happy birthday too

FoodLovers said...

curry looks awesome

Anupama said...

@ Babli, Viki's Kitchen, s, Malar Gandhi, SriLekha, Ramya VijayaKumar, Mahimaa's Kitchen, PJ, Nostalgia, Babli, Anu Sriram, Nags, Haddock, Annamalai, Preety, FoodLovers: Thank you very much for your encouraging comments and birthday wishes.

@ Jagruti: Thanks for stopping by. You have a very nice space too.

@ Gulmohar: I'm doing well dear. It's just that life is extremely busy lately.

Vrinda said...

Nice recipe with eggplants...will try

Preethi Ram said...

Really wonderful to see and surely will try this

Do Visit my blog when you find time and follow with your valuable comments.

Preethi's Culinary

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