Eggplant Potato fry

One of the advantages of living in New Jersey is the access to a large number of Indian groceries which carry Indian vegetables. But the problem I have is the Indian groceries that we have very close to us (only about 15 minutes away) are not up to my husband’s and my standards. The whole street is filled with Indian groceries, fast food centers, restaurants and what not. It reminds me of Koti or Sultan Bazaar in Hyderabad both it terms of shopping and the traffic. People walk at their own sweet little pace in the middle of the street and you will undoubtedly see at least one cocky guy trying to Parallel Park holding up the traffic both sides. My husband hates driving in that street and I dislike the condition of the groceries. So in the end we prefer to drive 30 miles south every 2 months to get to the Indian store we like. Eggplant is the first veggie I look for on these trips.

On our recent visit I found the long lean green eggplants and I bought 4 of them. My mom used to make this simple curry with potato and we had it tucked in a potato roll and it tasted pretty good even as a sandwich filling.

Ingredients:
Eggplant – 4 (I used green skinny ones, you can Japanese eggplant instead)
Potatoes – 2 medium, diced
Onion – 1 medium, chopped fine
Green chilies – 2, slit in half
Curry powder – 1tsp (I used homemade curry powder)
Salt – to tatse

For tempering:
Chana dal – 1tsp
Urad dal – 1tsp
Mustard & Cumin seeds – 1tsp each
Curry leaves – 8-10

Method:

• Heat 2tbsp oil in a sauté pan; add the tempering ingredients and once the seeds start to splutter add onions and green chilies, sauté till onions turn translucent.
  
• Add eggplant and potato pieces; cover and cook on medium-low flame; stirring occasionally; until the veggies are cooked through, takes about 10-12 minutes.
  
• Season with salt and chili powder, cook for another 2 minutes. Serve with rice or as a yummy sandwich filling.