Eggplant-Tomato Kurma (Vankaya-Tomato Kurma)

I'm hosting this month's Dish it Out event on my blog this month and the 2 ingredients I chose are Eggplant & Tomatoes. Eggplant is my all time favorite veggie and that was the first thing that came to my mind when the event creator, Vardhini, asked me to choose ingredients for the event. I didn't want to miss this chance of making new dishes with  my favorite veggie. 

The last day to submit your entries is TOMORROW, MAY 31st. Please rush in your entries before the end of the day tomorrow. 

The first dish I tried is this delicious kurma. I found the recipe for Tomato Kurma in Mallika Badrinath's "100 Gravy varieties" cookbook and I added the eggplant to make this creamy gravy curry. Here's how I made this dish:

Ingredients:

Italian Eggplants - 3 (use about 8-10 small Indian brinjals instead), chopped into long (ish) pieces

Tomatoes - 2 ripe, chopped

Onion - 1 large, very finely minced or coarsely ground in the mixer

Ginger + Garlic paste - 1tsp
Turmeric - ½tsp
Garam masala - ½tsp

Salt - to taste
Sugar - ½tsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp

For the Gravy:

Fresh Coconut - ½ cup, grated (I used frozen fresh coconut)
Cashews - 6-8 (I used almond butter instead)
Poppy seeds - 1tbsp, soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes
Green chilies - 2
Dry red Chilies - 1-2 (or more as per taste)
Coriander seeds - 1tsp

 

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients under gravy into smooth paste using little water.
• Heat 2tbsp oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and once the seeds start to splutter, add the onions and saute till golden brown. Add turmeric and g+g paste; cook for another minute.
• Add the eggplant; cover and cook on medium flame until the pieces are tender, about 8-10 minutes.
• Next add chopped tomatoes; cover and cook until tomatoes are cooked and are slightly mushy.
• Add the ground masala, salt, sugar and about  ½ cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the masala does not smell raw anymore.
• When the gravy is thick enough as per liking, remove from heat, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with jeera rice or roti.