Eggplant Coconut Masala Curry

Our woes with the freezing weather continues. Today has been especially bad, temperatures were between 7~10°F (-12°C~-14°C) with the wind chills making it feel much much colder. My car decided to clunk out on me this morning when I was just about to take my son to school. Had to run back in and call a taxi, so I could get him to school on time. Thankfully all the car needed was a jump start and got it fixed in time to bring my son home from school.
After all that, as I was thinking of what to make for lunch, I saw some eggplants in the fridge and thought of treating myself with a new recipe that I just saw on a Telugu cooking show. Even though this was not what I was planning, I guess I turn to my favorite veggie when I'm stressed :-)

I'm glad that I tried this curry though. It uses roasted dry coconut paste as the masala. I've used coconut in bagara baingan along with sesame seeds and poppy seeds, but never with just dry coconut. Also I used coconut oil to cook the curry, this elevated the coconut flavor, but feel free to use any other neutral flavored oil. Either way this is a simple curry that is packed with flavor and goes well with both rice and rotis.

Ingredients:
Baby Eggplants - 8~10, chopped into 1" strips
Onion - 1 small, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped
Ginger+garlic paste - ½tsp
Dry grated coconut (unsweetened, of course) - 3tbsp
Ground Coriander - ½tsp
Red Chili powder - ½tsp
Turmeric - ¼tsp
Garam Masala - ½tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Dry roast the coconut until golden and fragrant. Coconut goes from golden to burnt in matter of seconds, so keep an eye on it at all times. Remove from the pan and once cooled, grind it into a smooth paste adding enough water.
• Heat 2tbsp oil (I used coconut oil), in a saute pan; add onions and cook until lightly browned around the edges. Next add ginger+garlic paste and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the chopped eggplant and turmeric. Cover the pan and cook until the veggie is tender, about 8~10 minutes.
• Next add the tomatoes, ground coriander and red chili powder. Mix well, cover and cook until tomatoes are mushy, about 2~3 minutes.
• Finally add the ground coconut paste, salt and garam masala. Add some water if the curry looks too thick. Simmer for 2~3 minutes. Sprinkle some toasted coconut and serve with steamed rice or roti.

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge -- January Week 4'.