Nutty Eggplant Gravy

I tasted this wonderful rich looking gravy recently in a friend's birthday party,she said that she learned it from her friend's mom.This delicious curry suits prefectly as side dish for a mild spicy ghee rice and super prefect with rotis and pooris, we enjoyed thoroughly this curry with ghee rice.

Before leaving her home i asked her for the recipe and she was kind enough to give me the list of ingredients and explained very well the cooking process. To be honest, i thought that this curry will go for a long cooking process, but while making i noticed that they gets ready very much less than half an hour if all your ingredients are ready. Its such a fingerlicking curry am damn sure that whoever loves eggplant will make it quite often.

1no Eggplants (large & sliced)
1/2tsp Mustard seed
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1no Onion (chopped)
1tsp Ginger garlic paste
1tsp Chilly powder
1tsp Coriander powder
1/2tsp Cumin powder
1tbsp Tamarind juice (thick)
1tsp Sugar
Salt
1/4cup Gingelly oil

To grind:
2tbsp Poppyseeds
1inch Cinnamon stick
5nos Cashewnuts
3nos Almonds
2tbsp Coconut (grated)

Dry roast the poppyseeds,cinnamon stick and coconut together until a nice aroma comes out, grind now with cashews and almonds as thick paste with enough water.

Heat the oil, let splutters the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, add immediately the onions and ginger garlic paste and cook until they turns transculent.

Add the sliced eggplants and cook for few minutes, now add the chilly powder,cumin powder, coriander powder and salt,cook everything in medium flame.

When the eggplants are partially cooked, add the grounded paste, tamarind juice.. Cook in simmer for few more minutes, until the oil gets separates.

You can adjust the consistency of the gravy by either adding more water or not, i prepared mine as bit thick as i served them with chappathis.

Serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander leaves.