Shravya's tadka sesame brinjal [Feature]

Indulgent brinjal (eggplant) preparation - your belly will thank you profusely!

tldr: Our friend Shravya is an amazing chef! Everything she makes is delicious. This is a pretty unique brinjal preparation that she learnt from her mom. Indulgent! Perfect for the holiday season. (Recipe and pictures are from Shravya).

How to make:

Ingredients

Brinjal – 1 large (The kind you get in non-Indian stores. If you can acquire Indian brinjal then even better – use about 10)

Garlic – 10 cloves

White sesame seeds – 10 oz

Oil – 2 tbsp + ½ cup

Mustard seeds – 2 tbsp

Curry leaves – 10

Salt – to taste

Red chilli powder – 2 tsps or according to your desired spice level

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Method

1. Wash and chop the brinjal into small cubes.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet and add the chopped brinjal. Cook them until they are browned. Don't cover with lid while cooking - we don’t want the brinjal to get soggy. At the end, add salt to season.

3. Simultaneously, dry roast sesame seeds and 7 cloves of garlic in a separate skillet until the sesame seeds are nice and toasty.

4. Coarsely grind the sesame seeds and garlic with salt, chilli powder and turmeric.

5. Layer the fried brinjal in a shallow bowl or plate. Layer the sesame seed mixture on top of the brinjal.

6. Now comes the indulgent part. Heat the ½ cup of oil in a kadai. The amount of oil needed for this step depends on the serving container you’re using. The aim is to cover all of the sesame seed mixture with the tadka. So, if you use a shallow bowl, you’ll have more surface area to cover, which is recommended. Once the oil is heated, add the remaining garlic cloves, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds sizzle, turn off the heat and pour the tadka on the sesame seed + brinjal mixture. You don’t have to use all the oil if you don’t need to, but make sure you use all the mustard seeds, garlic and curry leaves.

7. Serve hot with rice. Don’t plan for leftovers.