Gutti Vankaya ( Stuffed Brinjals )

Gutti vankaya is authentic Andhra dish made with stuffed eggplants.
It can be made in various ways. You can have various stuffings, however this recipe is a dry curry made of small eggplants stuffed with powder of few pulses and spices.

I shall add other ways of making gutti vankaya in the near future. Stay Tuned !!

Let me tell you a quick story of my house. My husband is a die-hard fan of eggplants. Whenever we go for grocery shopping, he is sure to pick up atleast 3 varieties of eggplants, the small ones, the long ones, the big one for bharta. He would not mind eating eggplant curry anyday.
well I guess most of the people from Andhra are eggplant fans. My father and my father-in-law are in the fan-list too.
Brinjals or Eggplants are a good source of folic acid and this is the vegetable which has the maximun recipes. Brinjals can be made in more than 65 ways. Hence it is often described as " King of Vegetables "

Lemme now tell the Ingredients you will need for this recipe:

• Small Tender Eggplants - 6-8
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

For Stuffing:

• Red Chillies - 2
• Chana Dal - 2 tbsp
• Urad Dal Wash - 2 tbsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Tamarind - 1 inch piece
• Curry Leaves - 1 spring
• Garlic Cloves - 3 ( Optional )
• Hing - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp

Directions:

• Slit eggplants into cross shape only 3/4th way through, keeping the stem intact. Do not separate into halves.
• Microwave them just for a couple of minutes or shallow fry so that they are little soft. You do not need to cook it fully. This process is just to speeden up the cooking process. You can avoid this step and directly cook which will take la little longer.
• Keep these egglpants aside till we prepare the stuffing.

For stuffing :

• In a pan, dry roast red whole chillies, chana dal.
• When chana dal starts to change color, add urad dal and fenugreek seeds and fry them.
• Add coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fry.
• Cut the tamarind into small pieces and add them for frying.
• Add garlic and curry leaves. Also add hind and turmeric powder.
• Roast till they all turn slightly reddish brown and curry leaves are totally dried. Make sure not to burn any of the ingredient. Continuous stirring is a must.
• Let this mixture cool and then grind into a coarse mixture , add required amount of salt

This powder is called "Koora Podi" in telugu, which means curry powder.

• We need to fill this powder into the slit eggplants.
• Since this stuffing is a powder it might not stay into the eggplants while cooking , so we need to make it into a paste consistency.
• Add some oil to the powder so that they stick together and do not fall apart while cooking. You should be able to make a ball out of the powder, do not make it too thin.
• Stuff this paste into all the slit eggplants.
• Heat oil in the pan, arrange these stuffed eggplants such that none of them overlap each other.
• Sprinkle salt over the eggplants and cook them covered on low heat.
• After 4-5 minutes, toss them all with the help of a fork to cook the other side.
• Keep tossing them every 5 mintues very carefully making sure not to break them.
• When you see the eggplants totally cooked and tender, turn off the flame.
• Serve with plain steamed rice and dal .