Spicy Pan Fried Brinjal

                                                                  
Picture this. Your mom is away and has left you in charge of 'her' kitchen for lunch. You let out a whistle and say to yourself, "Let's prepare something that will blow everyone's mind today!" You open the fridge to check out what's available and WHOA! The vegetable tray is empty except for a few tomatoes and boring brinjals. Now you feel sad about spending so much air whistling and wish you got it back somehow. A few dejected moments later you straighten up and give yourself a pep talk about how this is one of the testing times and blah blah and reluctantly set about preparing brinjals with a long face. A few minutes later, while carrying out other monotonous work in the kitchen, your mind wanders to a Ted  Talk you watched earlier that morning about never giving up and decide to apply it to your present situation. 

Spicy Pan Fried Brinjal

With that in mind, I decided to give brinjals a new flavor and texture and ended up with this recipe. I was skeptical at first but the dish turned out to be  a delight. My star ingredient in this recipe is clove. It adds flavor and heat simultaneously to this recipe. Another flavor enhancer that I have used is fenugreek seeds.

I am sure this recipe is going to be a frequently prepared one at my home. Hope you all like it too.


Ingredients:

Brinjal- 250 gm
Onion- 1/2 cup, sliced
Clove- 4-5 nos, ground
Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp
Besan (gram flour)- 2 heaping tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly powder- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Recipe:

In a small bowl, mix together besan and all powdered ingredients including ground clove and salt. Keep aside.

Wash and cut brinjals lengthwise into 1/2-1" pieces like you would for potato fries. It is advisable to keep cut brinjals submerged in water to prevent them from turning black.

Now drain water. Take brinjals and onion in big bowl and add besan mix prepared earlier. Mix well to coat.

Heat oil in a flat bottomed pan. I used a non-stick pan and used 3 tbsp of oil.

Add fenugreek seeds. Once they change color, add besan coated brinjals and onions to the pan. Stir well to coat with oil.

Cook uncovered on medium flame with occasional stirring for about 30 minutes or until uniformly cooked.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with chapatis.