Masaledar Bharwan Baingan/ Stuffed Eggplant/Aubergines

 This vegetable for me as a kid  was a complete write off :(  I lost all those years,Really !!!  I would not be able to recall how and when I started to relish this most amazing vegetable,which grows in so many shapes & sizes and can be prepared in innumerably fantastic ways.

This is a Maharashtrian recipe,I think..... ( maharashtrians please correct me if I am wrong) Regular/part time help  and full time help is common in India,we do not have to shell out half  our earnings to afford them. Vandana a part time help in my mom's house in Pune/India, is the original creator of this vegetable for ME. I had never before tried eggplant in peanut sauce. Even though I am aware  of Maharashtrians using peanuts in most vegetable preparations. I enjoy Maharashtrian Cuisine a lot.

My kitchen smelt so rich while the gravy was getting close to being cooked aaaah....the roasted peanuts along with roasted onions and spices,mixed with tomato was  intoxicating & made me so hungry,by the time the dish was ready I was famished and devoured it like no body's business :)

This is my daughter's (she loves the gravy and leaves the eggplant) and my brother's favorite sabji,so this post is for you dear Raju & Manasi

Serves : 6
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Eggplants small : 10
Onion: 1 big
Tomato: 1 big
Peanuts: 1/2 cup
Coriander: 2 tbsp
Red kashmiri chilli dry: 3
Turmeric : 1/3 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Oil: 2 tbsp
Green chilli: 2

Method:

Roast peanuts(without the skin) chillis and coriander together on a skillet/griddle. Till they start to emanate a nice roasted aroma. Roast the roughly chopped pieces of onion separately till they turn brownish blackish on the edges.

Grind these to a fine paste along with salt and turmeric.

Take the eggplant and make slits making sure not to break the eggplant,you need to stuff these with the masala/filling.

Now stuff all the eggplants with this masala. There will be some masala left after you have stuffed all the eggplants. ( we are saving that for the gravy)

Take a kadai and heat 2 tbsp oil,when hot drop the  green chillis and don't forget to make  slit the chilli's through the centre ,otherwise the moisture inside the chillis will result in bursting . Now add the eggplants and cook them on high flame,turning them every now & then,till you see the skin  change the color from purple to little charred . Now run the tomato in the food processor and add it to the eggplants. Reduce the flame and add the remaining masala,mix everything well and take a well fitting lid to cover this kadai. Let it cook till the eggplants are cooked and soft.

enjoy this with a tandoori roti/naan/phulka.

 Some Facts About eggplants/Aubergines

Season: June to September in the Northern Hemisphere, but are available all year round thanks to greenhouse cultivation.
-Main beneficial elements: Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin C and B1, B2
-90% is water, but the skin contains a lot of polyphenols so useful against ageing and arteries cleaning!
It is also of a great help to fight diabetes. Source :Shizuoka Gourmet .