Vankaya Kura/Andhra Brinjal/Egg Plant Curry | TummyKhush

Brinjal forms a major component of South Indian food, specially in Andhra. It is eaten in a variety of ways like stir-fried, stuffed, made into a chutney etc. The most popular Andhra dish with brinjal or egg plant is the quintessential “guthi vankaya kura” or egg plant stuffed with a savoury mixture made of flavourful herbs and condiments.

Here we will see how to make a brinjal curry prepared using a flavour mix of kitchen essentials such as ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves.

You would require:

Brinjal : 1/2 kg. You can use any kind of brinjals available. Purple variety would be the best.

Oil : 4-5 tbsp for frying
Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Curry leaves : few
Salt: to taste

For the paste:

Ginger – 1″ peice
Green chillies – 2 to 3 (You can vary the amount of green chillies according to your taste)
Corinder leaves chopped – 1/2 cup

Chop the brinjals into roughly 1″ pieces. Place the pieces in a bowl of salted water to prevent discolouration. Remove the water just before you start making the dish.

Grind all the ingredients necessary for the paste in the food processor and keep aside. There is no necessity to add water.

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds when the oil is sufficiently hot.Once the cumin seeds start spluttering, add curry leaves and turmeric powder and mix well.
Add the brinjal pieces to the oil and allow to fry on low heat for a couple of minutes.
Now you can cover the pan with a lid and put some water on the lid. This water will create vapour inside the pan and allow the pieces to cook well.
Alternatively, you can sprinkle little water in the pan every few minutes and continue to cook. Check if the pieces are cooking.
You can also add some salt to the pieces and mix well. This will bring out the natural moisture from the pieces and quicken the cooking process.

When you see that the brinjal pieces have softenedslightly, add the ground paste, mix well to make sure that all the pieces are coated well with the paste. Continue cooking on low heat uncovered. Check seasoning and add salt if needed.

You can add some red chilli powder too if you want.

Serve hot with rice and curd or rotis
.