Bhulbhulavani / Brinjal~Onion Sukkha Curry.

“Bhulbhulavani / Brinjal~Onion Sukkha Curry” … A sukkha curry that goes very well with roti / chapati / poori / dosa .... Many of you may know this semi dry curry, but I am trying it out for the first time … A delicious spicy dry curry that you will love for sure ... 

** Special Thanks to Rasachandrika, Saraswat Cookery Book, Saraswat Mahila Samaj, Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra State, India ....

** This is a sukkha ie dry masala curry prepared with brinjal / vangi and onions. The masala is ground slightly coarser and has to be just about bind the veggies. I have no knowledge about this dish and have never relished it before. I came across this one in the oldest edition of a cookery book by Mahila Samaj members of Bombay (now Mumbai) named Rasachandrika. As I mentioned many a times before, I have a huge collection of recipes which never seems to end nor will it ever, imagine I have a collection of over 200 cookery bks out off which 90% are very old one’s. Though to my regret I have disposed off about 8-10 hard bound books of 500 pages each from the one’s which I had collected from magazines like women’s era, eve’s weekly, femina, taranga etc. During my teens I loved collecting bks and recipes and hard bound them in our press as my father had a printing press. 

** Though I was a huge collector of the same, I hardly cooked as ours was a joint family and I never went into the kitchen much except to watch Mom cook or help in my own small way like churning of butter milk or mixing the masala while the electric stone grinder did the grinding job. Also grating of coconut on machine grater was something my Mother taught us at a very young age. All these are small things, but when you set up your own home they are the best assets of teachings learned over the years from your Mother to which you will be thankful all your life. I have always been keen in watching my Mom cook and that is one thing I am again thankful for as it has helped me in perfection of recipes. My Mother was too good at Konkani Saraswat cooking and we siblings have all to be thankful for that. 

** This recipe is something I came across when I was browsing through the book which is a huge collection of North Indian style of saraswat cooking. I had brinjal at home so decided to try out this recipe as it was simple. This recipe has a slight tinge of garam masala as it is added while grinding which Amchi cooking usually does not have. Southern side of Konkani Saraswat Cuisine usually does not have addition of garam masala to it. A different type of dish that is excellent when served with roti / chapati as it goes well with it. Do try out this dish that is slightly different yet a pleasant change from the normal ones. We liked it in my home and I am already thinking of trying out with different veggies too. There are many more recipes that are lying in the draft mode and yet to be published in the blog, so henceforth I will be writing in short so as to get enough time to finish my backlogs. Do excuse and try out the recipe and do not forget to drop a response. 

** Here is the recipe to “Bhulbhulavani / Brinjal~Onion Sukkha Curry” … My Style as I have made my own slight variations by addition of tamarind etc. …. 

** Ingredients : 

Brinjal / Vaingana / Vangi : 5-6 small one’s or one medium sized 

Onions / kanda / Piyav : 2 large sized 

Salt to taste 

Oil : 2 tblsp 

** For Masala to be ground : 

Coconut : ¾ cup freshly grated. 

Coriander seeds : 1 tsp 

Dry Red Kashmiri Chillies : 6-8 

Cloves / Lavang : 3 

Cinnamon / Tike Saali : 1 piece of 2 inch length 

Garlic / Losun : 3-4 cloves chopped fine. 

Tamarind / Imli / Chinchama : a large pinch. 

Oil : 1 tblsp 

** Cut the brinjal into small sized pieces, in all you should have about 3-4 cups. Put it immediately in plenty of water and keep it aside otherwise it get discolored. 

** Peel of the skin of the onion and chop them into small pieces (cubes like) and keep them ready aside. 

** Heat the 1 tblsp oil in a small pan for the masala. Add in the coriander, cloves, cinnamon, cloves, garlic and fry for a few minutes on medium heat. Now add in the red chillies also cut into small pieces and further fry for a minute. 

** Add the fried ingredients along with tamarind and coconut in a mixer grinder and grind to a paste with little bit of water. Do not add in more water, we need a thick semi coarse paste. The ground paste need not be very fine but slightly rava texture. Remove and keep it aside. 

** Heat the 2 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot lower the heat to medium and add in the chopped onions and fry till they turns translucent. Now drain off all the water from the brinjal well and add it into the kadai along with salt to taste and mix and and fry for 2 minutes well. 

** Lower the heat to minimum, cover with a lid and cook the brinjal till 75% done by stirring once of twice in between. Add in the ground masala and water only if necessary and mix well. Remember the texture should be like sukkha that is dry and the masala should just about bind the veggies. Cover and cook till done mixing in between to avoid it getting burnt at the bottom. 

** “Bhulbhulavani / Brinjal~Onion Sukkha Curry” is done and ready to be served. Serve it hot with roti, chapati or poori as it taste best along with it. You can also serve this as a side dish with dalitoy and rice. But my suggestion would be rice or dosa. Do try it out and enjoy with your family and friends, I am sure they will like the dish as its has a unique taste of its own. 

** You can use the search option for "Brinjal or Vangi" where you will get many more dishes prepared using it. Do try out various types of dishes to relish with dosa / Idly / roti etc. or with dal-chawal too. Enjoy the dishes with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you.