First lesson of cooking

This is my all time favourite curry, so it is quite obvious that I chose to learn this first. The person who taught me this curry made sure I remembered every detail of it's preparation by testing my memory with sudden oral tests. It was not until I cooked the curry all on my own without any guidance that this person, who happens to be my mum, got convinced that I had finally mastered her recipe.

Don't worry I won't be pestering you all with tests after you finish reading this post. But you can use this as a helpful recipe if you share the same love for this curry as me.

The below picture would give away the name of the curry which is actually pretty famous in South India.

Now for the ingredients, you will need,

1. Small brinjals - 1 Kg
2. Peanuts - A handful of them or slightly more
3. Coriander seeds - 2 tablespoons (In the absence of whole seeds, use a table spoon of ground coriander powder)
4. Sesame Seeds - 2 tablespoons
5. Poppy Seeds - 1 tablespoon
6. Whole spices - 2 or 3 cloves, 1 Star Anise
7. Dessicated coconut powder - 2 tablespoons
8. Onion - Half (Diced into 4-6 chunks)
9. Butter - One tablespoon (Optional)
10. Turmeric - Quarter teaspoon
11. Salt - 3/4 teaspoon (Adjust quantity as per taste)
12. Red Chilli Powder - 3/4 teaspoon (Adjust quantity as per taste)
13. Cooking oil - 4 table spoons (Adjust quantity as per preference, this can be substituted with water)
14. Coriander - For garnishing

Preparation

1. Dry roast the peanuts, Coriander seeds, Sesame seeds, Poppy seeds and the whole spices. I was taught to roast them one after the other, preferably, in the order listed
2. Cool the seeds in preparation for grinding



3. Start by grinding the roasted ingredients first. No need to add water.



4. To the ground powder, add the diced onion chunks and butter. Grind to a paste by adding water if required. Limit the usage of water to 2 tablespoons
5. Once the paste is ready, get it out of the grinder jar (Add little water to any paste remaining in the jar, this water can be used for the curry preparation) . Add turmeric, salt and Chilli powder. Mix well and set aside
6. Slit each brinjal twice, to make a cross-cut as shown in the picture below. The slit brinjals need to be dropped into water to prevent them from changing colour. 



7. Stuff the slit brinjals with the paste prepared in Step 5. The picture below was taken particularly to show the snow outside



8. Once all the brinjals are stuffed, heat a wok and add Oil
9. Cook the stuffed brinjals on medium flame. Mix in regular intervals. Add water or oil if the curry tends to stick to the wok's base. Cover the wok with a lid for ensure proper cooking of the brinjals
10. Add any paste left over (After stuffing all the brinjals) to the wok half way through the cooking
11. Continue cooking until the brinjals turn soft and tender and the oil starts oozing out at the corners of the wok
12. Finish off by garnishing with coriander. This is optional unless you love coriander like me