Nutty Eggplant Fry with Almonds

Eggplant usually tends to stir up strong feelings – some people love it while others can’t stand them. I firmly stand on the side of love for this vegetable – there is so much you can do with it. My favorite way to cook eggplants is with tomatoes ( here’s my recipe for eggplants in a tomato curry) , but today I wanted to experiment with cooking eggplants and nuts together. This is a recipe from Andhra, one of the southern states of India. Living there for a few years was a gastronomic delight for this foodie!

The nuts give this dish a crunch which is a delight in every mouthful. Traditionally it is made with peanuts but to make it paleo, I decided to use almonds instead of peanuts. If you are wondering why not peanuts, peanuts are actually legumes which are not allowed in paleo due to them being potentially inflammatory. Almonds were a great alternatives and one could try cashew nuts as well. So here goes the recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lb Eggplants
• 2 Fistfuls Almonds
• 3 Pods of Garlic
• 3 Green Chillies
• 1 Sprig of Curry Leaves
• 1- 2 Tbs Oil
• 2 Tbs Lemon Juice
• Salt

Spices

• 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp Sambar powder or Garam Masala

Recipe

The initial prep involves chopping the eggplants into small cubes and crushing the almonds roughly either in a food processor or a mortar/pestle. The nuts should not be powdered but still roughly chopped into smaller pieces so they retain a bite.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. As the seeds splutter, add a few green sliced green chilies. This step is optional for those that can handle the heat. Add finely chopped or minced garlic and let it brown. Now its time for the eggplants to go into the pan. Saute these for a few minutes and then add in the turmeric and salt. Cover the pan and let the eggplant steam on low heat for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pan. You might need to add a little water but usually the water let out by the eggplant is enough.

When you lift the lid the eggplants should be almost done. Now add in the chili powder, sambar powder and curry leaves. Sambar powder gives it that distinctly south indian flavor but if you don;t have it, you can replace it with garam masala. Stir the eggplants for a few minutes to let the spices incorporate it and add in the crushed almonds. We don’t want to cook the nuts for long so they stay crunchy. Finally top it up with lemon juice to give the dish a tang!

Here is a quick video recipe. Let us know if you tried this recipe !