Stuffed Eggplant Curry / Tumbida Badenekayi Palya

I am not fond of restaurant food. I don't even crave to eat at a certain place. There is just one exception though. Every time I visit India (mainly Bangalore), I have to go to 'Kamat Yatri Nivas' to eat their Thali. It is a full service restaurant where in they come and keep on serving till you say you are done. It is kind of waste for me, but there are people who make use of this deal and eat to their heart's content. One of the main attractions for me to go there is Jolada rotti and this stuffed eggplant curry.

Coming to the point of this post, almost every Indian state has its own way of making stuffed eggplants curry. They are either made a bit dry to go with rotis or Indian tortilla or a bit watery to go with rice. They are delicious either way.
Here is the version that I have come to like. Inspired from the state of Karnataka that too northern Karnataka. These are typically served with 'Jolada Rotti' or 'Jowar Roti' in northern Karnataka but can be served with wheat flour rotis too.

One year back -  Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients:
Round small eggplants - 20
Red Onion - 1 big finely chopped (optional - See Notes)
Oil - 4 TBSP (Or more)
Tamarind - size of a lime
Red chillies - 2 broken
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few sprigs

To Powder:
Peanuts - 2/3 cup
Cumin - 1 tsp
Coriander - 1/2 tsp
Powdered Jaggery or brown sugar - 2 TBSP 

Asafoetida / Hing - generous pinch (Or Garlic - See Notes)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Turmeric - a generous pinch
Salt - to taste

Method:
Wash the eggplants. Pat them dry. Soak tamarind in enough water. In a blender or a mixie take all the ingredients mentioned in 'To Powder' section above and pulse till you get fine powder. Take it in a bowl. Extract thick tamarind juice from the tamarind. Add the tamarind juice to the powder to make an easily spreadable paste. Do not make it too watery. Set aside. Adjust the salt of the paste if necessary.
Slit the eggplants into quarters leaving the stalk part intact. You will have four quarters of the eggplant attached at one end. Stuff all the eggplants with the masala paste. You might be left with some paste. Keep that aside. You will use it in the curry. Heat oil in the pan. Preferably a non stick pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they pop, add broken red chillies and curry leaves. Add chopped onions and sprinkle a bit of salt. Let it wilt and cook. When it is cooked completely, add the stuffed eggplants to the pan. After about 3 - 4 minutes, gently turn them around. Cover with a lid and let it cook in low flame. After about 10 minutes, add the remaining masala paste to the pot and extract second and third extracts of the tamarind juice. Add this extract as much as needed depending on how thick or thin you want your curry to be. Cover with the lid and keep stirring gently every 5 minutes or so. When the eggplants are cooked to fork tender and are falling apart, and oil is separating from the masala, curry is done. Turn off the heat and serve with rice or rotis.

Notes:
Many people use garlic instead of hing. I have made it like that too. Since I was cooking this for someone who doesn't eat garlic, I omitted it and used just hing. Many people do not use onion in the curry. Just eggplants. That makes it a wonderful dish too. I add onions to get the texture.

Enjoy.

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