Gutti Vankaya Kura

Before you start

• Soak the tamarind in 150ml hot water for 20 minutes and squeeze out the pulp.
• Slit each eggplant into quarters from the base down, stopping 1cm short of the stem so it stays in one piece, and drop them into salted water while you make the masala.
• Dry-roast the peanuts, sesame and coconut separately — they colour at very different speeds — and cool them before grinding.

Method

1. Dry-roast the peanuts over medium heat for 4 minutes until blistered, then the sesame for 1 minute until they jump, then the coconut for 1 minute until sandy gold.Coconut goes from gold to bitter in seconds. Take it off while it still looks underdone.
2. Grind the cooled peanuts, sesame and coconut with the coriander powder, cumin, chilli powder, turmeric and 1 tsp salt to a coarse, dryish powder.
3. Drain the eggplants, pat them dry, and press about a tablespoon of the masala into each one, prising the quarters apart with your thumb. Keep the leftover masala.Do not overfill — the eggplant needs room to soften or it splits open in the pan.
4. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a wide kadhai, lay the stuffed eggplants in a single layer and fry them 6 to 8 minutes, turning gently, until the skins blister and go glossy. Lift them out.
5. Add the remaining oil, crackle the mustard seeds, then add the curry leaves, onion, garlic and ginger and cook 8 minutes until the onion is soft and lightly browned.
6. Stir in the leftover masala powder and fry it for 3 minutes, until it darkens and smells nutty rather than raw.This is the step people skip. Raw ground peanut tastes chalky in the finished gravy.
7. Pour in the tamarind pulp and 300ml water, add the jaggery and remaining salt, and bring to a simmer.
8. Slide the eggplants back in, spoon gravy over them, cover and cook on low heat for 15 to 18 minutes, until a knife slips into an eggplant with no resistance.Do not stir once they are back in the pan — tilt and shake it instead, or the stuffing falls out.
9. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes more until the gravy thickens and oil beads on the surface.
10. Scatter the coriander leaves over and rest it 10 minutes off the heat before serving with rice.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated and improves on the second day. Reheat covered over low heat with 2 tbsp water, shaking the pan rather than stirring. It does not freeze well — the eggplant collapses.