5112008-1321

Brinjal ( or egg plant or Badnekai ) is one of those vegetable that people either love or hate. This dish I am putting up today is the delicacy of North Kanara. Though the dish does not contain any masala item or even garam masala, it is fabulous as a combination with either Akki rotti or even Chapathi. It can be made mild and not very spicy so even kids can have it.

What you need to have:

1. Chopped brinjal – 3 cups

2. Onions chopped – 1 and 1/2 cups

3. Mustard seeds – 1 Teaspoon

4. Green chilly – 1

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Ingredients of Egg plant Masala

Ingredients of Wet Masala:

1. Fresh grated coconut-3/4 cup

2. Green chillies-2-3

3. Bilimbi-2-3 or Tamarind pulp-1/2 Teaspoon

What you do with what you have:

1. Chop both egg plant and onion lengthwise as shown in the image above.

2. Place a wide bottomed bowl on the flame with 4-5 teaspoons of cooking oil in it. When heated add mustard seeds to it. When it sputters add chopped onions and required quantity of salt to the dish and let it fry on medium flame till it turns transparent. At this stage add green chilly to it and you get the flavour to the dish something like that shown below in the image.

5112008-120 Chopped onions being fried

Ingredients of wet Masala

Ingredients of wet Masala

5112008-116Bimbli tree in my backyard

3. Grind the above masala ingredients in the mixer to a smooth paste and is as shown in the image below. I have use Bimbli instead of the tamarind. The reason being that it is tangy fruit readily available in all houses in down south except for 4 months in the rainy season). [ Btw, Bilimbi makes a superb pickle as well. ]

5112008-122 Ground wet Masala

4. Add the wet masala to the fried onions and cook it for a while and is as shown in the image below.

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Wet masala being cooked with fried onions

5. On masala being cooked for a while, add chopped Brinjal/egg plant from step 1 and cook it till it is softened for about 10-15 minutes on medium flame. The dish is as shown in the image below.

r-13-094 Ready to serve Vayngana nonche

6. Enjoy it with either chapathi or Akki roti.

r-13-108 Vayngana Nonche with Chapathi

5112008-1321 Vayngana Nonche with Akki roti

How long it takes: 45 Minutes

Number of servings: 4-5 people