Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Baingan Ambila

This post is a few weeks late. I have a big backlog of work since I am back from vacation. On the day of Rakhi, I was running late in the evening to get sweets and Rakhi gift for my daughter. I knew she was looking forward to a special treat too. There was no time to make anything too special, so tried this Eggplant Sweet and Sour side dish.... It was such a hit with her, though she didn't really touch the eggplant, but happily slurped on the curry.

Ambila is a typical Oriya side dish. It is enjoyed with Rice, dalma and mixed vegetable curry. You can make ambila with mixed vegetables like Carrots and Radish too, but my pantry had only eggplants...

Ingredients

8 small eggplants
1/2 cup jaggery (less or more depending on the sourness of Imli)
1 tablespoon of Imli paste
handful of curry leaves
2 red chilies
1 tablespoon of panch phutana
1 table spoon fried Jeera and fried Methi powder
1 table spoon of oil
1/2 tea spoon turmeric powder
salt to taste

How to

Slit the small eggplants. Put them in a pan with a little water, salt and turmeric powder and cook until the eggplant softens (about 10 min). Keep aside when done.
Heat oil in a pan. Add panch phutana.
When they start to crack add curry leaves and red chilies.
Add 1 cup water, jaggery and imli paste and mix well.
Once the jaggery is is dissolved, add salt and jeera and methi powder.
Add the boiled Eggplant and cook for a few minutes.

Serve hot or cold. This stays fresh in the refrigerator for a week.



30 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting,sweet and sour curry with brinjal,looks great :)

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  2. Varunavi - thanks dear. That was a quick and lovely comment...

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  3. The eggplant dish looks so tempting and delicious :)

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  4. This is totally new for me...looks gud

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  5. Totally new to me..sounds easy and tasty,nicely presented

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  6. A new dish to me!!Looks tangy and yummy!!

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  7. Hi! A lot of eggplant posts today including mine...urs is a nice tangy-sweet curry.

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  8. Shanti - this will go for your event. Thanks.
    Prithi - thanks.
    Vrinda - yes super easy...
    Ramya - glad you liked it.
    Pari - thanks. Yours looks yum!

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  9. Very new recipe... looks nice sweet n tangy :)

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  10. Inriguing curry! And sweet 'n' sour! Looks palatable!

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  11. Oh,this is completely new to me,I love brinjal in any form!!

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  12. such a unique recipe...very wel presented!

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  13. Very interesting and delicious dish.

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  14. Hi, Grab an award from my blog http://shanthisthaligai.blogspot.com/.God bless you.

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  15. Wow such a delicious dish! very new to me!

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  16. Something new and different, thanks for sharing!

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  17. very new to me..looks delish !!

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  18. New to me...looks spicy and flavourful....

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  19. very new to me.. looks very tempting.. yummyy :)

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  20. Padma, Nandini, Raks - thanks. its so typically oriya food...
    kittymatti, A2Z, Valarmati, Priya, Parita, Chitra, Kitchen Flavours, Hari Chandana - thanks...
    Shanthi - thanks a lot for the award... Very sweet of you. I am honored...

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  21. I love sweet and sour versions of any curry and this looks very delicious.

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  22. Interesting recipe! Sounds tangy.

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  23. mmmmmmmmm mouthwaterin we too make this type of curry with brinjal s but only difference is panch phutana we won't add that.

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  24. Plain bhata au ei ambila ... heaven! :-) I too love to slurp on the gravy. :-)

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  25. Interesting recipe! looks so good. Gotta try it soon.

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  26. this is awsome.. I prepare something similar but call it baingan ka bharta.

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  27. Shri - thanks
    Divya - yes tangy indeed..
    Rekha - I dont think panch phutana is mandatory... So many of our recipes are similar...
    Sharmila - hope you are doing good... My daughter did that exactly, rotis and this gravy...
    Vijitha - thanks. let me know how it tastes...
    Abhilash - great you tried something similar!

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