Brinjal Chutney - சுட்ட கத்திரிக்காய் சட்னி - Step by Step - Version 2

   My mom used to prepare smoked brinjal chutney for idli and dosai. Big brinjal is smoked first and mashed, and then it is added to the onion,tomatoe mixture. When I went to India for vacation, asked my mom to prepare this chutney and pictured it. Unfortunately,couldn't take the final picture. So prepared this chutney again today and took the final picture. We can smoke the brinjal in a pre heated oven too. I have tried smoking the brinjal in induction stove too. It smokes great. We can also try to smoke the tomatoes and add it to the chutney, but I have not done that. Instead of green chillies, we can also try to add red chillies.Instead of 2 tomatoes, we can also add 1 tomatoe and little tamarind paste. It will give a sourness to the chutney.

                        

  Check my other variation of smoke eggplant chutney here.

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking Time : 20 mins

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

1.Big Eggplant - 1

2.Small onions - 1 cup

3.Green chillies - 5 to 6

4.Tomatoes - 2

5.Water - as needed

6.Cilantro - as needed

7.Salt - to taste

8.Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

To Temper :

1.Oil - 3 tbsp

2.Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

3.Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

4.Curry leaves - few

Method:

* Slice the small onions into cubes. Slit the green chillies. Wash the brinjal and apply oil on the brinjal. Turn on the flame and roast the brinjal.  Smoke the brinjal evenly on all the sides.The brinjal should get cooked fully.Smoke the brinjal in medium flame,so that the brinjal should cook evenly. * Heat a pan of water and bring it to boil. Drop the tomatoes into the hot water .Let it sit in the hot water for atleast 10 mins.This way, the tomatoes skin gets out of the toamtoes. Once the tomatoes are blanched, peel the skin of the tomatoes and mash it to form a paste. * After 5 to 7 mins, the brinjal gets fully cooked.The skin would have come out like this. The brinjal should be fully cooked. The flesh should be soft. * Peel the skin of the brinjal. The brinjal has to be cooled ,so that the skin will come off. * Keep everything ready.Mash the brinjal into a fine mixture. The tomatoes are mashed too.  * Take a pan ,add oil,splutter with mustard seeds,urad dal and curry leaves. Drop the green chillies.   * Add the chopped pearl onions and saute. Sprinkle salt to the onion, it will turn translucent. * Now add mashed tomatoes and brinjal mixture to the pan.Use your spatula to mince them well. * Add enough water to make the chutney like gravy. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame. The mixture would have thickened by now.Adjust salt to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro.                                              Serve hot with idli or dosai .Goes well with rice too.

Notes:
* Grease the brinjal with oil completely for the brinjal to smoke properly.
* We can also bake the brinjal in pre heated oven .
* Cook the brinjal ,completely, if not it eill not mash well.
* We can use some chopped garlic pods to flavour the chutney.
* Instead of mashing, we can also pulse the smoked brinjal in blender ,to get smooth paste.
* Adjust the green chillies according to your taste.
* Adjust the amount of water,according to youe consistancy.