Eggplant/Brinjal raita

These days the weather in MA is turning from warm to hot to hot and humid...well whatever be the degree of heat, I am not a big fan of summer....yes have to say that because each time I hear people around me, especially people whose origin is same as mine praising this climate/season, when they used to dislike the same hot climate back in their native country ! ...I am consistent with my opinion in that matter, I don't like the hot weather anywhere.....

On the other hand I love rains....mmm the sweet smell of grass, and earth ...that's indeed intoxicating.

Amidst this hot unbearable weather, I was searching for innovative ways to cool our stomachs. Rather than heating up the house by doing heavy stir fries, steaming, ...I decided to 'go yogurt (curd)'  literally....meaning I am now adding yogurt to whatever dish I make....starting with stir fries.

Just months before my marriage to V, when I was still a novice when it came to cooking, like any other bride-to-be, I decided to buy myself a cookbook with basic recipes to help me not to starve both of us after marriage :D

I bought two books written by the author Mallika Badrinath. One which contains Vegetarian Lunch recipes and the other, 'Tiffin' (breakfast) recipes. Months passed, years passed, and now when our fifth marriage anniversary is nearing, I chanced upon these books which I had fondly treasured along with my mom's handwritten recipe diaries :) ....I showed the two books to V and he was impressed and was gleaming when I told him I bought these books to cook for him. He then told me to cook something from the book for him. That was a moment I liked a lot :) I got all excited and made this Eggplant Raita for him. He loves yogurt with everything and I wanted something to ward away the heat, hence this recipe was perfect. Here is how I made it from the book with tiny bit of modifications from my end:

Ingredients:

• Eggplant /Brinjal : 1 medium sized
• To coarsely crush together: 2 tablespoons fresh grated coconut and 1 thinly sliced green chilly
• Tampering : 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon each of mustard seeds, urad Dal, cumin seeds and 3 broken dry red chilly, a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
• Well beaten yogurt (curd) : 1 cup
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Roast the whole eggplant in the oven, or over a flame (stick a fork in the eggplant and show over the flame) until the skin gets black. The inside of the eggplant turns mushy and mash-able when this happens.
• After removing the skin, mash the eggplant (I used a hand blender for this purpose). 
• Heat oil in a skillet, add tampering, and when the tampering splutter, lower the heat to medium, add the mashed eggplant and saute for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste
• Add the coarsely crushed coconut and green chilly to the eggplant and stir well. 
• Switch off the flame. Add the well beaten yogurt (curd) to the eggplant mixture and stir until the dish turns a bit watery due to the heat of the pan. 
• Serve hot or chilled 

Variation: Vegetables that can be used: Cluster beans (kothamara, govar beans), Okra (ladies finger or bhindi), carrot (grated or thinly sliced), tomato.
Note: While making raita with the above veggies, cook them with no water (except in the case of Okra, where you may make them crisp by stir frying them) with the tampering (same tampering as in the above recipe), and when they are cooked well and follow the same procedure of adding yogurt towards the end.

Source: 200 South Indian Vegetarian Classic Lunch recipes by Mallika Badrinath

Hope you enjoyed my post as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you :)

Roopa