Smoked Eggplant Chutney | Sutta Kathrika Chutney
Smoked Eggplant Chutney is a South-Indian style chutney made using flame roasted eggplant or brinjal with fresh grated coconut, tamarind, urad dal, green chillies and coriander leaves
Ingredients
- 1 large Eggplant or Aubergiene 300-400 grams
- ½ cup Grated Fresh Coconut
- 1 large pinch Tamarind
- 2 tbsp Urad Dal
- 3-4 Green Chillies
- 3 tbsp Gingelly Oil
- Coriander Leaves big handful
- 3 sprigs Curry Leaves
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Grease the eggplant with little oil
- Cook the eggplant directly over high flame turning around each side till it is completely charred from outside and slightly shrunk in size.
- Rest the roasted eggplant for few minutes.
- Carefully peel off the charred skin from the eggplant. Get rid of all the small black charred skin. Slightly mash using hand. It should be soft from inside as well.
- In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of gingelly oil and add 2 tablespoons of whole urad dal and tamarind. Roast on low flame till the urad dal is golden in colour. Add 1 sprig of curry leaves and asafoetida. Turn off the flame.
- Transfer the roasted urad dal mixture and smoked eggplant to a grinder jar. Add in the coriander, chopped green chillies, salt and half heap cup of fresh grated coconut.
- Pulse grind the mixture till it comes together. This chutney tastes best when it is coarsely ground. So don't grind for too long. Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.
- For making the tempering, heat 2 tablespoons of gingelly oil in kadai and add 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds. Once it sputters, add 2 sprigs of curry leaves and turn off the flame.
- Transfer the tempering to the chutney and mix well.
Notes
- Make sure to roast the eggplant/ brinjal till it is completely charred. The eggplant has to be cooked thoroughly.
- Try to pick the eggplant which has less seeds, as it is less likely to be bitter.
- Do not grind this chutney too smooth, it tastes best when it is ground coarsely.
- This chutney tends to turn dark when exposed to air, so keep this chutney closed once ground.. This oxidation is reduced to a certain extent with a layer of oil on top. If it turns dark despite this, just give it a good mix and it will be back to normal colour.
- You may adjust the green chillies according to your spice level.
- Gingelly oil pairs best with this chutney.