Sauteed eggplant in cilantro-ginger gravy

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Eggplant in cilantro gravy
Eggplant in cilantro gravy

This is one dish that definitely took its time to get into my list of most-loved. I absolutely love it now, I love it for the soft on the inside crispy on the outside texture of the eggplants. I love it for the smooth creamy pungent flavor of the gravy, and most of all I love it for how absolutely insanely easy it is to make when compared to how impressive it looks when served at a party.
The very first time I tasted this dish at a friends home, however, I did not quite fall in love with it. In fact, it was an affront to my delicate taste buds, which had hiterto been zealously protected from anything bordering on pungent. But the way it often happens, DH loved it and my dear friend gave me the recipe for it and it became a regular at our dinner table and slowly worked its way into my heart. 
And the moral of the story is, if you don't like something the first time, don't give up on it, keep trying it and you may develop a taste for it.

Preparation

Take  about 15-20 tiny eggplants and make a cross with a knife, taking care to leave the stall intact. Drop them into a bowl of water.

Leave the slit eggplants immersed in water and heat some oil in a saucepan

Drain the eggplants thoroughly and drop them into the hot oil

Leave the eggplants on a low flame, and allow to cook, stirring occasionally.  In the meantime collect ingredients for the cilantro gravy. You will need two bunches of cilantro, 3 green chillies and a half inch piece of ginger

Place them all in a blender jar with about 5 teaspoons of. Water and blend until smooth



Once the eggplants are soft and break easily with a spatula (one trick I learned from my friend is to check just below the stalk), its time to put the cilantro paste in


Cover with a lid and let it cook for around 5 minutes till the sauce thickens and coats the eggplants

Delicious eggplant in cilantro gravy is ready.


Goes well with tortillas, chappati, naan or steaming hot white rice

Click here for the printable

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