Kathirikai Saadham/ Eggplant spicy rice/ Brinjal Baath

I am sure many of has have many approaches to this dish - It takes all of 30 minutes to make it and as dishes go, this is a winner, be it for a party or for a hungry family of five :-)

Here's how I do it - My trick to NOT making it super-oily (like it can get) is to use a non-stick pan for preparing the curry

Ingredients

4-5 long purple eggplants ( for the reason that these are not that seedy)
Spices
1 tablespoon each of
Coriander
Cumin
Whole black pepper
sesame seeds
1 stem of curry leaves
Red chillies (about 3-4)

1/2 cup of grated coconut for garnishing at the end
a sprikle of broken roasted cashews (optional)

Preparation
In a non-stick pan, heat one table spoon of Sesame oil ans pop about
1/2 teaspoon full of mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
Golden 1 teaspoon of urad dal and channa dal
Add the cubed eggplant and stir into the pan

Preparing the spice:

1n about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil roast the spices and chillies, cool and dry grind to make the powder or podi
When the eggplant is about halfway cooked, throw in the spices and mix them in nicely in with the eggplant.
Keep covered and cook for about 2-3 minutes
Add salt

Coconut
In the same pan that your roasted the spices, toss the coconut and roast for a couple of minutes

Add to the curry

In the meantime, cook some Basmati rice in a rice cooker or if in a pressure cooker, with less water, if you normally make it mushy
Allow rice to cook a bit and then take small portions of rice and curry and mix together
Garnish with some curry leaves and cashews

                                                         Before masala

                                                         The finished curry

                                                                         On you plate :-)
Eat HOT

Secret tip: Keep the eggplant submerged in water after they are cut and until you are ready to cook them - Drain in colander before cooking

Eggplant