Vankaya Ulli Karam / Brinjals in Spicy Onion Gravy / Brinjal Masala

Vankaya Ulli Karam is my mother-in-laws recipe and we all liked the dish very much. So I decided to share her recipe with my blog friends. This brinjal dish is an excellent choice for parties along with a side of Jeera Rice / Pulav. Even with rotis or plain rice, this tastes much better. The major factor which decides the taste of the dish is the age and size of the brinjals and its freshness..If  you have very fresh small brinjals, don't keep them in the fridge and postpone the preparation.Try to make the Vankaya Ulli Karam as fresh as possible.

Ingredients

Fresh small brinjals - 12 to 15.

Onion - 1 Big

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 3 tbsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 stems

For the Paste

Dry Red Chillies - 8

Groundnuts - 1 handful

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham paruppu / Mina Pappu - 1 tbsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai paruppu / Senaga pappu - 2 tbsp

Methi seeds / Vendhayam / Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Black pepper - 1 tsp

Dry Coconut Powder - 3/4th of tbsp

White Sesame Seeds - 2 tbsp

Tamarind - 1 pinch

Onion - 1 Big one shredded

Ingredients for the Gravy

Method

• Wash the Brinjals and make 4 or 6 slits from its bottom without breaking the brinjal in the middle. Let it looks like an umbrella with different slits and a handle at its top.
• Cut the brinjals in a similar way and put them in a bowl of water. Cut the onion into pieces and keep it ready for the gravy.
• Meantime, with few drops of oil, fry all the ingredients required for the gravy except onion pieces till you get a nice aroma. Then, transfer them to a mixer grinder. In the same pan, fry the cut onions and add them to the mixer grinder. Grind everything together to a fine smooth paste with little bit of water. Keep the gravy paste ready.
• Meantime, in the vessel add oil for tempering. Add Hing, mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves first.
• Then, add the cut brinjals into the kadai / vessel. Add 2 tsp of turmeric powder and cook them with little water and salt. Cover the vessel and let the brinjals cook inside.
• When the brinjals get cooked three fourth, add the gravy paste from the mixer grinder into the vessel.
• Wash the mixer grinder with some water and pour all the gravy water into the vessel.
• Add required amount of salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar and mix the brinjals with the Gravy carefully making sure that the brinjals don't get mashed too much. Try to keep the brinjals in full shape inside the gravy.
• Let everything cook completely and the oil would ooze out of the dish slowly which indicates that the vankaya ulli karam is done perfectly.

Tips

Fry the spices till you get a nice aroma before grinding them for the gravy. This makes the gravy tastier.

Avoid making this dish with green brinjals or long fatty big brinjals. Try to make with small violet brinjals only to enjoy the heavenly taste of the masala.