Garlic Powder Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients:

Baby Eggplants 5
Garlic 2 Cloves
Red Chile Powder 1 tsp
Tamarind 2 inch Piece
Cumin Seeds a big Pinch
Salt to Taste

Talimpu: 

Mustard Seeds 1/4 tsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
Urad Dal 1/4 tsp
Broken Dried Red Chiles 3 – 4
Asafoetida a Big Pinch
Curry Leaves 5
Oil 2 tsps

Method of preparation:

Soak tamarind in few tablespoons of warm water for sometime and extract all the juice.
Wash the eggplants and remove stems if desired.
Slit each eggplant twice in right angles keeping one end intact to avoid eggplant falling apart once coooked.
Peel and roughly chop garlic cloves.
Grind garlic cloves, cumin seeds and salt together.

Stuff each eggplant with a tbsp or so of the ground garlic mixture.

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add all other talimpu ingredients in order.
When mustard seeds start spluttering, carefully place the stuffed eggplants in the pan.
Fry briefly and stir in any remaining garlic mixture and add few splashes of water.
Cook covered on low flame for good 10 minutes or until eggplants are soft inside.
Stir in tamarind extract and a pinch of salt.
Cook covered again for a minute and remove from heat.
Remove from heat and serve garlic powder stuffed eggplants with steamed rice and dal or with roti.

Notes: Make sure eggplants are cooked well before removing from heat.

Suggestions: Time it takes for the eggplant to cook depends on the size of the eggplant. Cook longer for bigger ones.
Variations: Adjust red chile powder according to taste.
Other Names: Garlic Powder Stuffed Eggplant, Vankaya Velluli Karam.