Kathirikkai Podi Curry/Eggplant Curry with Freshly ground spice powder

Today's recipe is a flavorful eggplant curry which I make it often with freshly ground masala powder.This curry is served an accompaniment for sambhar rice,rasam rice,dhal  and curd rice or rotis.
It can also me made with sambhar powder in a hurry but the freshly ground masala is an added flavor.We enjoyed this curry for our lunch along with spinach sambhar.Now off to the recipe....................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Small round eggplants/kathirikkai	10nos.
Onion	1no.(medium size)
Curry leaves	1sprig
Oil	2tbs
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/2tsp
Salt	as needed

To roast and grind 

Ingredient	Quantity
Red Chilly/varamilagai	4-5nos.
Coriander seeds/varakothamalli	2tsp
Channa dhal/kadala paruppu	2tsp
Peanuts/verkadalai	1tbs
Sesame seeds/vellai ellu	1tsp

For the tempering 

Ingredient	Quantity
Mustard seeds/kadugu	1/2tsp
Urad dhal	1tsp
Channa dhal	11/2tsp
Asafoetida/perungayam	a pinch

Method

               Dry roast the ingredients except sesame seeds in a medium flame till the aroma comes out and the dhal turns out golden.Now add the sesame seeds,turn off the flame and roast it.Cool and grind it in a blender to bit coarse powder.Slice the eggplants lengthwise into 4 or 6 pieces depending on the size and put it in water to prevent browning.keep aside.

Heat a pan with oil and add the mustard seeds,once it crackle add the urad dhal and channa dhal and fry it till golden.Now add the asafoetida and saute the chopped onion with curry leaves to transparent.

Add the sliced eggplants,turmeric powder and toss it well till everything gets blend,add the salt and mix it well and cook it covered in a medium flame for 5 minutes.

Once the eggplants get cooked add the ground spice powder and mix it well.Keep it uncovered in a low flame for 2-3 minutes.

Podi curry is ready,serve it rice or roti.

• Do not cook the eggplants for a long time otherwise it will turn mushy and no need to add water for cooking the eggplants.That also make the curry mushy.
• After adding the spice powder,if the curry is too dry the add 2tsp of oil and cook it.
• Adding the onion is also purely optional and this curry can be made without onion also.
• A tbs of fresh grated coconut can be added along with the spice powder for an extra flavor and taste.

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