Kathrikkai Masial/ Mashed Eggplant

          For most of the dishes using eggplants/ brinjals I use only the baby eggplants, there are very few dishes that I make with the big eggplant. Today's kathrikkai masial/ mashed eggplant is one of them, it's very easy to prepare and both my husband and daughter love this. It goes very well as part of a South Indian Thali ( rice + sambar + vegetable ) or as a side dish with rotis/ chappatis and also with akki rotis/ flatbreads made with rice flour. The smoked flavor from roasting the eggplants and the tamarind juice added gives a unique taste to this dish..

Need To Have

• Big Eggplant - 1
• Thick Tamarind Extract - 2 tablespoons
• Urad Dal/ Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Onion - 1 small, chopped
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 5 - 10
• Salt - to taste

Method 

          Wash the eggplant and roast it on direct fire till the skin is completely charred. 

          Cool it, remove the skin and mash it ( I got 1 cup of pulp), add the tamarind extract and salt and mix it. 

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds and urad dal, when it starts spluttering, add the chopped onions, green chillies, asafoetida, ginger and curry leaves. 

          Saute it till the onions turn light pink in color, remove and add it to the mashed eggplant and give it a mix.

Note

You can use the Italian eggplants for doing this.

You can toast the eggplant in the oven ( cut into half and bake or grill ) if you don't like the smoked flavor.

If you can't find tamarind, you can add a big chopped tomato ( sauteed), though tamarind gives a different taste.