Eggplant Brinjal Pickle - Kathrikkai oorugai

Why do we pickle vegetables? Unlike today, when you get pickles throughout the year even a decade ago, pickling was done to preserve vegetables when they were available in abundance and in season.

I love Andhra cuisine and more so for their pickles. They pickle vegetables that I would have never thought picklable. I have a couple who come to help out in the farm. While I appreciate their help in the farm, I appreciate the recipes that they share with me even more. Peak summer and our eggplant harvest was plentiful. So one day she told me that she had made vankaya Pachhadi/oorgaya. She gave me the recipe and I gave it a try and have been hooked. I have made it twice already. So if you have some brinjals wait no further. The recipe itself is very simple but these are really good and stay good in the fridge for a long time. The preserving element here is tamarind pulp. If you manage to get most of the water out, the pickles stays preserved longer.

I have used long thin green egpplants but any kind of firm eggplant can be used for the pickle. The large pulpy varieties might not work as well.

Recipe in pictures,

Wash and dry the green brinjals and chop into 1 inch pieces. Dry Roast mustard and fenugreek seeds till lightly roasted. Cool and powder.
Heat oil in a wide mouthed pan and deep fry the brinjal pieces in batches and set aside till all the brinjal pieces have been fried.
Heat water in a sauce pan and soak the tamarind. Extract the pulp and add 2 tbsp of oil and heat the tamarind pulp till oil separates.
Add the deep fried brinjal pieces to the oil, followed by the boiled tamarind pulp.
Add the chili powder and salt and let it cook till the oil separates.

Eggplant Pickle - Kathrikkai oorugai
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:45 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 lbs of green or purple eggplants (about 6 cups of chopped eggplant)
2. 1/4 cup of red chili powder
3. 1 - 1 1/2 cups of sesame oil
4. 1 tbsp of fenugreek seeds
5. 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
6. 1 big lemon sized ball of tamarind
7. seasonings: 1/4 tsp mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
8. salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and dry the eggplants completely. Cut the eggplant into thin 1 inch pieces.
2. Soak the tamarind in some hot water and extract the pulp.
3. In a small pan, roast the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Cool and powder.
4. While the eggplants are being fried, in a sauce pan add a tbsp of oil and heat the tamarind pulp till oil separates.
5. Heat oil in a wide mouthed pan to deep fry the eggplant, when hot fry the eggplants in batches. Fry till the bubbles subside a bit.
6. When all the eggplant pieces have been fried, add a bit more oil and add seasonings and when the mustard seeds pops.
7. Add in the fried eggplant and the let the oil start to bubble.
8. Add the heated tamarind pulp to the eggplant and let it come to a boil. When the oil starts to separate add in the salt and red chili powder.
9. Add in more oil if required. Add in the powdered fenugreek and mustard powder, mix, cook for another 5 minutes and turn off the heat.

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