Around this time of the year if you visit the vegetable markets in Mumbai, you may chance upon this white variety of eggplant aka baingan. My wife’s been curious about these for the longest time since growing up in Pune, she’d never had these as a kid. 

  
Here’s a dish I made with these last week and added it to my wife’s list of strange (for her) list of #PatharePrabhu vegetables cooked with a non-veg ingredient still retaining the character of the veggie… 

This is not a traditional recipe… It’s my take on a lost recipe my Aaji would make many years ago (using the same 2 core ingredients)!

Ingredients 

White brinjals aka eggplant – 1/4  kg (any small variety brinjal will do)

Keema (minced goat mutton)  – 1/4 kg

Besan or Ground Chana Dal – 4 tbsp

Onions – 2 nos chopped fine

Green chillies- 2 nos chopped fine

Coriander- a small bunch 

Hing – a pinch

Red chilli powder 

Turmeric 

Parbhi Sambar powder

You’ll need around 1/4 kg of these small white brinjals… Prepare them for the recipe by getting rid of the stem and green bits on them (the stalks)

Mix together a chopped onion, some soaked and ground chana dal or besan, a finely chopped chilli, a handful of chopped coriander, a tsp of tamarind paste. Stuff this mix into the brinjals (slit them with a criss-cross cut without cutting all the way through. 

This is how they’ll look once stuffed – ready to cook with your kheema (goat mince)…

Heat a tbsp of oil, add a pinch of hing and sauté a finely chopped onion in this. Once the onion is translucent, add half a tsp haldi and a tsp each of red chilli powder and Parbhi sambar. Fry this for a minute over a medium flame.

Add around 1/4 kg mutton mince to the sautéed onion and masala, a good glug of water and the stuffed brinjal.

Add some chopped coriander, cover and cook till the mince and brinjals are cooked through. 

Adjust the gravy to a consistency you desire and serve hot… 

I like this slightly runny with some Steamed white rice or slightly dry with chapatis…

Unusual for sure … Ridiculously easy to cook and great tasting