Spicy Eggplant in Ginger-Tamarind Sauce (Masala Vangi)
Submitted by Jonesy
Masala Vangi: baby eggplants stuffed with toasted coconut, coriander, and cayenne, then simmered and drizzled with tangy ginger-tamarind sauce. A vegetarian Indian classic.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
50 minMasala Vangi is Maharashtrian home cooking at its most fragrant. Small eggplants get slit and stuffed with a spiced coconut filling that’s been toasted with coriander, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne until the kitchen smells like a spice bazaar.
Then they’re pan-fried with popping mustard seeds and covered to steam until silky soft all the way through.
The ginger-tamarind sauce poured over at the end is the real showstopper. Sour, warm, and slightly sweet from a touch of molasses, it clings to every curve of the eggplant.
Kitchen Tips
- Use long, slender eggplants (Indian or Japanese varieties) for the best results. They’re easier to stuff and cook more evenly than globe eggplants.
- Keep a lid ready when the mustard seeds hit the hot oil. They pop and jump like tiny firecrackers.
- Don’t throw away the tamarind pulp after the first soak. The recipe cleverly reuses it to make the finishing sauce.
- For extra heat, stir chopped green chilies into the ginger-tamarind sauce at the end.
Ingredients
Directions
Put the tamarind in a nonmetallic bowl.
Add ¼ cup boiling water and let it soak for 30 minutes.
Mash the pulp and extract as much juice from it as possible.
Pour all liquid into a bowl, and save the fibrous residue for making the sauce.
Slit the eggplants lengthwise to within ¾ inch of the stem end so that each eggplant remains in one piece.
Measure out the spices and place them right next to the stove in separate piles.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
Add the coriander, cinnamon, and cloves; fry for 15 more seconds.
Stir in the coconut and cayenne pepper; continue frying, stirring, until lightly toasted (about 2 minutes).
Turn off the heat and stir in the salt, tamarind liquid, and molasses, and mix well.
Stuff the eggplants with the spicy coconut mixture.
Secure them by wrapping thread around them.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the same pan over medium-high heat.
When it is hot, add mustard seeds.
Keep a pot lid handy, as the seeds may spatter and fly all over.
When the seeds stop spattering, add the eggplants in one layer.
Fry the eggplants, turning them often, for 3 or 4 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium or medium low and cook them, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are soft and cooked through.
Turn off heat.
Transfer them to a serving platter, pour Ginger-Tamarind sauce over them, and serve immediately.
GINGER-TAMARIND SAUCE: Put tamarind residue in a nonmetallic bowl, add ½ cup boiling water, and let soak for 30 minutes.
Mash the residue and extract as much tamarind essence as possible, squeezing it hard, into a bowl.
Discard the fibrous residue.
Put tamarind water in a nonmetallic pan along with cornstarch, mix well and bring to a boil.
Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in ginger shreds.
Note: For a hotter flavor, stir 4 chopped hot green chilies into sauce.
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