We grow a lot of eggplant at our home garden and I try several different varieties. This kara curry is a great recipe to make with any kind of eggplant we have in hand. I usually use the small round Indian eggplants or the long Japanese kind. But I have also used the big, round eggplants that we make Baingan Bharta or Eggplant Parmesan. When making South Indian-style curry, I usually stick to making the kathirikai podi curry or a quick stir fry with seasoning. A few years back, when at my parent’s house in India, my dad had made kathirikai curry with onion. My younger son fell in love with it and ever since then, I have been asked to only make brinjal curry with onion.
Step-by-step process
Chop the eggplants and onion and uniform long slices and keep them ready.
Tip - Keep the eggplants soaked in water until ready to use as this helps in preventing discoloration. Kathirikai Podi Curry - This is a delicious eggplant stir fry made with freshly ground homemade spice powder. Aloo Baingan - A wonderful curry with eggplants and potatoes and the combination works perfectly with roti/Indian flatbread. Dahi Baingana - Yogurt lover? Then you have to make this delicious fried eggplant in yogurt sauce. A great recipe for summer. Kathirikai Rasavangi - One of my favorite South-Indian stew/kootu made with brinjal. All we need is some hot rice to enjoy this. Eggplant/brinjal/kathirikai - I use the small round Indian eggplant or the long Japanese kind. Use any kind that you have. Chop them into uniform long slices. Onion - Another star ingredient in this kathirikai kara curry. I use any kind of onion I have in hand - yellow onion, sweet onion, or red onion. Chop them into thin long slices as well. Spice powders - I have used turmeric powder, red chili powder, and dhania powder in the kara curry recipe. Seasoning ingredients - mustard seeds and urad dal is all I have used for seasoning. We can some asafoetida as well, but Amma has always instructed me not to use asafoetida when using onions. Oil - Use any kind of cooking oil. I either use coconut oil or vegetable oil when making stir-fries.
Eggplant poriyal is now ready to serve!
Expert tips
Keep the eggplants in water until ready to cook. This prevents the vegetable from discoloring. Chop the eggplants in uniform sizes so they can cook evenly. Adjust the spices based on your liking. I make it medium spicy. If you don’t want to add onion, feel free to skip it. Follow the exact recipe and just skip sauteing the onions. Eggplants shrink when cooked, so adjust the quantity based on that.
Frequently asked questions
More similar poriyal
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter I also like to serve this brinjal curry with roti/pulka and some dal on the side. My son loves this poriyal with rice and thogayal. Two of his favorite thogayals that he enjoys this curry with thengai/coconut thogayal and paruppu thogayal. I love to eat this brinjal curry with yogurt rice/thayir sadam and Thayir oats/oats in yogurt and once you try it, you will realize why it is my favorite.
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