Eggplant in hot, sweet and sour sauce (Pacheri Terong)

It was one of those perfect days, the sun was neither too hot, nor too timid. I had just managed to to find enough time to put the pickle I put every year (thanks again Manisha!) and I still had time. The little one was taking one of those rare long afternoon naps!

We were getting food ready for dinner. I had a eggplant and was wondering what to do with it when Aswin brought out one of our Madhur Jaffery recipe books. It dawned on me that I had not used one of those in a few months. So I looked up and found a Malaysian recipe - Pacheri Terong - that sounded fantastic.

We had all the ingredients, I adjusted it to match our tastes and started cooking. I have to say it came out delicious. I could taste all three - hot, sweet and sour - in perfect balance with each other. And the cinnamon in eggplant, I had not used it before, gave it a wonderful aroma as well.

Here is the recipe:

(Recipe courtesy: Madhur Jaffrey's Step by Step Cooking)

Ingredients:
1 onion - sliced thinly

1 inch cube ginger - grated

1 tspoon cumin seeds

1 tspoon coriander seeds

2 red chillies

3 cloves

2 inch cinnamon

1 big eggplant - cut in cubes

4 tbsp oil

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tbsp dark brown sugar
3/4 cup water
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind cumin, coriander, red chillies, cloves, and cinnamon to a fine powder. Heat oil and then add onions and ginger. Saute it for a few minutes till the onions become soft and translucent.

Then add the powdered spices. After this, add water and turn down the heat and let it cook together for a couple of minutes. Then add paprika, tamarind, sugar and salt.

Put in eggplant, and cook for 20-30 minutes until eggplant is tender and the sauce is thick and sticks to the eggplant.

Serve with rice or chapati.