Brinjal Curry (ಮಟ್ಟಿನ ಗುಳ್ಳ ಹುಳಿ)

 Traditional way of cooking Brinjal Curry. Gulla (in Kannada language - Karnataka) means Brinjal or Egg plant.
Mattina Gulla or A special variety of Brinjal curry is a gravy dish and one of the side dish. Mattina Gulla is a special variety of Brinjal grown near a particular place called " Mattu" near Udupi Karnataka. This variety of brinjal is available in certain months of the year. It is some thing different from the normal brinjal, cooks out fast and it has got its own taste. Different types of dishes are prepared using these brinjals.

Ready to Serve  Brinjal Curry

Lets see some benefits of having brinjals in our diet.
Brinjals are known as the king of vegetables. It is very good for weight loss because they contain very low calories. They are full of fiber. Brinjals help to control blood pressure diabetic and blood sugar.They contain good amount of antioxidant properties.They help to lower the cholesterol level. They are rich in fiber, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B-6.

This curry has sweet and sour taste. I used jaggery, coconut, spices and tamarind. Little fried urid dal is used for thickening the curry. The fresh coconut oil is added at the last stage. Since we are from South Canara ( Udupi - Mangalore side) , we love the aroma of coconut oil. I fried the spices with little (1/2 Teaspoon) Safola green corn oil and at the last step added 1 table spoon of coconut oil. It not only adds to the taste fresh oil is good for health. (Not too much of course). Brinjal curry goes well with almost all main dishes. It is one of the yummy dish mixes well with plain rice, idli, dosa, chapatis, roti, poori and rotti and other main dishes as I said earlier.
No Onion or No garlic Recipe 

Things Needed :

1) To Cook 
Brinjals : 2
Jaggery : 2 Tablespoons
Green Chilly : 1
Salt : to taste
Turmeric Powder : a pinch

2) The spice used for frying and grinding
Red chilly : Byadagi (or any) : 4 to 6
Urid Dal : 1 Teaspoon
Coriander Seeds : 1 Tablespoon

Ingh : a pinch
Tamarind : One marble size
Coconut : 3 to 4 Tablespoons

3) For seasoning :
Methi seeds( Fenugrik seeds) : 1/4 Teaspoon

Mustard seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Curry leaves : 5 to 6
 Adding at the last step :
Coriander leaves : 1 Tablespoon

Coconut oil or Ghee : 1 Tablespoon

Method :

1. Wash and cut brinjals into big pieces and put in a big bowl of water for at least 10 minutes.

2. Wash and cut coriander leaves and keep it aside.
3. Grate fresh coconut and keep it aside.
4. Keep a small pan and put a drop of oil and fry urid dal till red. Add coriander seeds, red chilly, little ingh. (Fry for 1 to 2 minutes).

5.Let it cool. Grind this fried mixture with coconut and tamarind till paste. (Use little water while grinding).
6. Remove from the mixi jar and keep it aside.

7. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Add 1 tea spoon of oil , mustard seeds and methi seeds. Let mustard seeds splutter.
8. Add ingh and curry leaves. Squeeze out the water from cut brinjal pieces and add this to a splutter mixture.

9. Stir slowly and add turmeric powder. Add a cup of water and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

10. Add salt and jaggery once the brinjal is half cooked. (just after 1 minute).

11. Now add ground masala and cook for another 2 minutes. (Let all the spice mixture mix it well. Stir in between)

12. Once it is done add coriander leaves and put the ready brinjal curry to a serving bowl. Add a table spoon of fresh coconut oil or a tea spoon of fresh ghee.

Note : 

You can add 1 teaspoon of soaked raw rice instead of urid dal(used it while frying the spices). Adding onions and garlic is purely optional. Adding a green chilly gives good aroma. You can add little garam masala if you are using this curry to chapatis or pooris
You can also add any dal to this curry. (Toor or Moong dal but the taste differ). I have not added. If you use dal reduce coconut quantity, You can prepare any type of brinjals. But the round green brinjals taste better. Using coconut oil is optional. Do not use the old coconut oil. The curry smells bad and you may not be able to eat the food. (Make sure the oil is fresh). We use freshly bought coconut oil from our village. You can use a teaspoon of ghee instead of coconut oil. I used Safola green for seasoning and frying the spice.
Time : 10 minutes.
Serves :  3 to 4