Eggplant in chilly and coriander paste

Eggplant is not a very popular vegetable, either you love it or hate it, and there is no middle ground. However it is one of my favorite vegetables and I'm always trying new recipes, even though I'm the only one who eats it at home. This recipe I share with you today was generously shared by my friend Sudha, who is an excellent cook. She tells me it is a very popular preparation in the South of India. It goes very well with hot steamed rice and a generous dollop of ghee. This is one of those recipes where you don't sweat much in the kitchen, and the dish tastes amazing.

Recipe credit: Sudha J

Ingredients:

1. Eggplant - 250 gms (cut into 3 inch pieces)
2. Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
3. Green chilly - 2 nos
4. Garlic - 1 clove (optional)

**Ingredients for tempering:

Oil - 2 tbsp (or as required)
Curry leaves - 10 leaves
1/2 tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana daal, urad daal, turmeric powder.

**All ingredients for tempering are optional except oil.

Method:

1. In a pan, heat oil, add the mustard seeds, when it stops spluttering, add the remaining ingredients mentioned in tempering.
2. Add the brinjal/ eggplant quarters and salt. Let it cook on slow flame.
3. In the meanwhile, grind the coriander leaves, green chili and garlic to a fine paste.
4. When the brinjal/ eggplant has almost cooked, add the ground paste and mix well. Let it cook till the  brinjal/ eggplant is done and switch off the flame.