Brinjal (Eggplant) Rice

          My memories of this rice goes back to my school days, a friend of mine used to bring this for lunch, it was in those eat and forget days ( but I didn't forget, I guess). This dish is very popular in the state of Karnataka and Maharashtra, but at home, we had brinjals only in sambars, curries or as the very popular stuffed eggplants. I had this again, only after marriage and after coming out of India, at a friend's place, she makes a slightly different version but nevertheless a very tasty one, will post that recipe later. Well, everybody has their own version of this rice, a small difference in the masala added, this is my version, I added some mustard seeds and black peppercorns to the masala which gave a slightly different flavor to the rice..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 2 cups
• Small Green Brinjals - 7 or 8
• Tomatoes - 3 chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Urad Dal - 1 tablespoon
• Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
• Peanuts - 1/4 cup
• Curry Leaves - 10 
• Coriander Leaves - to garnish

Roast And Powder

• Chana Dal - 2 tablespoon
• Urad Dal - 1 tablespoon
• Coriander Seeds - 2 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Black Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 4 
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cinnamon Stick - 2"
• Cloves - 4
• Cardamom - 1
• Coconut - 2 tablespoon

Method
          Cook and cool the rice, dice the eggplants and keep it soaked in water. Roast all the ingredients given under roast and powder, adding coconut in the last, cool and powder. Heat oil, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, peanuts, roast the nuts, add asafoetida, curry leaves followed by the tomatoes, saute till the tomato wilts. Now, add the eggplants, turmeric powder and salt, mix well, cover and cook till the brinjals are just done. Finally, mix in the powder, lastly add the rice and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with some raitha.

Sending this to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                   to Food Delicious for the Only South Indian event,
                   to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event,
                   to Indian Simmer for the Indian Food Palooza event,
                   to Srav's Cooking Concepts for Vegan Diets - Only Plant Based event and
                   to Roshan's Cucina who is hosting this month Gayathri's WTML event .

Note
Add chillies more or less depending on your spice level.
Do not overcook the eggplant, can also add peas or lima beans to the rice.
Can use purple brinjals too, but personally I like the green ones for this rice.