For the letter E, there was never a need to think of anything else. Amma had made this dish once and I decided this is what I was going to do for E. Of course I had to resort to using the English name for this. Amma called it Kathrikai chops, going by the famous mutton chops. I am told that this dish has the same crazy as the mutton chops would have.
I am not sure how much this is true as I have never lived in Andhra, however, Andhrites are known for their affinity to Brinjal/ Eggplant. In fact, there is a song dedicated to the goodness and yumminess of brinjals. My daddy is very fond of brinjal and can have it in any form. So I knew he must have loved this dish as well.
The first time I tasted this, I felt I had to use this for the ABC series. There was no question of using this for any other letter. In fact, this vegetable can fit into so many letters, that it's amazing. One Vegetable and I could have used it for so many letters as it is also called as Aubergine, Brinjal, Eggplant, Garden egg, Melongene, Kathirikai, Vankaya, and if there are more I am not aware!
Since all my other letters had some options I could've used it for V but it didn't strike me at all. I was fixed on using it as Eggplant as I was running short of options for E. Well as my friends who have been with me on this Dish hunt for each letter, would tell you, you will understand only if you go through it..:)
End of the day I was happy I selected as this was such a delicious dish and as the bard says, What's in a name!
For E, we have Eggplant Chops
Eggplant Chops
Ingredients Needed:
For the Chops
Eggplant - 500 gms
Salt to taste
Oil - 100 gms
Onions - ¼ cup (1/2 of a medium)
Tomato - ¼ cup
Water - ½ cup
For the paste
Coconut paste - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green chilies - 4 - 5 long
Cinnamon - 1”
How to make the Chops
Grind all the ingredients listed under the paste, to a smooth paste using water.
Wash and slit the eggplants through the middle into 4 parts, keeping one end intact. Stuff the masala into the eggplants. Keep it aside.
Heat a nonstick pan with oil, saute the onions till brown, then add tomatoes, once the tomatoes turn soft, add the stuffed eggplant along with the masala. Simmer and cook for 5 mins.
Then add water and continue cooking till the masala is well cooked and the eggplant turns soft. This takes about 10 mins or so.
Serve with Chapatis
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
wow so homey and authentic.. I make a similar one...
Preeti Garg says
Look Interesting and delicious
veena krishnakumar says
innoru pudu dish...have so may to try...looks delicious valli!!
Priya Suresh says
When i saw the name i thought it might be a deep fried ones, dunno for me chops means deepfrying..lolz, wonderful looking eggplant chops Valli.
divya says
looks sooo delicious n yummy.
Manjula Bharath says
haven't heard of eggplant chops anywhere 🙂 this looks yummy and interesting recipe dear 🙂
vaishali sabnani says
That is a wonderful way to make eggplants..normally we used to stuff the small size brinjals..but this surely is interesting.will pass the recipe to my daughters as they love them..we don't get them in the house, me being allergic to them.
Pavani N says
OMG Valli.. that is such a tempting eggplant dish. You know my love for all things eggplant 🙂 I'm going to try this real soon.
Erin from Long Island says
Long time reader, first time poster......you might want to change the first "garlic" in the paste ingredients to ginger. Also...i LOVE this blog!!!!!!!
Srivalli says
Erin, thanks for delurking to let me know abt the typo, have updated it. Nice to know you and glad you love blog, thank you..:)
nayana says
looks so delicious n spicy...
Sandhya Karandikar says
I too love eggplant in every form. Baigan in Hindi, Vaangi in Marathi and Ringna in Gujarati are three more words I can tell you for this very versatile vegetable.
We too make similar stuffed eggplants but this masala is so very different that I must try it.
Sapana Behl says
Never heard about Eggplant chops but sounds delicious . Am a big fan of Baingan and will try this one for sure..
Janani says
Mutton chops madhiri eggplant chops huh nice name loving the paste ingredients have lot of brinjal at home here comes my dinner recipe thanks for sharing valli ji.
Rajani S says
You are right :), so many name choices for this vegetable :)...Chops look great and I might try it sometime, it looks really good!
Harini-Jaya R says
I am sure the eggplant lovers will appreciate it!
Padma Rekha says
Even I am a big fan of this vege. This recipe is very new to me looks so delicious...
Chef Mireille says
unfortunately eggplant and I dont exist in the same realm - but I'm happy you guys loved it
Gayathri Kumar says
I love brinjal in any form. This with the stuffing looks so inviting...
Sreevalli E says
always " Yes " for eggplant.. Delicious dish Valli..
Padmajha PJ says
A song dedicated to brinjal!wow!! I love brinjal and the name sounds different and I am sure to try this after this BM.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I love eggplants and your dish is so new...With the abundance of it in my backyard, I should give it a try!
Kalyani says
egg plants are so versatile - they lend themselves to so many varieties.. I have a stuffed version coming up at the fag end of this BM
Archana Potdar says
This is new to me. Bookmarking it.
These eggplants are sure versatile. Love them a lot much to the kids irritation.
Foodiliciousnan says
The stuffing part sounds so yummy. I have an aversion to brinjal, so will try using the filling with 'kovakkai'. And i can understand the dilemma of what letter to use it for!
Nisha Sundar says
I love that masala filling. This is sure to go into my to do list.
Saraswathi Tharagaram says
Interesting stuffing and it would have tasted awesome with simple dal rice..