If you love pickle flavours and tangy and spicy stuffed vegetables – this Indian Pickled Stuffed Baby Aubergine will definitely make your taste buds tingle!! With a spiced yoghurt, mustard oil and peanut filling you won’t be able to stop eating these stuffed baby aubergines!
Stuffed aubergines cooked the Indian way with spices which one typically uses in pickles makes a dish which can be enjoyed on its own or with a side of rice or an Indian bread. The roasted peanuts and the gram flour add a delicious nutty flavour and the pickled spices with mustard oil gives them a totally unique flavour.
Indian Food
As I grew up in India, I have a particular fondness of course for Indian food! It’s a very rich cuisine that consists of a huge variety of vegetables, legumes and grains. The traditional food of India has been widely appreciated for its fabulous use of herbs and spices and for its diverse multi cuisine. The cooking style varies from region to region and is largely divided into South Indian & North Indian cuisine. The staple food in India includes wheat, rice and pulses with chana (Bengal Gram) and being the most important one. Pickling in almost every region of India is common – what is different is the style, method or spices that dominate the different regions. In modern times Indian palette has undergone a lot of change but like all cuisines, the basics never change.
What Ingredients Are There in Stuffed Baby Aubergine
To make this stuffed Indian baby aubergine you’ll need:
- Baby Aubergines – I make it with baby aubergines but it could be adapted to make with larger aubergines. Just dice them and cook them with the paste instead.
- Red onions
- Yoghurt- I use plain yoghurt.
- Peanuts – Make sure you use roasted peanuts.
- Gram flour – rice a nutty, earthen flavour
- Spices – red chilli powder, turmeric, fennel powder, coriander powder
- Whole spices – fennel seeds, mustard seeds
- Seasoning – salt
- Mustard oil – gives an earthen and strong pickle flavour
- Lime juice – to add a bit of tanginess to the spices
- Garnish – fresh coriander, extra peanuts
How To Make Baby Stuffed Aubergine
- Fry the chopped onions in a kadhai and leave aside to drain in a sieve.
- Clean and wipe the aubergine, then cut a slit down the middle of each aubergine lengthwise, not quite going through to the other side.
- Place the yoghurt, red chilli powder, turmeric, gram flour and salt and whisk well. Rub this into the slits of the aubergine.
- Now put the in a small mixing bowl add the salt and water and stir until the salt id dissolved. Add the turmeric, fennel, red chilli powder, lime juice, coriander powder and make into a paste.
- In a small pan add the mustard oil and place over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and fennel seeds and let it crackle. Add the spice paste and the remaining yoghurt paste if left and cook until the water evaporates and the oil leaves the side of the pan. Now add the roasted peanuts, fried onions and fresh coriander and remove from heat.
- Preheat the oven at 140°C.
- Once cold take spoonfuls of the peanut mixture and push into the slit in the aubergines. Press the slits together to hold the mixture inside, or tie them lightly.
- With a brush rub oil on to the skin of each aubergine and place on a lined baking tray. Bake until soft but not browned for 10-15 minutes turning them half way through.
- Garnish with peanuts & coriander. Serve with Coriander and Peanut Chutney.
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Ingredients