Pickle Style Jhinga Baingan is my version of a delicious dish my Sri Lankan friends make. I love the hot, sweet, tangy flavors in it. Pickle Style Jhinga Baingan goes beautifully with plain boiled rice!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 2 large eggplants, stalks removed and cut into 1.5" cubes
- 1/2 kg/ 1 lb small to medium-sized prawns (cleaned and deveined)
- 4 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
- 2 large onions chopped fine
- 3 large tomatoes chopped fine
- 2 tbsps garlic paste
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 10-12 dry red chillies
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2" stick of cinnamon
- 8-10 cloves
- 2 tbsps dried prawns
- 2 tbsps sugar
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- Salt to taste
Preparation:
- Put the prawns in a large bowl and sprinkle salt on them. Keep aside.
- Roast the dry red chillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cloves and cinnamon till they begin to release their aroma. Take off from the fire and cool.
- Grind the ginger, garlic and roasted spices into a smooth paste using the vinegar.
- Heat the oil on a medium flame in a wok-style pan. Add the prawns and stir fry till opaque. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
- In the same pan, fry the onions till light brown. Add the tomato and fry till soft. Now add the spice-vinegar paste, dried prawns, sugar and salt to taste and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala.
- Add the eggplant to this masala, mix well and cook till the eggplant is soft and almost pulpy.
- Now add the fresh prawns and stir to mix well. Turn off heat.
- Serve with piping hot, plain boiled rice.
