Brinjal Potato Curry

I cherish my years as a Research Scholar in JNU, New Delhi. As a resident scholar, hostel life was a very important part of those years. I still miss my floor-mates, wall-mates, loo-mates..... (floor mates were those residing on the same floor i was on the second floor (3rd if counting the US way),wall-mates were those sharing a wall- so we had two wall mates one on each sides, then the loo-mates.. those of us sharing the common bath complex about a dozen of us i guess). I also miss those days when we did prepare our own food in our tiny rooms,on dangerous coil heaters. There were days when we used to get frustrated with the food in our hostel mess and prepare our own. Nandini, my floor mate is an amazing cook. Her dishes carried a characteristic Andhra spiciness and used to absolutely delicious. This is something she had prepared on one such day at our hostel.

The beauty of this recipe is that it is simple and makes in a jiffy but tickles the taste buds just as it should. This dish goes very will with hot rice, but is also a good combination with chapatis.



Potatoes 2
Brinjal/ Indian egg plants (the small purple round ones) 2
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Green Chillies 2 and above
Chilly powder 1 tsp ( according to taste factoring the chillies)
Garlic 1 clove grated
Ginger 1/4"grates
Salt to taste
Curry leaves 6-7
Oil 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Hing 1 pinch
Turmeric 1 pinch
Coriander a small bunch chopped

Method:

• Chop all the vegetables. Soak potatoes and brinjal in water and set it aside.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves, turmeric, grated ginger, garlic and green chillies. Stir well.
• Drop the chopped onions. Cook till translucent.
• Combine potatoes, brinjal and tomato in order frying each for a minute before adding the next.
  
• Combine the rest of the ingredients and add a 1/2 cup of water.
  
• Check for salt and cover. Cook for one whistle.
  
• Once the pressure of off, uncover and serve hot with rice and a dollop of ghee.