To prepare Gutti Vankaya recipe (Andhra style stuffed eggplant), use small eggplants as smaller eggplants are easily eaten with phulkas or rotis. Cut them twice diagonally to 3/4 length so you don’t disturb their stems/crowns. When you do this, you should have the eggplant sliced ready for filling from all four sides.
In a deep pot over medium heat, add enough water to bring the tamarind extract and salt to a boil. Turn off the flame, add the eggplant and cover. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, add a little oil to a pan and fry the onions until soft. Wet grind with little tamarind salt water for par boiling the eggplant and keep aside.
Take all the ingredients mentioned in kadai dry roasting and grind them on medium flame. Once you smell the aroma, remove the kadai and let cool slightly. Use a mixer grinder to make a semi-fine powder. Mix haldi/turmeric and salt into this powder as required.
Mix this powder with wet ground sauteed onions. Add a little tamarind brine to make a thick gravy and stuff it into the eggplants. Set aside.
Prepare tadka with oil. Add jeera, bay leaves, curry leaves. When they crackle, add the eggplant filling and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Mix the remaining gravy with more water/tamarind and salt water and add to the kadai. Bring to a boil over low heat. Fry carefully so that the juices do not escape from the eggplants. When the gravy thickens and the eggplant looks cooked, turn off the flame.
Serve Gutti Vankaya with hot rice, biryanis, Pancake, Pulkas or Aki Roti Make it a main dish.
