Name: Brinjal Fry Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 250 grams eggplants; 2 tablespoons oil; 1 teaspoon mustard seeds; 2 teaspoons urad dal; 2 teaspoons chana dal; 2 tablespoons peanuts; 1 teaspoon red chili powder; 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder; salt (to taste)

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Brinjal fry is a delicious, quick, simple and vegan side dish for rice from Tamil nadu cuisine. Love eggplants? Try this brinjal fry now. Don’t care much for eggplants, please try this fry now and you will be a fan! Best ever side dish with brinjal for sambar, curd rice or spicy rasam is this fry and you can make it in 20 minutes flat! Here is how you to make best brinjal fry with easy steps and loads of tips.

Closeup shot of Tamil Nadu style brinjal fry recipe served in a small ceramic pan

What Is Brinjal Fry?

Eggplant is also known as brinjal and this is a simple side dish or stir fry recipe of brinjal with Indian spics. Unlike the name suggests this is not a recipe that involves deep frying of eggplant.

You basically saute and cook the chopped eggplants in a tempering and season it mildly. Brinjal fry is a dry dish with slightly crispy edges and tastes very delicious.

Brinjal or kathirikai or eggplant is a very versatile vegetable used across the globe. So many cuisines use eggplants in so many ways and Indian cuisine is no different. We have many brinjal recipes that are delicious and flavorful like

This kathirikai poriyal is one such easy recipe from Tamil nadu. This is an everyday recipe we make in 20 minutes with very simple ingredients. You will love this vegan and gluten free brinjal fry with spicy sambar or rasam rice. It also tastes good with dal fry or curd rice.

When served hot this tastes so good and elevate your meal.

This Brinjal Fry Recipe Is

Delicious, flavorful & robust

Vegan & gluten free

Quick & simple recipe

Tastes good with all south Indian rice recipes

Healthy & wholesome with less oil.

Brinjal Fry Ingredients.

There are loads of variations with brinjal fry recipe. The one I am sharing here is Tamilnadu style kathirikai poriyal with minimum oil and spices. Here is a breakdown of ingredients you will need for this brinjal fry or kathirikai poriyal.

Which Brinjal tastes good in Fry?

We use small Indian brinjal or eggplant that dark violet in color and small in size. These eggplants a soft texture and are not bitter. You can also use long green eggplants in this recipe.

Seasoning

This kathirikai poriyal is mildly seasoned with just turmeric powder, chili powder and salt. The mild seasoning lets the flavor of brinjal shine through.

Other Ingredients

Along with regular south Indian tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal, I like to add handful of peanuts in this kathirikai poriyal recipe. Peanuts pair up very well with brinjal.

Sesame oil is what I recommend for this recipe. The flavor and taste of sesame oil is very good in this poriyal recipes.

How To Make Brinjal Fry Step by Step

Rinse and wipe the brinjals gently. Chop them into big cubes and place in salted water until use.

Eggplants in salted water for making brinjal fry recipe

heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Temper with mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal. Also add peanuts and fry till the lentils turn golden.

Tempering for making brinjal fry recipe

Drain water from chopped eggplants and add to the tempered ingredients. Saute and mix well.

Brinjal added to tempering for making brinjal fry recipe

Season with salt, turmeric powder and chili powder. Mix well.

Seasoning eggplantsfor making brinjal fry recipe

Cook in medium flame, keeping the pan open for 12-15 minutes.

Making brinjal fry recipe

The eggplants should get cooked well and dry. Once done, remove from flame and serve kathirikai poriyal with rice.

Brinjal fry recipe

Serve brinjal fry warm or hot with sambar, rasam or curd rice. This also tastes good with lemon rice, tomato rice, peanut rice or pepper rice.

overhead shot of easy brinjal fry or kathirikai fry served in a ceramic pan

Brinjal Fry Recipe Variations

With Onion

If you prefer to add onions in this recipe, add 1 chopped onion before adding eggplants. Saute the onions till soft and then add the brinjals.

With Coconut

You can add 1/2 cup grated coconut as garnish in this recipe

How To Make Brinjal Fry With Besan

Sometimes I make this brinjal fry with besan or chickpea flour. Just roast 2 tablespoons of gram flour in dry a pan until aromatic. Add this besan in the brinjal fry along with red chili powder. Saute and cook very well till besan turns golden brown. This will add a very nice flavor to the fry.

With Tomato

One more popular and tasty combination is this brinjal fry with tomato. When you add tomato the fry turns a bit mushy but very delicious. Just add 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes after frying the peanuts and proceed with the recipe.

With Sambar Powder

You can make kathirikai poriyal with sambar powder instead of red chili powder. As sambar powder is made of various spices it adds a nice flavor the fry.

Tips For Making Best Brinjal Fry

Use fresh and tender eggplants for best results. Some eggplants tend to have worms and insects, be sure to check and discard if any.
Keeping the chopped eggplants in salted water helps in preventing oxidation.
You can vary the quantity of spices as per taste
Yo can double or halve the recipe.

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