Stuffed Baby Eggplant with Sweet-and-Sour Peanut Filling

It is no secret that I love eggplant, as evidenced by the wide array of Eggplant Recipes shared here. While I don't eat eggplant everyday, it does seem like I am rather partial to it. On and off I avoid nightshade family which include eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes to help the gut recover. Choosing ripe red peppers and ripe red tomatoes and and ripe purple eggplant seems to work so far.

Small Indian eggplant, when ripe, is just a little bigger than a large egg and perfect for slitting and stuffing to make spicy dishes. This time, the flavorful sweet-and-sour masala paste for stuffing is made with peanuts, tomatoes, dry red chilies, plus my favorite combo for sweet-and-sour: tamarind paste + grape molasses.

[Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with these brands, these are just the ones available where I shop]


Simply grind the masala paste, make cross-wise slit in the eggplants and slather the paste inside. Reserve some of the paste for the gravy, if preferred.

Ingredients
For the peanut masala paste:
½ cup dry roasted peanuts
4 to 5 dry red chilies
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 Tbsp grape molasses
2 Tbsp tamarind paste
salt to taste

2 Tbsp vegetable oil or safflower oil
water as needed

Preparation

1. Masala Paste: Combine the peanut masala paste ingredients, grind to a smooth paste and keep handy
2. Slit-and-Stuff Eggplant: Make two slits in the eggplant perpendicular to each other keeping the stem intact; slather the masala paste into the crevices by gently opening up the slits
3. Cook: Heat oil in a pan, add any reserved masala paste and sauté ; then, arrange the slit-and-stuffed eggplants gently, splash some water and sprinkle some salt, cover and allow to cook over medium heat; turn the eggplant gently to cook all sides evenly till cooked through but still intact
4. Serve with Basmati rice or naan; or just enjoy it as-is, like an appetizer