Sweet and sour eggplant curry

Eggplant is a versatile ingredient because of its chewy texture that absorbs flavours very easily. This recipe is not your regular masala preparation. There is sweet twist. Jaggery balances the flavours in this exciting Vishu recipe.

Ingredients
½ kg eggplant
2 big pieces of ginger (crushed)
2 tsp chilli powder
200 gm shallots (finely chopped)
12 cloves garlic (crushed)
½ tsp turmeric powder
A lemon sized ball of tamarind (soaked in water)
1 tsp cumin and fenugreek (1 tsp cumin and ½ tsp fenugreek should be dry roasted and ground)
Salt as required
Jaggery as required

Preparation
Cut the eggplants and rub it with salt
Heat some oil and fry the eggplants
Into the same oil add shallots and sauté well
Into it add ginger and garlic
When it begins to turn aromatic, lower the flame to simmer and add the chilli powder and turmeric powder
Into it add the tamarind water
When this begins to boil, add salt and jaggery as per taste
Up to 2½-3 table spoons of jaggery powder could be added
Add the powdered cumin and fenugreek and mix well
Add the fried eggplants into it and mix everything well together
Cook for two more minutes before turning off the flame.