Eggplant curry (Kathirikai/Brinjal)

As a child, I hated eggplant curries because they were so tasteless. However, during my stay in Colombo I started to love this curry. The eggplant curries served in the restaurants there had a tangy tamarind taste which made me obsess over them. Since coming back to Sweden, I searched on the Internet on how to best imitate that gravy. I have adapted a recipe from this site. I have prepared this curry many times since then and my parents love it.  

Eggplant curry:

1 large purple eggplant

1/2 tsp cumin

1 onion

3 clove garlic paste
1 tsp ginger

2 green chili

1 tbs curry powder

1 tbs thick tamarind paste (preferably a sweet-tangy one)

2-3 tsp sugar

Salt to taste
1/4 cup water

1 tbs coconut cream (optional)

1 spring curry Leave

Oil for frying

Cut the vegetables in small pieces. If you cut them big, it will take more time to fry so cut them reasonably small. Heat oil and deep-fry the eggplants until brown on both sides. When finished deep-frying, in a separate pan, add oil and temper cumin, then add sliced onion, curry leaves and green chili and fry until golden brown and fragrant. Add the garlic-ginger paste and then the fried eggplants, followed by curry powder and the thick tamarind paste, that has been prepared separately and fry for about 5 minutes. Add water, sugar and salt. Mix well. Add the coconut cream and stir continuously till it looks like a gravy. Serve hot with rice!