Brinjal Chutney Recipe

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Brinjal, Eggplant, Kathirikai, Kathrikka - whatever one calls it, is a personal favourite vegetable of mine and I hardly tire of brinjal dishes. I love all varieties of chutneys too and like experimenting with different vegetable and spice combinations.

Chutneys are great to make and store for a couple of days and I especially love the kind that can double up for rice in addition to tiffin like dosa idli. This brinjal chutney is heavy on the brinjal flavour so those who don't like them much, consider yourselves warned!

Table of Contents

What is Brinjal Chutney or Brinjal Pachadi?

Chutney and pachadi are both popular in Southern India and they have mild variations. Chutney is often ground with raw ingredients and quicker whereas pachadi typically uses one or more ingredients that is cooked, either sauteed, boiled, or fried. In this Brinjal Chutney recipe, do are going to be lightly sautéing the brinjal with other ingredients before preparing it.

Preparing the Brinjal or Eggplant for Chutney

Brinjal is very much an Indian term for eggplant and we get many varieties in India and overall in Asia. Most will work fine for this recipe, including the larger eggplant available in US, Australia, Europe and elsewhere. The key is to chop them small before proceeding to cook. Also make sure to buy the freshest possible brinjal because they tend to go bitter if not fresh, and that's no fun in a chutney, is it?

Roasting and Grinding

This recipe, as mentioned earlier, requires the brinjal to be sauted a bit before being ground into chutney. We also have a few spices and chillies to prepare the same way but don't get put off by the steps. It's really simple and comes together quite quickly. I have written down the order in which I tend to do this but feel free to swap them around - eg: I cook the eggplan first and then roast the chillies and dal, but you can do it the other way around too, or simultaneously in two pans to get the job done quicker.

If you are looking for more interesting chutney recipes, check out chow chow chutney (with chayote squash), South Indian tomato chutney, and red coconut chutney recipe.

Brinjal chutney or venkaya pachadi, an Andhra style brinjal chutney made with Indian eggplant, tamarind, and spices

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Course Chutney

Cuisine South Indian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

250 grams eggplant or brinjal you can use the large eggplant, long Asian variety, or small Indian ones
1 green chilli add more for extra heat
3 teaspoon cooking oil
¾ teaspoon urad dal skinned, half or whole doesn't matter
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
A pinch asafoetida
1 dry red chilli optional but recommended, omit if you prefer less heat
½ teaspoon tamarind paste or a 1 tablespoon ball of fresh tamarind
3 shallots minced, or use 2 tablespoon minced onions
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

Instructions

Chop the eggplant into one inch cubes and set aside in a bowl of water. This is to prevent the eggplant turning brown and potentially going bitter
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds
When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the eggplant pieces, making sure to squeeze out the water as much as possible
Saute until the brinjal pieces soften and turn a light brown.
Remove to a plate and set aside to cool.
In the same pan, add one more teaspoon oil, slice and add the green chilli, dry red chilli (if using) and ½ teaspoon urad dal.
Saute until the dal turns golden brown.
Place this and the cooled eggplant, tamarind, and some salt in a mixie jar and blend to an almost smooth paste. The moisture from the eggplant should be enough to get it going.
Heat another teaspoon of oil in the same pan as before (this is clearly a one-pan chutney recipe) and add the sliced shallots/onions, asafoetida, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon urad dal
When the dal turns golden brown, add the curry leaves and the blended brinjal chutney paste
Mix well and add more salt if needed. Let it cook for a minute or so until everything heats up nicely and remove from fire
Serve with rice, dosa, or chapati

Notes

You can grill the eggplant in an open flame or in the oven instead of pan frying like I did. This gives the brinjal chutney a smokey flavour
You can add the mustard seeds while tempering (along with the onions, etc) instead of with the eggplant. I wanted to grind the mustard which is why I added it in the first time, but this is entirely up to you
You can pan fry and extra ½ cup sliced onions after the eggplant and grind along with the chutney. This will make it super delicious too!
Adding a pinch of sugar to the chutney will elevate the flavour, try it.

Keyword brinjal chutney recipe

Step by Step Cooking Images

Chop the eggplant into 1" cubes and set aside in a bowl of water. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.

When they pop, drain water and add the eggplant pieces.

Saute until the pieces soften and turn light brown. Remove to a plate and set aside to cool.

how to make brinjal chutney step by step

In the same pan (because we don't like washing up, do we?), add one more teaspoon oil, slice and add the green chillies, dry red chilli, and ½ teaspoon urad dal. Saute until the dal turns golden brown.

Transfer the cooled eggplant, the roasted ingredients from above, tamarind, and some salt to a mixie and blend to a smooth paste.

Heat the last teaspoon of oil in the same pan as before (this is clearly a one-pan chutney recipe) and add the sliced shallots/onions, hing, and ¼ teaspoon urad dal.

When the dal turns golden brown, add the curry leaves and the blended chutney paste. Cook for a minute and remove from heat.