Eggplant Ravaiya
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup roasted peanuts
- 1tablespoon kosher salt
- 1tablespoon jaggery (unrefined cane sugar), or cane or turbinado sugar
- 1tablespoon ground coriander
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- 1teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder or ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ½teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½teaspoon minced garlic
- ½teaspoon minced ginger
- ½teaspoon minced Serrano chile (if you like less heat, you can remove the seeds and pith)
- Pinch asafetida (optional)
- 1teaspoon chickpea flour
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 8baby eggplants (see note)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
382 calories; 26 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams dietary fiber; 18 grams sugars; 13 grams protein; 967 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put all ingredients except for the olive oil and eggplants in a food processor, and pulse until the peanuts are ground. Add oil and pulse to combine; the mixture will resemble damp sand. Set aside.
- Step 2
Cut a crosshatch in the bottom of the eggplant about three-quarters of the way up the fruit, leaving the stem intact. (In other words, you’re making a deep plus-sign shape in the bulbous part of the fruit, so you can stuff it with the peanut filling.) Repeat with the remaining eggplants.
- Step 3
Stuff each eggplant with a little of the peanut mixture, just enough to fill the hole. You should have some peanut mixture left over.
- Step 4
Place the stuffed eggplants on their sides in a single layer on the bottom of a large pot or saucepan with a lid. The eggplants can overlap a little, but ideally they will all fit on the bottom of the pot. Dollop the leftover peanut mixture on top of and around the eggplants, and add 1 cup of water. Turn heat to medium and cover the pot. Let the eggplant cook at a simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary, for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the eggplants are just tender when you poke them at the stem end with the tip of a knife.
- Step 5
Taste the sauce for salt, and serve hot with basmati rice or Indian flatbreads.
- It’s best to use baby eggplants (about 4 inches long) shaped like teardrops. The chef Niven Patel uses an Indian variety, but this shape is also grown in Italy and elsewhere, so you can find it at farmers’ markets and some supermarkets too. Or use long skinny Japanese eggplants, and cut them into about 4-inch pieces, then make two slits in each piece as you would for a whole teardrop eggplant. They will break down a bit more but will still taste good.
Private Notes
Comments
The oil is added to the peanut mixture after the peanuts are ground with the spices and flour. See Step 1
Followed the recipe and I think 1 TB of salt is too much. Served it with a very lemony raita to cut the saltiness and save the dish. Will try again and add salt to taste at the end.
The instructions omit how the olive oil is used. I've made a similar dish, so I presume it's combined with the water at step 4 with the water (which should have mostly evaporated by the end of the cooking).
Some freshly chopped cilantro leaves, added in the last 5 minutes of cooking, is a nice addition (those who don't care for cilantro can substitute parsley, which is admittedly non-traditional: the parsley plant, a temperate herb, does not grow well in tropical India).
Loved this and will definitely make it again but it’s salty! I will cut the salt by half next time
The extra oil in the filling is also a bit much. Maybe cut in half next time.
This recipe is great! The flavors are so dynamic it made my taste buds dance. I substituted coconut oil for olive oil, which gave the dish some additional complexity. I also added some cooked lentils for extra protein. I’ll definitely be making this again!