Eggplant Pickle (Wambatu Moju)

One of the most celebrated classic Sri Lankan dish. There are few regional variations of cooking methods for this lovely side dish, rest assured non of them will disappoint your taste buds. Locals calls this vegetable as “wambatu” & it’s also known as eggplant, brinjal eggplant, aubergine & melongene.

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplant, sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons turmeric, ground
• 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, ground
• 2 teaspoons cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon fennel, ground
• 1/2 cup tamarind pulp
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 4 fresh green chilies, seeded and sliced
• 8 cm cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• Extra salt to taste
• Cooking oil for frying

Method:

• Rub the sliced eggplants with salt and turmeric before leaving for an hour in a bowl. Drain off liquid and dry th eggplant with kitchen towels. Heat a wok with about 2.5 cm oil and fry the eggplant slices with slow heat until brown on both sides.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and put in a dry bowl. Reserve the oil.
• Use a food processor to blend the mustard seed and vinegar on high speed until the mustard is ground. Add onion, ginger, and garlic. Cover and blend again until the paste is smooth. Set aside.
• Heat up a a small dry pan and gently fry the cilantro, cumin and fennel. Shake and stir the pan until the spices turned to medium brown. Squeeze tamarind pulp in hot water, strain and discard the seeds.
• Heat half cup of the reserved oul and fry the blended mixture for 5 minutes.
• Add cilantro mixture, chilies, cinnamon, chili powder and strained tamarind liquid.
• Add the fried eggplant, stir well with cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in the sugar.
• Add extra salt to taste if required.
• Cool thoroughly the store in clean dry jars. Keep in the fridge for weeks.