Rasavangi and Cabbage Palya

Though we do not get the exact taste of indian brinjal in here, I always keep brinjal in my crisper. My weekly grocery list will definitely have brinjal listed in it. We have a strong desire for eggplant. Kojju and vathakuzhambhu are the ones with a heavenly taste. My grandmother(Dad's mom) makes kojju which tastes yummy even after 2 days. My mom used to say that she learned many dishes from her. She is not with us today but she gave all her magics of cooking to my mom. Rasavangi is one among them which we got from my grandma.

Rasavangi
Brinjal - 6-8 nos.,preferably small ones, Cut into plus shapes easy to stuff masala
Tamarind - big lemon sized
Urad dal - handful
Red chillies - 5
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Asafoetida
Salt to taste

Tadka
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 leaves

Heat little oil in a wok and fry urad dal, red chillies, mustard and methi seeds. Cool and grind to a fine powder. Stuff the eggplant with half of the ground powder. Heat oil and fry the stuffed eggplant seasoning with salt. Extract pulp from tamarind, add turmeric and asafoetida to it. Set aside. Once the eggplant is fried and half cooked, add it to the tamarind extract alongwith the remaining ground powder. Let it boil until it becomes a thick curry adding salt to taste. Fry mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil and add it to the rasavangi. Serve with rice and papad and cabbage palya(fry).

Added touch...
Add a tsp of gingelly oil while serving rasavangi for rice since gingelly oil reduces the heat in a dish, particularly for kids.

Cabbage Palya(Cabbage Fry)
Cabbage - 1/2 of big cabbage, thinly sliced
Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
Red chillies - 2
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 leaves
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Cook cabbage in microwave adding enough water and salt. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a wok and add chana dal. Once the dal turns slight red, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves. Then add red chillies, fry till they turn bright red. Add the shredded coconut and fry for a minute. Then add cooked cabbage, salt to taste and fry till they fully cooked. Serve with rasavangi or vathakuzhambu.