Easy & spicy eggplant stir fry made using Indian spices makes this a delicious, spiced vegetable side dish which is vegetarian as well as vegan! It makes a great side dish with any meal, especially along with cooked rice and any curry of your choice for dinner or lunch. Pair this eggplant stir fry with cooked white rice or brown rice along with Indian sambar or moru curry (Indian style yogurt curry) for a simple, easy and delicious South Indian vegetarian meal.
This easy eggplant stir fry recipe (brinjal stir fry) is made using small eggplants that are commonly used in India, but you may also try this recipe with any kinds of eggplants available.
This eggplant stir fry is (also known as brinjal stir fry, as eggplants are mostly known by the name brinjal in India) is popular in South India.
The brinjal stir fry Kerala recipe is also known as brinjal mezhukkupuratti which simply means stir fried eggplants.
The important thing with cooking eggplants is to cook the eggplants well or it will have a rubbery texture and if you overcook it, the eggplant will be mushy which won’t taste good unless you are preparing a dish that calls for mashed eggplants like this Punjabi style baingan barta where eggplant is roasted in the oven and mashed to make the dish.
But in stir fry recipes like this eggplant stir fry, you need to cook the eggplants well, but it shouldn’t get mushy.
So the trick is to get the eggplants cooked just enough so they will not be rubbery, but cooked and soft, but not mushy.
I have used chilies in this easy eggplant stir fry recipe which makes this a spicy eggplant stir fry recipe too, but if you avoid using the chilies, it will still be yummy but it won’t be spicy.
As I mentioned above we use small eggplants or brinjals for this easy eggplant stir fry recipe.
From my experience, I have found that the small eggplants or brinjals tastes the best when used in stir fries and they get cooked fast too without any bitter taste or rubbery texture.
This easy eggplant stir fry recipe is vegetarian/vegan recipe and this is perfect to be used as a side dish with rice for lunch or dinner.
As this is a stir fry recipe, it is a dry eggplant dish without any gravy.
You can find my recipes on easy fried eggplant curry here and creamy eggplant curry South Indian style recipe here, both of which are very delicious eggplant curry recipes which uses large eggplants.
You can also try the delicious fried eggplant slices recipe here.
This easy eggplant stir fry recipe is very easy to follow, just make sure to use small eggplants/brinjals for this stir fry recipe and follow the instructions given here.
If you don’t like spicy eggplants, just avoid using the chilies.
More Pictures From The Preparation
So here is how I made this delicious eggplant stir fry following this easy eggplant stir fry recipe.
How to make Indian eggplant str fry with spices?
We use the following ingredients to make delicious eggplant stir fry with spices.
ingredients used
5 small eggplants/brinjal (or about 2 cups sliced eggplants of any variety)
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (or use cumin seeds as I did)
5 broken dry red chilies optional
1 string curry leaves a few
salt as required
2 tablespoons water just enough to sprinkle
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Step by step instructions
Wash the eggplants and slice them in long medium sized pieces.
You can also soak the sliced eggplants in enough water and salt for about 10 to 15 minutes to get rid of the slight bitterness.
After soaking, you can discard the water used for soaking the eggplants.
Rinse the sliced eggplants in fresh water and pat dry using a paper towel.
Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds (or cumin seeds).
When the mustard seeds splutter (if using cumin seeds wait for few seconds until they get lightly roasted), add the broken red chilies (if using) and curry leaves, fry for a few seconds.
Add the sliced eggplants, stir fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add salt, garlic powder and sprinkle the water, cover the pan and cook for about 6 minutes or until the eggplants are cooked.
Make sure you do not overcook the eggplants, as it will turn mushy if you overcook the eggplants.
Once the eggplants are cooked, add all the remaining spices, mix well and stir fry for about another 2 to 3 minutes.
The delicious eggplant stir fry or brinjal stir fry with spices is ready to be served!
Below you can get the recipe for stir fried eggplants in detail.
Spicy Eggplant Stir Fry Indian Recipe (Brinjal Stir Fry)
Ingredients
- 5 small eggplants/brinjal (or about 2 cups sliced eggplants of any variety)
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (or use cumin seeds as I did)
- 5 dry red chilies (broken) optional
- 1 string curry leaves a few
- salt as required
- 2 tablespoons water just enough to sprinkle
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Instructions
- Wash the eggplants and slice them in long medium sized pieces. You can also soak the sliced eggplants in enough water and salt for about 10 to 15 minutes to get rid of the slight bitterness. After soaking, you can discard the water used for soaking the eggplants.
- Rinse the sliced eggplants in fresh water and pat dry using a paper towel.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds (or cumin seeds).
- When the mustard seeds splutter (if using cumin seeds wait for few seconds until they get lightly roasted), add broken dry red chilies and curry leaves, fry for a few seconds.
- Add the sliced eggplants, stir fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add salt, garlic powder and sprinkle the water, cover the pan and cook for about 6 minutes or until the eggplants are cooked. Make sure you do not overcook the eggplants, as it will turn mushy if you overcook the eggplants.
- Once the eggplants are cooked, add all the remaining spices, mix well and stir fry for about another 2 to 3 minutes. The delicious eggplant stir fry or brinjal stir fry with spices is ready to be served!
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