Indian Fried Eggplant Curry In Coconut Cashew Gravy

This deep fried eggplant curry South Indian style recipe is made using baby eggplants (small sized eggplants/brinjals that are commonly found in India and Indian grocery shops) but you can use any kind of eggplants (also known as brinjals or aubergines) as you wish.

Fried eggplant curry is also a popular Sri Lankan dish but at this point, I am not sure if this Indian style fried eggplant curry is related to it, though I wish to try it some day as well.

This is a vegan/vegetarian eggplant curry perfect to be used with rice for lunch or dinner.

The fried eggplant curry is also known as fried aubergine curry or fried brinjal curry as the eggplants are also known as aubergines or brinjals, and this fried eggplant curry South Indian style recipe which uses a very yummy coconut cashew gravy gives you one of the most delicious eggplant curry for rice, pulao or biryani.

This is also known as kathirikai curry in South India as the eggplants or brinjals are known by the name kathirikai in South India.

We do not slice the eggplants (brinjals) into very small pieces, but we do slice them in quite large sized pieces and them deep fry in oil and make them into a very delicious curry.

There are very popular and delicious fried and stuffed eggplant curry recipes from South India, but this fried eggplant curry South Indian style recipe is inspired by one of those but I didn't stuff them as I wanted to make the curry more simple and easy to make but delicious as well.

This eggplant curry is vegetarian as well as vegan as we use vegetable oil and also coconut cashew based gravy for preparing the curry.

See my recipe for coconut cashew curry gravy recipe for preparing delicious gravies

This fried eggplant curry Indian recipe is inspired by the South Indian style of cooking eggplants, by frying them first and adding them into a delicious curried gravy.

This fried eggplant curry recipe inspired by the South Indian eggplant curries is not an authentic recipe of any kind, but I just put them in together as I wished based on my love for South Indian style eggplants, and it turn out to be delicious.

This eggplant curry is perfect for rice as you can enjoy steamed plain rice topped with this delicious South Indian style eggplant curry.

You can also enjoy this as a delicious side dish for biriyani if you like coconut based gravy for your biriyani.

To me, eggplants taste the best when they are fried, but when the fried eggplants are added to an exotic curry or gravy (you can make it spicy or mild based on your preference), it turns out to be an excellent side dish which can be served with rice for lunch and dinner, and you really don't need any extra side dishes for your rice.

See my post on recipe for best fried eggplant slices with exotic spices

How To Make Indian Fried Eggplant Curry In Coconut Cashew Gravy?

To make easy, delicious fried eggplant curry in coconut cashew based masala gravy, we use the following ingredients.

ingredients to make fried eggplant curry in coconut cashew gravy

3 medium sized eggplants

oil enough for deep frying the eggplant slices

¼ teaspoon salt adjust as needed

1 cup grated coconut or shredded unsweetened coconut

½ cup raw cashew nuts

3 cups water

1 green chili

2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste or use crushed fresh ginger and garlic

Spice Powders

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon red chili powder

2 teaspoons curry powder or garam masala

½ teaspoon cumin seeds powder

2 tablespoons coriander powder

For seasoning

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

5 red chilies dried

Step by step instructions

Preparing the eggplants

Slice the eggplants in long medium or little large sized pieces.

Transfer the sliced eggplants to a bowl and add salt, mix well, let it sit for about 10 minutes.

To fry the eggplants

Heat the oil in a pan for deep frying the eggplants.

When the oil is hot, carefully add the eggplant slices to the hot oil and fry until one side of the slices are cooked ( no need to brown too much).

Carefully flip the slices so as to cook the other side of the slices as well.

Make sure you don't overcrowd the pan while frying the slices. You can fry all slices in different batches.

Transfer the fried eggplants to a ceramic or steel plate (or use the aluminium foil) and keep aside.

Save the oil used for frying as we use it for the gravy.

To make the curry

Add the cashew nuts, coconut and water to the blender and blend well to make base for the gravy.

In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil (you can use the oil used to fry eggplants) and fry cumin seeds and red chilies.

Transfer the coconut cashew gravy base from the blender to the pan, and mix well. Keep the heat at low.

Add salt and all spices, mix everything to form the gravy.

As the gravy gets heated up, you can add the fried eggplant slices to the gravy and add 2 more tablespoons of oil.

Cook in low heat for about 2 minutes or until the gravy starts boiling.

Serve the hot delicious fried eggplant curry over steamed rice for lunch or dinner, enjoy!

More Pictures From The Preparation Of Fried Eggplant Curry

As I already mentioned above, we can use any kind of eggplants for use in this curry but how many eggplants you need to use in the recipe may vary with the kind of eggplants you use as different kinds of eggplants vary in their size very much.

I have used 3 baby eggplants which are medium sized, but if you are using a very large sized eggplant, you can use just two eggplants and if you are using very small ones, you can use 5 to 6 numbers.

So here is how you can prepare the fried eggplant curry following this recipe.