Wash and slice the brinjal/eggplants as little long and thick slices, and add this sliced eggplants to a large pan.
Add enough oil, garlic, green chilies and salt, mix well and lightly fry the eggplant slices in the oil (you do not need to deep fry the eggplants, just coat with enough oil and lightly stir fry).
Add the water, turmeric powder, cumin seeds powder and red chili powder also to the pan, mix everything well and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once the mixture starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer in low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the eggplants are almost tender.
Meanwhile wash and chop the tomatoes also in slightly thick and long slices, add the tomato slices also to the pan.
Stir everything well, cover and cook in medium heat for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the eggplants are cooked and tender and the tomatoes are also lightly cooked.
Open the pan, add the remaining spices - coriander powder, garam masala powder and black peppercorns, stir well and simmer in low heat for 2 minutes.
Finally add the extra 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and curry leaves, mix well and cook for 1 more minute and the delicious eggplant tomato curry is ready to be served! Enjoy the yummy brinjal/eggplant tomato curry with rice, chapathi or poori as you wish!
Notes
If using large brinjal/eggplant, you may need to use just one eggplant or adjust the amount according to your preference.If using small sized brinjal/eggplants, you may use about 8 to 10 brinjals.About 4 to 6 cups of sliced brinjals will be right amount for this recipe.You may also make a South Indian Kerala style seasoning in the beginning of making the curry or you can make it separately in a different pan and add it to the prepared curry if you wish. To make the Kerala style seasoning, heat one tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan, add one teaspoon of brown mustard seeds and when the mustard seeds splutter, add 4 to 5 broken dry red chilies and few fresh curry leaves and fry for a few seconds and the simple and delicious Kerala style seasoning for curry is ready.If you are preparing this seasoning, you can skip adding the extra coconut oil and curry leaves at the end of the preparation of the curry which is there in the instructions.While making this brinjal curry, I didn't soak the eggplants in water in advance to get rid of any bitterness and it turned out fine.However, if you are concerned about the slight bitterness of the brinjal, you can soak the sliced brinjal in some salt water (maybe mixed with a little turmeric too) for about 15 minutes of time, then clean the slices by gently squeezing the water and seeds out and discard the water used for soaking, which will help with getting rid of any slight bitterness the eggplants may have.Make sure to remove any water or moisture content from the brinjal slices before adding the oil for your safety.