Sri Lankan wambatu moju(eggplant/brinjal pickle).
Sri Lankan eggplant/brinjal pickle(wambatu moju).Fried eggplant, shallots, green chillies mixed with mustard-vinegar to pickle the vegetables, giving it a combo of sweet, sour and heat.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 45 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 500g eggplant cut into thick strips(see notes above)
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 2-3 cups of oil
- 250g of shallots
- 100g medium-sized green chillies
- 1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste(2-3 garlic cloves and 1/2 inch ginger piece)
- 1 tablespoon chilli powder
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon mustard powder(pound the mustard or use a grinder for this purpose)
- 2 tablespoons of Sugar
- 1/3 cup vinegar
Instructions
- 1
Have all the ingredients for the batu moju ready.
- 2
Cut the eggplant(500g) into the required size(see notes above).
- 3
Place the thick strips of eggplant in a bowl or on a flat surface.
- 4
Add salt to season and turmeric powder(1/2 teaspoon)to the eggplants, combine, cover and leave it for 10 minutes.
- 5
Place a frying pan over medium heat and pour in the oil.
- 6
Gradually increase the heat for the oil to reach frying temperature.
- 7
Make sure you have a steady oil temperature; do not let it smoke, as this would lead to burnt strips of eggplant.
- 8
If the oil does reach the smoking point, turn off the heat and start heating the oil again(after a few minutes, of course).
- 9
Gently squeeze out any extra liquid from the eggplant strips
- 10
Fry them(see notes above)until they turn dark in colour, you can either fry them until they turn golden in colour or a dark brown.
- 11
Place the fried eggplant/brinjal on paper towels to absorb oil.
- 12
Use the same oil to fry the shallots(250g)and green chillies(100g)for 1-2 minutes over low-medium fire.
- 13
Place these with the brinjals on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
- 14
To a separate bowl, add mustard powder(1 and 1/2 teaspoons), ginger-garlic paste(1 tablespoon), salt to season, chilli powder(1 tablespoon), sugar (2 tablespoons) and vinegar(1/3 cup).
- 15
Combine well until sugar dissolves, taste the pickling sauce and see if there is a balance of taste between sour, sweet and heat. Adjust accordingly.
- 16
Add the shallots, green chillies and combine well.
- 17
Add the fried aubergines/eggplant to the pickling onions and green chillies.
- 18
Set aside for at least 1-2 hours before serving for a better-tasting wambatu moju.