Instant pot gutti vankaya kura
I love Andhra cuisine and I also love my instant pot. Gutti vankaya kura is a famous dish in their cuisine and this instant pot version is just as good. Andhra dishes are generally spicy and fragrant with use of ingredients like coriander seeds, sesame, coconut and peanuts. This dish has has quite a few steps, but it is worth going through these steps as the end result is a lip-smacking dish. In truth, I found this dish hard only during the first time I made it. Once you get a hang of slitting the eggplants and stuffing them, it is pretty simple.
This dish is perfect when you are cooking for guests. Serve this with a bowl of steaming bowl of cooked rice and some nice crispy vegetables on the side. You will have some very pleased guests at home 🙂 It is highly recommended to use small tender baby eggplants for this dish.
If you cannot find small ones, follow everything and use chopped big eggplants. You will not be stuffing the eggplants in this case, but rather you can chop them in somewhat big pieces and use it in the recipe. All you have to do is add the ground masalas to the Instant pot along with the tomato onion gravy and cook it as mentioned in the recipe below. It tastes equally good without the extra hassle of stuffing them which takes a bit of time.
This instant pot version of gutti vankayan kura has become a great hit in our house and I try making this every time I get nice tender baby eggplants at the market. While making this in the stove top method is just as tasty and delicious, I love that we do not have to babysit the dish when we cook it in the instant pot.
Masala stuffed baby eggplant gravy, south Indian style
- 1/4 cup peanut (skin removed)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 dried red chilly ( Use more as per spice level)
- 1 small lemon size tamarind
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 3 to 4 garlic pods
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1/4 cup coconut grated
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 8 to 10 small eggplants (baby eggplants)
- 3 tomatoes chopped finely
- 1/2 remaining onion sliced
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilly powder
- salt as needed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
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Prep the eggplants by removing the stem and make a X shape slit in the eggplant. Do not slit it until the end. If the cut is too deep, the eggplants will break while stuffing. If the cut is not deep enough the masalas will not go in. So the slit should be somewhere in the middle of the eggplant.
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Switch on the saute mode in your IP and dry roast all the ingredients (except coconut and onion) given under to dry roast untl you can smell a nice aroma coming from the spices. Set it aside.
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Roast the coconut until the coconut turns nice and golden brown (Optional-can add a tsp of oil while roasting)
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Roast the 1/2 onion given under the dry roast section until it becomes nice and golden brown. (The more caramalised the onions are the better the taste)
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Now grind all the above ingredients - the spices, coconut and onions to a smooth paste with little water. It has to be like a thick chutney.
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Now add the oil and heat it up. Add the items mentioned under tadka and let the mustard and cumin seeds splutter.
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Now add the remaining onion and saute until nice and golden.
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Now add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, kashmiri chilly powder, salt and let it cook until mushy and you can see the oil from the sides.
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Meanwhile as the tomatoes are cooking, stuff the ground paste inside the eggplants. You will have some more paste left over.
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Arrange the stuffed eggplants in a single layer above the tomato and onion masala. Add the remaining ground paste in between and over the eggplants (Where ever there is space)
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Add 1/2 cup water around the sides of the IP and close the lid.
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Cook in manual high for 4 minutes and release pressure after 4 minutes. Yummy eggplant gravy is ready. Mix them without disturbing the eggplant too much and serve with rice / rotis.
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