I made an Indian dish with those 5 eggplants I picked yesterday - a one-dish sambar, with 2 dals and some steel cut oats, which isn't traditional, but a good combination with the dal. I started with a chopped purple onion sautéed in a little olive oil, and when lightly browned, I added a tb each of minced garlic and ginger, and stirred for a minute, then stirred in the cut up eggplants. I switched it to sauté/high, and stirred frequently, about 7 minutes, until a lot of the eggplant pieces were browning. Then I stirred in 3 tb of sambar masala powder, about 30 seconds, then added 5 c of water, and stirred to release anything on the bottom of the pot. Then I added 2/3 c steel cut oats, 2/3 c channa dal, and 1/3 c masoor dal, about ten curry leaves, 3/4 tsp turmeric, and salt to taste. I then hit OFF, then MANUAL and set it to 13 min. After finished, I let it release naturally. Meanwhile, I measured out the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, dried peppers, asafoetida, and a dozen or so curry leaves, and made the tarka, and added that at the end, along with some chopped cilantro.
Eggplant sambar, with tarka on top, ready to stir in by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Finished eggplant sambar, topped with cilantro. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr