Sem ki phalli Baingan

I can't believe how long it has been that I had this curry. Long ago when I was a little kid my Daadi Ammi used to plant this in my backyard and in the season we ould have loads of Sem ki Phalli or Chikudu kaaya in Telugu i.e Indian Broad beans and its seeds or the "beeng" were me and my father's favourite.

              Even later on when we moved to another city my mom would make this curry with brinjal and it used to be my favourite. But after coming to USA finding fresh Sem ki Phalli in the Indian stores is a rarity. And this time I did and even though they costed like 4 times that of frozen sem I still got it and definetely there is no surpassing the taste of a fresh veggie over frozen

Sem ki Phalli Baingan (Indian broad beans with eggplant curry)

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb Sem ki Phalli ends removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 4-5 indian eggplants or about 2 cups cut any eggplant
3. 1 medium tomato (optional)
4. 1 medium small onion sliced thin
5. 2 green chillies slit
6. 2 tablespoons oil
7. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add brinjal or eggplant and tomato if using and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, 1/4 cup water and cook for 2 whistles or cook in a covered pot for 15-20 minutes until the veggies get cooked. Open the cooker and simmer till excess water evaporates and garnish with cilantro and serve with Any Indian Roti

or serve with Rice and Tomato Rasam