Like okra/vendakkai curry, brinjal curry, or kathirikai kari, as we say in Tamil, is one of the staple dry curries in our household, and it’s my favorite too. We typically make this curry on the stove-top, but I will share the air fryer version today. (PS – Check out my stove-top kathirikai podi curry recipe and also Maharashtrian-style brinjal curry) The best part about the air fryer brinjal is you don’t need to worry about brinjal/eggplant turning mushy. When we cook brinjal on the stove-top, we have to be careful when mixing, and also, an extra minute or so of overcooking will turn the brinjal mushy, but with an air fryer, that’s not the case. Like air fryer shishito peppers with minimal effort and less monitoring, you can make crispy eggplant roast.
Baby eggplant variety that I used
We typically make the brinjal curry with the baby eggplants/brinjal. I tested this recipe with purple baby eggplants, graffiti variety eggplants, and Japanese variety. The below timing works well for the above three and if your brinjals are tender, reduce the cooking time by 3 to 4 minutes. I haven’t tested this style of roast with the big eggplants and the green ones.
Tips for getting the perfect brinjal roast
Chop and wash the brinjals thoroughly and pat them dry. That’s the critical part. If the brinjals are wet, you won’t get that crispiness. If your quantity is more, then do it in batches. Two layers are ok as brinjal shrinks as it cooks but do not overload.Adding almond flour, chickpea flour, or rice flour adds to the crisp texture and makes the brinjal non-sticky and non-mushy, so do not skip them.
Let’s get straight into the ingredients and procedure.
Ingredients used
Brinjal: I used about 350 grams of purple variety brinjal. You can use graffiti variety or Japanese variety, preferably cut them lengthwise. Spices: You can use red chili powder, sambar powder, or rasam powder to spice up the curry. Feel free to experiment with the spices – you can use vangi bath powder, dabeli masala, or other spices of your choice. Oil: I have used only 2 tsps of oil for this measure, and that’s sufficient—Use oil of your choice. If you are adding tempering, you need an extra ½ tsp of oil. Almond flour: It adds texture and enhances the crispiness of the brinjal. Instead of almond flour, you can add chickpea flour or rice flour. Apart from this, we also need salt and turmeric powder. Tempering is optional, but I tempered some mustard seeds and curry leaves and added them to the roasted brinjal.
Dietary specifications
This brinjal curry is vegan and gluten-free naturally. You can replace almond flour with rice flour or chickpea flour for a nut-free version. I always make the required quantity so I can’t speak about refrigerating it.
Air fryer brinjal roast recipe
Remove the brinjal stems and chop them lengthwise and wash them. Pat them dry.
Add the oil, rasam powder, turmeric powder, and salt to the chopped and dry brinjals.
Mix them well and ensure you have coated the spices evenly. Parallelly, preheat the air fryer if required as per the manual instructions.
Add the brinjal into the air fryer basket and air fry at 370 deg F for 8 minutes.Transfer the partially cooked brinjal into the mixing bowl and add the almond flour. Mix the brinjals and almond flour well.
Transfer this brinjal coated with almond flour to the air fryer basket and air fry at 370 deg F for 8 minutes.
By now, the brinjals will be well cooked. Shake them once and air fry for 3 to 4 minutes at 370 deg F for additional crispiness. Transfer it to a bowl. Optional step: In a separate tempering kadai, heat the oil, and when the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the tempering to the brinjal curry.
Recipe notes
Instead of rasam powder, use red chili powder or sambar powder. Refer to the post for other spice options.Use rice flour or chickpea flour instead of almond flour, making this dish nut-free. As always, adjust the spices and salt to taste. Tempering is optional. Check the post for more tips for getting the perfect brinjal roast.
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