Sri Lankan Eggplant Moju
- 500 grams Eggplant (asian variety)
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
- 12 pearl onions/ asian shallots (you can add more or less)
- oil for deep frying
- 1/2 of an onion finely chopped
- 3 green chilies finely sliced
- 3 springs of curry leaves sliced
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Maldive fish flakes
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons Tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
An easy way of making Sri Lankan sweet and sour Eggplant moju, the dry version.
Cut about 500g/ 1lb eggplants into thin half-circles (about 2mm thick).
Mix with a bit of turmeric powder as you cut them.
Heat enough oil for deep frying and fry them in small batches until they are golden and crispy. (please read the description for more info and tips). Lay them in one layer on a paper towel to remove excess oil. (Fried eggplants were weighed about 150g)
Also oil-blanch your shallots. Means put the shallots into your heated oil and leave it for about 10 seconds and take them out immediately before they turn brown. The color of the Asian shallots/pearl onions would become a little pale.
Heat about 1tbsp oil in a pan. Then add your onions, chilies, and curry leaves. Fry the onions until they are golden.
Lower the heat. Then add a generous amount of Maldive fish flakes and chili flakes. Mix with the onions and fry for a few seconds.
Move everything to a side of the pan and add ketchup, white vinegar sugar, and salt (adjust as per your taste).
Mix ketchup, vinegar, sugar, salt and wait till the mixture heats up.
Mix everything in the pan lightly together. Don’t let the mixture dry out before you add eggplants.
Immediately add fried eggplants, and shallots (you can also add oil-blanched green chilies).
Mix with the mixture well together and cook for about a minute while stirring on low heat.
Do a taste test and feel free to add sugar and salt if needed while the moju is still warm. The dish will taste better the next day.
