Eggplant in Chilli Sauce (Terong Balado)

Recipe taken from the For My Senses food blog via feedfeed

Ingredients

• 4-5 long eggplants
• 8 tbs peanut oil
• 2 tbs tamarind pulp, dissolved in 2 cups warm water
• 2 long red chillies, roughly chopped
• 3 red cayenne/birdseye chillies, roughly chopped
• 10 golden shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 4 cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbs raw sugar

Directions

1. Prepare a large bowl with cold, salted water.
2. Cut the eggplants into 5cm pieces, putting them in the water as you go. Leave them in the water while you prepare the paste.
3. For the paste, heat 1tbs of the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chillies, shallots, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring for about 2mins. Transfer to a mortar and pestle with the salt and sugar, and grind to a smooth paste.
4. Add the remaining 7 tbs of the oil to a clean pan, over medium high heat. Add the drained eggplant and cook, stirring, for about 5mins, or until starting to soften, but not falling apart.
5. Remove the eggplant from the pan with a slotted spoon and discard the remaining oil.
6. Return the eggplant to the pan, along with the chilli paste and the tamarind water. Bring to the boil and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring, for 3mins, or until thickened slightly and eggplant is fully cooked.
7. Serve.