Preparations:

In a bowl of water add ripe brinjals and wash well by rubbing with fingers. Wipe the washed brinjals with a dry cloth and keep them aside to dry completely.

Cut the top portions of the ripe brinjals and cut them vertically. Slice the cut brinjals into big pieces. Take the brinjal pieces into a deep bowl which is dry. To the brinjal pieces add turmeric powder and salt. Mix well to coat all brinjal pieces with salt. Make a well in the centre and place tamarind there. Cover the tamarind with the salt coated ripe brinjal pieces and press. Cover the bowl with lid and keep it in a dry place.  By next day morning water oozes out of the brinjal mixture. Without touching the tamarind mix the brinjal pieces so that all the pieces are coated well with the salt solution. Like this mix the brinjal pieces every day—morning and evening for two days. On the third day remove the softened tamarind from the brinjal mixture.

Spread a plastic sheet in sun to dry the brinjal pieces. Press and remove liquid from the brinjal pieces and spread them on the plastic sheet. Dry the brinjal pieces in hot sun for six hours or till evening. Meanwhile make other preparations.

Heat a pan and add oil to it. Heat the oil well and switch off the stove. Cool the oil till it reaches room temperature.  After six hours, bring the shrunken brinjal pieces to prepare the pickle.

Method:

Heat a pan and add fenugreek seeds. Fry the seeds stirring on low flame till they change color to brown. Fry the seeds till they are browned even from inside. To test this, take a fried fenugreek seed and crush with a heavy thing. When the crushed seed appears evenly browned even from inside it indicates that the seeds are fried well. Take the fried fenugreek seeds into a plate and allow them to cool. Take a dry mixie jar and add the fried fenugreek seeds and grind. Add the fenugreek powder to the juice obtained after separating tamarind and brinjal pieces from the mixture. To the mixie jar add the softened tamarind and grind to a smooth paste. Add this tamarind paste to the juice and mix well. Now add the shrunken brinjal pieces to the mixture and mix well. Then add red chili powder and mix once again. The mixture appears dry as there won’t be much juice. Add the oil which we have heated and cooled in intervals and mix. Take some oil and keep it aside for seasoning and add the remaining oil in the pickle and mix well. The pickle is ready for seasoning.