Eggplant Palaya

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This is my favorite dish that my grandmother makes...of all time. I actually learned the recipe a while ago so I don't have a picture for this one, but I thought it would be interesting to analyze anyway. Eggplant Palya is a dry fried eggplant (palya means vegetable curry) that is relatively simple, yet incredibly delicious.

Ok, on to the chemistry. The star in this dish is cinnamon. Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of trees in the genus Cinnamomum. When the bark is cut from the tree it forms the distinctive spirals that we call Cinnamon sticks. There are two kinds of commonly used Cinnamon. The one that we are exposed to in America is actually from Southeast Asia and China and is called Cassia. It is much thicker, spicier and more bitter than the Sri Lankan Cinnamon. It also forms the double spiral we are all used to seeing. Sri Lankan Cinnamon forms a single spiral and is much more delicate in structure and flavor, it is also much sweeter and is often called "true Cinnamon". In this recipe, I assume I have used Cassia, as it is more commercially available, but I cannot be sure because I used a powder rather than a stick. 

Cassia has a much higher concentration of cinnamaldehyde, the compound that gives Cinnamon its flavor. Cinnamaldehyde, apart from lending its spicy sweetness to this dish and making it top notch, is known to have anti-obesity and anti-hyperglycemic effects. In fact, It has been taken in India as an anti-diabetic for an extremely long time. Cinnamaldehyde upregulates TRPA1, a gene that encodes for the pathway that receives cinnamaldehyde, as well as Insulin receptor genes. The more Insulin receptors there are the easier it is to mediate the effects of Insulin resistance, which works by allowing the insulin to bind to the receptor but not transmitting the signal to the cell that would allow it to uptake glucose. This is the main cause of Type 2 Diabetes and its symptom of high blood sugar. The more Insulin receptors there are, however, the less drastic the effects of Insulin resistance will be. 

In terms of anti-obesity, Cinnamaldehyde not only lowered weight gain in mice when it was incorporated into their diets but it also lowered the amount of grehlin found in them. Grhelin is the "hunger hormone" and is released when your body needs sustenance. It can, however, be overproduced in which a suppressant like Cinnamaldehyde would be fitting.

So overall, this dish will really full you up despite its simplicity. Enjoy!

Ingredients 
  • 8 mini Eggplants
  • 2/3 of a yellow Onion
  • Light Olive Oil
  • Spices: mustard seeds, cinnamon, onions, turmeric, salt, palya powder (Vangi Bhat Powder from MTR)

  1. Take out 8 mini eggplants and a small handful of curry leaves 
  2. Cut Onion into large pieces
  3. Fill a bowl with cold water
  4. Cut eggplant into strips and place in cold water
  5. Heat some canola oil until hot (medium/high)
  6. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds to hot oil and let sputter for around 1 minute
  7. Turn down oven (medium/medium low)
  8. Add cinnamon, curry leaves and onions 
  9. Add one tablespoon of extra light olive oil
  10. Cook until onions start to become transparent (not fully transparent)
  11. Add 1/2 tsp  of turmeric
  12. Add eggplants and stir slowly 
  13. Cook until eggplants are able to be pierced with the side of a spoon (medium/low)
  14. Add around a teaspoon of salt gradually to taste. I just 
  15. Cook down more until eggplant is very soft and brown
  16. Add three mini spoons of palya powder 

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