1. Cook the dal in a pressure cooker till soft and smash the dal.
2. Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice
3. Chop the brinjal into bigger pieces
4. Heat oil in a pan and add red chillies, urad dal, channa dal, a pinch of asafoetida and coriander seeds and fry until the dal turns light brown.
5. Now add the grated cocunut and fry until it becomes light brown in color
6. Grind these to a fine paste in a mixer and keep it aside
7. In the pan, pour the remaining oil and add the mustard seeds when the oil is hot.
8. When the mustard seeds begins to sputter, add the curry leaves and chopped brinjal and fry for some seconds
9. Add the tamarind extract and salt and let the mixture boil for some time
10. Finally add the smashed dal and ground paste to the mixture and when it starts to boil, switch off the flame.
11. Now Kathirikai Pitlai is ready to serve with plain rice

Recipe & image courtesy: www.subbuskitchen.com