Miniature Brinjals From The Northeast

Quite common in the northeast, these miniature brinjals can be cooked in a myriad ways

- Chitra Balasubramaniam

The first sight of the extremely cute little pumpkin-like green vegetables was exciting, to say the least. I wanted to buy them, but the people at the Manipur stall in the 2018 Pusa Organic Fair in Delhi refused, saying it had to be saved till the prime minister’s visit to the event the next day. I somehow managed to convince them to part with one piece. It piqued my curiosity and a month later I had my friend from Manipur get me 200 g of it.

Khamen akhaba (Solanum aethopicum) or khamen akhabi, as most Manipuris refer to it, is a variety of brinjal (khaman means brinjal in Manipuri). Just like brinjal, khamen akhaba is botanically a fruit. Slightly bitter in taste, it comes in three sizes, with the smallest one shaped like a cherry tomato while the largest being the size of amla (Phyllanthus Emblica). The medium ones are the most popular, but my favorite are the small ones, which are more bitter.