In a medium pan heat oil at medium low.

Add in the onions, fennel, coriander and cumin seeds and cook on medium low till the onions turn golden.

Cool the onion mixture a bit and blend with the chili pickle and little water if needed into a nice paste.

Make 2 cross slits in the eggplants with the stalk attached.

Fill the paste in the slits as much as possible and put the eggplants to cook on the same pan with a little oil.

Cover the eggplants with the leftover paste and cook for 10 minutes on low heat covered.

Turn the eggplants and add in some water in the pan around the eggplants(not over the eggplants), to keep the masala paste from burning. (my mom in law adds oil

which does work better for gooey veggies like okra and bittergourd)

Cook for 30-40 minutes, turning the eggplants every 10 minutes. We cook the 40-45 minutes until things start to just about char. The masala and eggplants are usually well done around 30 minutes. For a quicker version, cut the eggpants into big chunks and cook with masala and you will be done in 20.

Serve hot with rotis, puris or Naan!