Wash the eggplants. On a skillet (I prefer cast iron) on medium heat, dry-roast the peanuts, chana dal, coriander seeds, and dried red chilies until browned but not burnt. You may need to remove the chilies before the other ingredients are roasted as they tend to roast faster. Add shredded coconut and roast for a couple of minutes until lightly toasted. Transfer all of this to a bowl or your blender and let cool.

In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil, onions, and some salt and pepper. Cook until softened and translucent, around 7 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and thai chilies and cook for another couple of minutes. Next, add the turmeric, cumin powder, garam masala, and tamarind paste and cook for another minute. Dump all of this into the same bowl or blender with the spice mixture from the previous step and let cool.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the same pan and sauté the beefless ground crumbles, stirring occasionally until cooked through and browned on the edges, about 7-10 minutes. Dump into a bowl (separately from the onion and spice mixture).

Blend the onion and spice mixture into a paste.

Prep the eggplants by slicing them in quarters from the base to the stem. You don't want to cut >all > the way through though, so that they remain attached at the stem area.

Stuff the eggplants by rubbing the onion and spice paste on the inside cut areas. Try to coat the insides of the eggplants as much as possible. Then stuff each eggplant with ground crumbles until there's none left.

In the same skillet you used earlier, add remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat and toast the fennel seeds, mustard seeds, urad dal, and curry leaves until the seeds are sputtering and the urad dal is lightly browned.

Add the eggplants to the pan, any remaining onion and spice paste, and water.

Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until eggplants are tender. Turn eggplants every 5 minutes to ensure they get evenly cooked.

Serve with rotis/chapatis, or whatever else you want to eat them with!