What are these eggplant?

Google red ruffled eggplant :-)

Hipster eggplant, definitely hipster.  

Curry sounds like a good way to bury them if they're bitter.  I wonder if you could slow roast or smoke them whole as well.  That would probably mellow them more than grilling.

Bitterness evolved to protect us from eating poisonous stuff.  Usually the taste of bitterness is an indicator of chemicals in food, naturally occurring, that make us sick or can poison us.

Through that same evolution, we've evolved to be much less sensitive to bitter tastes.  That's because we've learned to identify what we can and shouldn't eat through teaching, learning, language, etc.

We like the bitterness of hops - the hops are an antimicrobial agent through the fermentation of beer, which was (is) a good way to preserve a nutritional source of water.  And a major contributor of forum trolling. And there are many bitter foods that are extremely healthy, and can be last resorts during famine.

There are "supertasters" that are extra-sensitive to bitterness.   They have twice the taste receptors on their tongues.  They cross the barrier from liking to hating bitter foods such as broccoli, kale, coffee, etc.  I know a lot about this, I live with one.

Balance of the various tastes lessens bitterness.  Also adding salt - especially potassium - it blocks one of the pathways to sensing bitterness.   Sugar also helps, as long as it doesn't impact the balance of the taste.