Hyderabadi bagara baingan|Baghara baingan

Hyderabadi bagara baingan or Hyderabadi style tempered eggplants, yummy delicacy from the city of Nizam’s (hyderabad) is the best eggplant dish I have ever tasted .‘Baghar’ means Tadka or tempering and ‘Baingan’ is of course eggplants in Urdu and loosely translated Baghare Baingan means ‘Tempered Eggplants’. The technique of tempering which is well known in Indian cooking is nothing but flavouring the oil with aromatic spices and herbs which tranforms the dish into an aromatic one.

I first tasted ‘Baghare Baingan’ at my friends place in Hyderabad after we shifted to hyderabad due to my husbands transfer. I feel Baghare Baingan is one their best and finest delicacies. My friend told me that no function like marriages are complete without serving Baghare Baingan in their lunch or dinner menu. It said to be one of the main dishes served in Nawaabi Darbar (royal court) as it uses rich ingredients fit for kings and queens palettes.This is a lovely and delicious brinjal side dish, a hallmark and peculiar to the state of Hyderabad, usually seen being served at Daawat – weddings, parties and large gatherings. It is generally had as a side dish along with Biryanis or some people even enjoy it along with a Roti/Paratha.rich.Its a combo of  Nizami cuisine (which is largely influenced by Awadhi cuisine) with flavour of Andhra cuisine blending into a hallmark dish of the region.

The procedure to prepare Mirchi Ka Salan or Tamatar ka Salan is also almost the same as this curry with the only difference being that in Mirchi ka Salan, green chillies are used; in tomato curry, tomatoes are used.The eggplants are cooked twice, once they are shallow fried and then later simmered in a fragrant sweet and spicy sauce of sauteed onions and roasted spices. The tamarind imparts a tangy kick to the sauce consisting of roasted nutty and buttery peanuts, poppy seeds and coconut, a range of aromatic spices and caramelized onions.

The recipe may sound little laborious and time consuming but it’s worth trying.

Ingredients:

Eggplants/Baingan/Vangi  – 6-8, (small  and deep purple colour )

Gravy:

  Oil

  Onions – 3 large, sliced slightly thick into semi circular rings

 Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp

 Salt – 1 tbsp

 Red Chilli Powder – 2 tsp

 Turmeric/ Haldi – 1/4 tsp

 Cilantro/ Kothimbir – 2 tbsp, finely chopped

 Thick tamarind pulp – 4 tbsp

  Masala paste:

 Khus Khus/Poppy seeds – 1 tbsp
 Til/Sesame Seeds – 1/2 cup
 Peanuts/Groundnuts/shengdana /mungphali – 1/2 cup
 Dry Desicated Coconut – 3/4 cup
 Coriander seeds/Dhania – 1 tsp
 Cumin seeds/ Zeera – 1 1/2 tsp

 Baghaar/tempering:
 Cumin seeds/ Zeera – 1 tsp
 Curry leaves/ Kariyapaak – 2 sprigs
 Mustard seeds/ Rai – 1/2 tsp
 Fenugreek seeds/ Methi dana – 1/8 tsp

 `
Method:

1. Wash the eggplants and make four cuts (like alphabet X) from the base of each eggplant, taking care the stem end is intact. Soak them in a bowl of cold water with 1tbsp salt to prevent blackening. Keep aside.

2.Before frying drain brinjals to remove water. Deep fry the brinjals in hot oil  for about 10-15 minutes until they are tender and well cooked.  keep aside.

 2. Heat a tava / skillet at medium high heat and once it is hot, dry roast the desiccated coconut, sesame seeds, khus khus, peanuts, coriander seeds and cumin seeds, all one by one separately for just 2-3 minutes until they are a few shades darker and remove them into separate bowls. Do not burn the spices. Once cool, rub off the skins of the peanuts. Grind them all separately in a spice grinder to a fine powder or a smooth paste without adding any water and keep aside.

 3. Heat a tava/ skillet at medium high heat add the sliced onions. Let the onions sweat and keep stirring them until they are just starting to brown up. Once the onions are soft and lightly browned in color, remove them to a platter and keep aside. Once the dry roasted onions are cool, puree them in a grinder until smooth. Keep aside.  ( Note I had roasted the onions along with the other spices in step 2 as I was short of time)
 4. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a heavy non-stick pan at medium heat and as soon as it is warm, add the ingredients  ‘for baghaar’ – cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and fenugreek seeds.
5.Once spices splutter,add the pureed roasted onion paste and immediately cover the pan with a lid for a minute. Lower the heat to medium low and mix well. This is done for the mixture to absorb all the flavour from the baghaar(tempering). Uncover, lower the heat and add ginger garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the desiccated coconut paste, sesame seed paste, khus-khus paste and peanut paste and stir fry it for 2-5 minutes or until you see that the mixture comes together and starts leaving oil. Add the red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Mix well and keep stir frying it for a further 2 minutes on medium low heat.

 7.Once the raw smell of the peanuts, ginger-garlic paste and coconut is no longer coming, add the dry roasted coriander and cumin seed powder and chopped cilantro and mix well. Pour in 3 1/2 cups warm water and the tamarind pulp. Mix well. Add the fried brinjals and stir.

8.Cover the lid and let cook on simmer for 20-25 minutes while stirring frequently, until the oil has all separated and the brinjals are soft and completely done in the masala gravy. Remove from heat and serve the curry along with yakhni Pulao or vegetable Biryani /chicken biryani or Naan.