Hyderabadi Baingan Ka Salan (Baby Eggplant simmered in Rich Spicy Gravy- Indian Style)
Most of the wives are always stuck with this question: “What should we cook tonight?” And answer coming back from the husbands is “Anything other than regular daal would be a good option”. Though this kind of an answer doesn’t help the wives much. Infact, it adds to a further brainstorming on their minds. However, the clue from this type of a response is that something different and special should be on the table tonight.
So, the best option is to prepare a dish from a different cuisine than your native one. It’s the easiest way to enjoy a delicious meal on a regular night in the most entertaining way.
My husband is a big fan of Hyderabadi style Bhagara Baingan. He keeps insisting me to make it quite often. However, I am not able to fulfil his wish of this eggplant Gravy so regularly. This time when I saw these cute little purple delights(also check my Baked Baby Eggplants Fusion recipe) in my refrigerator, I had already planned to surprise him with his favorite recipe of eggplant during this week. So, as soon as he expressed that he is craving to eat something other than daal, I knew what to cook. His favorite “Hyderabadi Baingan gravy” was on my mind very promptly.
Baingan ka Salan or Bhagara Baingan is an authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine curry spicy in nature. The nuts and those extra spices add a majestic touch to the dish making it ‘Royal’! The dish is traditionally served with the spicy and rich Biryanis. However, it goes well with tandoori Naan or paranthas too.
The spiciness of green chillies, tanginess of sour yoghurt, richness & creaminess of sesame-coconut-peanut paste with a hint of mint makes this dish so marvelous that hardly anyone can resist it.
Apart from the taste, this recipe offers various health benefits. Adding eggplants to your diet may be one of the best health decisions you can make as they offer numerous and diverse health benefits. Please read-on 27 Science – Based Health benefits of Eggplants. After reading these amazing facts, you would be as convinced to include eggplants in your diet just the way I am!
So, here’s the recipe for Hyderbadi Baingan ka salan. We had a flavorful and yummie dinner last night with this dish. Hope you would enjoy it too. Don’t forget to leave your comments if you try the dish. I would love to know how it came out for you.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp mustard seeds
¼ tbsp fenugreek seeds
3-4 dried red chillies
3-4 green chillies (add more for a more spicier version)
7-8 curry leaves
8 – 10 baby eggplants slit into 4 keeping the stem intact
2 medium sized onions sliced
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
2 tbsp red chilli powder
½ tbsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
½ cup sour yoghurt
1 tbsp finally chopped mint leaves
1 tbsp finally chopped coariander leaves and few more for garnishing
Oil for frying eggplants
For the Nuts Paste:
1 tbsp peanuts
1 tbsp grated dry coconut
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Methods:
- Wash the eggplants, pat them dry and slit into 4 keeping the stem intact.
- Take a wok, dry roast peanuts, coconut, sesame seeds separately and allow it to cool. Once cooled down,grind to make a smooth paste with these roasted ingredients using ½ cup water.
- In the same wok, smear little oil.
- After the oil heats up,add mustard seeds. After the mustard seeds crackle, add fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves and mix them well.
- Add sliced onions. Saute till the onions get brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, salt, and green chillies. Mix everything well.
- Add the peanut-coconut-seasme paste prepared in step 2. Cover and let it cook for 25-30 minutes on medium flame until the oil starts to separate out on the edges.
- In the meanwhile, add oil to another pan and fry the slit baby eggplants. Keep it aside on a paper towel to soak extra oil.
- After 30 mins, check on the gravy. It should have separated oil by now giving a nice and bright color.
- Add chopped mint and coriander leaves.
- Add yoghurt and mix well. Bring it to a boil. Now, cover it and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- After adding yoghurt, the curry starts to look even more creamy and richer in texture.
- Now is the time to add our fried eggplants to the gravy. Gently mix them in the gravy. Cook for another 3-4 minutes for the baby eggplants to absorb some flavors from the gravy.
- Garnish with coriander or mint leaves.
- Serve hot with your favorite Biryani or Naan.
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