Begun Bhaja, Baingan Bhaja, Bengali Style Eggplant Fry

          Begun Bhaja, Baingan Bhaja, another dish that I had tried from the Bengali cuisine, some time back. It's a simple and tasty dish, we use the big eggplants for this, the slices are marinated in spice powders, dusted with some rice flour and shallow fried. It tastes very good with rice and some dal/lentil curry, but of course it can be served with rotis too..

Need To Here

• Eggplant - 1 medium size
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Amchur, Dry Mango Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Rice Flour - to coat the slices
• Salt to taste

Original recipe here.

Method

          Slice the eggplant and leave it in water for about 1/2 hour. Then remove the slices, add the turmeric, chilly, amchur powders, garam masala and salt, mix it and leave for about 15 minutes.

          Then take the rice flour in a plate, coat the eggplant slices on both sides with it.

          Shallow fry the slices till golden brown on both sides, drain the excess oil on a napkin and serve it hot.

Note
We can fry the eggplants without the rice flour too, but the rice flour gives a crispy texture.
This tastes best when served hot, the crispiness is lost as it turns cold.

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Eggplant And Paneer Curry

          I make paneer at home, at least once in 2 weeks, since my daughter likes it very much and mostly instead of doing a curry with paneer alone, I cook it along with some vegetable. I usually add capsicum, peas, spinach or even cabbage, this time I wanted to try it with eggplant/brinjal. Sauteing the eggplant and then mixing in paneer pieces would have worked too, but I made a curry with grilled and mashed eggplant and paneer. At home, we like the smoky flavor from the grilled eggplant, if you don't like it then peel, cook and mash the eggplant. The curry was delicious with a nice flavor, we had it with rotis but it would go very well with naans or even with some light pilaf..

Need To Have

• Big Eggplant/Brinjal - 1 medium
• Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese - 200 gm, cubed
• Onions - 2 big, chopped
• Garlic - 4 cloves, grated
• Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 11/2 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Kasuri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves - 2 atblespoons
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Method

          Roast the eggplant directly on fire till the skin is charred completely, cool it, then peel the skin and mash the eggplant and keep.

          Shallow fry the paneer pieces in a little oil, remove and keep.

          Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds, when it starts sizzling, add the chopped onion and grated garlic. Saute till the onions turn pink and the garlic gives a nice smell, then add the tomatoes, kasuri methi and saute for a minute.

          Add the turmeric powder, chilly and coriander powders and salt and saute till the tomatoes break down and become mushy, then add the mashed eggplant and mix.

          Add about 1 cup of water and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the paneer pieces, garam masala and cook for another 5 minutes, garnish with some more kasuri methi, remove and serve.

Note
Don't over fry the paneer pieces, they'll turn tough.
You can add some fresh cream at the end to make the curry richer. 

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Eggplant And Coriander Curry

         
          For the month of February, I was paired with Lakshmi Vimala for the ' Shhhh Cooking Secretly' event, she had given me eggplant and coriander leaves as the secret ingredients. I came up with this curry with the two ingredients, I made a masala with the coriander leaves and cooked the eggplants in it. It turned out to be very flavorful, and tasted very good with both rotis and rice..

Need To Have

• Small Purple Brinjals/Eggplants - 5, sliced
• Tomato - 1, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cashews - 4, broken into pieces

To Grind

• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1 cup, packed
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Green Chillies - 3
• Shallots - 6
• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons

Method

          Grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind '.

          Slice the eggplants and keep it in water along with a little salt for 10 to 15 minutes. Then saute it in a little oil with a pinch of salt, till it's 3/4th cooked, remove and keep.

          Heat some oil, toast the cashews and remove. Heat some more oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts sizzling, add the ground paste and saute for about 5 minutes.

          Then add the tomatoes, sugar and turmeric powder and mix for another 2 minutes, then add the eggplant pieces and mix.

          Add about 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook for 5minutes, then remove the lid and cook till the mixture becomes dry, garnish with cashew pieces and serve.

Note
Make the paste slightly coarse, not into a smooth paste.
Soaking the eggplant pieces in salted water removes any bitterness from the brinjals.
Choose brinjals which doesn't have much seeds.

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Eggplant and Chickpeas Curry, Kathirikkai Kondai Kadalai ( Chana ) Curry

          Chickpeas/ chana/ garbonza beans dishes are a favorite at home, especially, chana masala. Cooked chickpeas can be added to salads, to mixed rice and also pairs well with almost any vegetable in a curry. I love it with potatoes, eggplants, spinach, the list goes on. Usually, I add it it only to a gravy, this time I thought I'll make a dry curry with chana and kathirikkai/ eggplant/ brinjals. This curry is again like the Kathrikkai Podi Curry, only with a slight variation in the ingredients for the spice powder. It goes well with rice and sambar, any mixed rice or can be even served with rotis along with some raitha..

Need To Have

• Baby Eggplants - 10, sliced
• Cooked Chickpeas/ Chana - 1 cup
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Assafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste

To Powder

• Coriander Seeds - 1 tablespoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Cloves - 2
• Cinnamon - 1/2" stick
• Grated Coconut - 11/2 tablespoon

Method

          Roast all the ingredients given under ' to powder ', except the coconut, switch off and then add the coconut and mix, cool and powder it.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida followed by the curry leaves. Then add the sliced eggplants, cooked chana and mix. Add the turmeric powder, salt and sprinkle some water, cover and cook on low heat till done.

          Then add the spice and coconut powder, mix and keep cooking for 2 to 3 minutes and remove. Garnish with some fresh coconut and serve.

Note
If the cooked chickpeas are very soft to touch and if you feel, that they would break down further if cooked with the eggplants, then add it along with the spice powder and mix. Mine was cooked like we do it for sundal or salad, so I added along with the eggplants.

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Eggplant And Capsicum Subzi

          Sometimes when I run out of vegetables, when I have a little of this and that, I try to make something with what I have in hand, this Eggplant and Capsicum Subzi is one such dish. It's a very simple subzi, the eggplant and capsicum make a nice pair and the garlic and black pepper give it a nice flavor. This would go very well, both with rotis or as a side dish to rice and dal and it's also very easy to put together..

Need To Have

• Diced Eggplants - 2 cups
• Diced Capsicums - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 11/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the onions, garlic and curry leaves, saute lightly till you get a nice flavor.

          Now add the eggplant and capsicum pieces and keep sauteing for another 2 minutes. Then add some salt, cover and cook on reduced flame for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lid, add the pepper, turmeric and coriander powders, mix, saute for another 5 minutes, remove and serve it warm.

Note
Use more or less pepper powder as per your spice level.
Use fresh pepper and coriander powders ( not store bought ones ) for more flavor.
You can use whatever eggplants that is available, big ones or small ones.

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Eggplant And Double Beans Masala

          At last, back to blogging, it's been more than a month, a move and couple of trips had kept me very busy, slowly settling down in Bangalore and missing Chennai very much. Have been missing my fellow bloggers, will catch up soon. Coming to today's dish, Eggplants and Double Beans Masala, this is an excellent side dish to go with both rice and rotis. I have used the small purple eggplants and fresh double beans, which makes this dish really very delicious and the fennel seeds and coconut paste gives a nice flavor to this dish..

Need To Have

• Diced Eggplant - 3 cups
• Fresh Double Beans - 1 cup
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 6 to 10
• Salt - to taste

For The Masala

• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
• Shallots/ Small Onions - 4
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method

          Grind coarsely, without adding water, all the ingredients given under 'Masala'.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the eggplant pieces and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the butter beans, mix, add the turmeric powder and salt, cover and cook on reduced heat.

          When the double beans are cooked, add the tomatoes, cover and cook for another 2 minutes, until the tomatoes break down.

          Now add the ground masala and curry leaves, keep mixing for another 5 minutes and switch off.

Note
If fresh butter beans are not in season, can use dried ones, soak it and pressure cook it and then add it to the curry.
Can also use pinto beans instead of butter beans.
You can make this like a gravy, just grind the masala into a fine paste and add some water while cooking it.

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Kathrikkai Masial/ Mashed Eggplant

          For most of the dishes using eggplants/ brinjals I use only the baby eggplants, there are very few dishes that I make with the big eggplant. Today's kathrikkai masial/ mashed eggplant is one of them, it's very easy to prepare and both my husband and daughter love this. It goes very well as part of a South Indian Thali ( rice + sambar + vegetable ) or as a side dish with rotis/ chappatis and also with akki rotis/ flatbreads made with rice flour. The smoked flavor from roasting the eggplants and the tamarind juice added gives a unique taste to this dish..

Need To Have

• Big Eggplant - 1
• Thick Tamarind Extract - 2 tablespoons
• Urad Dal/ Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Onion - 1 small, chopped
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 5 - 10
• Salt - to taste

Method 

          Wash the eggplant and roast it on direct fire till the skin is completely charred. 

          Cool it, remove the skin and mash it ( I got 1 cup of pulp), add the tamarind extract and salt and mix it. 

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds and urad dal, when it starts spluttering, add the chopped onions, green chillies, asafoetida, ginger and curry leaves. 

          Saute it till the onions turn light pink in color, remove and add it to the mashed eggplant and give it a mix.

Note

You can use the Italian eggplants for doing this.

You can toast the eggplant in the oven ( cut into half and bake or grill ) if you don't like the smoked flavor.

If you can't find tamarind, you can add a big chopped tomato ( sauteed), though tamarind gives a different taste.

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Baby Eggplant Roast

          Today's recipe is going to be another brinjal/ eggplant dish. I have used these mini baby brinjals for this curry. The masala that I have used here is actually used for stuffing these brinjals, but since these cuties were really small, I didn't stuff them. This is a slightly different masala with ginger, green chillies and peanuts (recipe source: one of my Andhra friends) which gives a very different flavor to this curry, goes very well with both rice and rotis..

Need To Have

• Baby Eggplants - 35
• Onion - 1 medium chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - to garnish
• Salt - to taste

To Grind 

• Roasted Peanuts - 2 tablespoons
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tablespoon
• Chopped Ginger - 1 tablespoon
• Green Chillies - 3 chopped

Method

          Trim the stem and slit the brinjals as shown and keep it soaked in water with some salt.

          Roast all the ingredients except the peanuts in a little oil and grind it coarsely with the peanuts, without adding any water.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida followed by the onions.

          Saute the onions for about 2 minutes, then add the eggplants, mix for a minute. Then add the turmeric powder, salt and about 2 tablespoons of water, cover and cook till the vegetable is done, keep stirring in between.

          Once the vegetable is cooked, remove the lid, add the ground masala, continue sauteing for another 5 minutes. Garnish with the coriander and switch off.

Note
If you don't get baby eggplants, you can use the bigger ones (sliced into big cubes), but the curry might not turn as dry. Also if the small eggplants are not really small, then after slitting, stuff it and then proceed the same way.
Before adding the ground masala, see to that all the moisture is gone.
You can also add some tamarind paste or a small marble size tamarind to the above masala while grinding.

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Baingan Ka Salan/ Eggplant Curry With Peanuts And Sesame

         Couple of weeks ago, my parents had come and stayed with me for a few days. My father likes my cooking and I had made this Baingan Ka Salan/ Eggplant/ Brinjal curry one day to go with a pilaf. He liked it so much and even asked my mom to note down the recipe. The eggplants are cooked in a rich and spicy peanut and sesame seeds gravy and it tastes really good. Though this dish is traditionally served with Briyanis, it goes equally well with rotis or naans or I can eat it with even plain toast..

Need To Have

• Eggplants/ Brinjals - 12, small, long ones
• Tomatoes - 2, pureed
• Onion - 1 minced
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

To Grind

• Peanuts - 1/2 cup
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tablespoon
• White Sesame Seeds - 1 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 8
• Garlic - 5 cloves
• Chopped Ginger - 1 tablespoon

Method

          Toast the peanuts and peel the skin. Dry roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and sesame seeds and cool. Grind it all together along with the other ingredients given under 'to grind'.

          Slit the eggplants 'crisscross'. Heat some oil, add the eggplants and keep sauteing till they start turning soft, start changing color and almost half cooked, remove and keep.

          In the same pan, add some more oil, add the minced onion and curry leaves and keep sauteing for 2 or 3 minutes, till the onion starts turning golden. Now add the ground paste and keep mixing for at least 5 minutes, till the raw smell goes. Then add the tomato puree and keep cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes.

          To this, now add the eggplants, mix, add about 2 cups of water and salt, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. You'll see the oil oozing from the peanuts and sesame seeds and floating on the top. Switch off at this stage, serve it warm with rice or rotis.

Note
Usually they add tamarind extract, I replaced it with tomato puree.
While toasting the coriander and cumin seeds, add the sesame seeds at the end, and toast on reduced heat, otherwise, it starts splattering everywhere.
Make sure that the gravy is slightly thin when you switch off, it thickens as it cools.

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