Dahi Baingan: Eggplant in Yogurt

Dahi Baingan: Eggplant in Yogurt

Ingredients

3 slim long purple eggplants [ the first one's from this summer from our garden:-)]

2 long green chilli peppers

2 hot green chillies [ optional]

2 dried red chillies

1 tsp Cummin seeds

1/2 tsp Saunf/ Aniseeds

2 cups of thick yogurt, beaten well

1/2 tsp of finely grated fresh ginger

Optional: use 1/4 tsp dried ginger powder instead of fresh ginger

Vegetable Oil, for pan frying the eggplants

1/8 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder [optional]

1/4 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder [ for colour and flavour, can substitute paprika powder]

Method

Slice the eggplants into roundels about 1/4 inch thick

Heat oil in a pan,

Pan fry the eggplants until golden brown on each side.

Season with turmeric powder, chilli powders and saute for a couple of minutes, adding oil as needed.

Drain and keep aside.

Meanwhile beat 2 Cups of yogurt.

Add salt and ginger paste and mix well.

Add the eggplants to the beaten curd mix,

[ Layer it on the top of the beaten curd]

Do not stir in the eggplants,

Heat 1 tbsp of oil and temper the cummin seeds and aniseeds,

Add the green chillies and saute for a couple of minutes.

Pour the tempered spices over the eggplants and serve.

Garnish with 1 tbsp of finely chopped coriander leaves.

This recipe has been adapted from Mankani, Bulbul, The Bollywood Cookbook [Kyle books, 2007].

A surprisingly good collection of recipes favoured by Bollywood film stars. It has a very interesting foreword by Shyam Benegal who describes a feast held for Shabana Azmi: a traditional goat cooked on dum in a clay oven, stuffed with chicken, eggs and layers of Hyderabadi Biryani.

The book mirrors the Bollywood ethos in many ways: the colours, the prints and the layout the book itself. The paper and photographs are of a better quality but still retain that particular stroke of gaudy Bollywood colour and filmy kitsch: The impossibly clean, carefully made-up faces, the clothes going just past elegance into 'theatre', the bleached and the blow-dried with a garishness that looks strangely appropriate to the subjects and to those of us who have grown up seeing Indian movies. And even in a recipe book, many a Bollywood ego manages to comes through.

It is always entertaining to see who selected what!  There are some which are simple but others where one can pick out the actors with their choice of roles: character, not mainstream and as some would say, 'arty' and not flashy and immediately understand their choice of food.

Nandita Das is a favourite  for many reasons and her contribution has the same quality she personifies in her roles. Dahi Baigan was perfect for this weather! Nandita's version is more colourful with fresh red chillies and a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves: more Bengali and East Indian influences. I have used a tempering of cummin and aniseed, a dash of ginger in the yogurt and a garnish of chopped coriander.

Simple Celebrations...

Simple Salad

Iceberg Lettuce, Beets, finger hot thai green chillies and seedless black grapes [ to mimic olives] with a simple dressing: olive oil, rice wine vinegar and garlic.

The last two weeks of summer heat kept cooking to light summer dishes but we also had friends over. So it was light dishes with a quick early morning cooking session for friends, dining out and a simple birthday lunch.

A glimpse...

Choaq Wangun

Followed the  original  recipe but substituted Veri Masala for all the spices adding only turmeric, chilli powder and Kashmiri Chilli powder.

Also made this dish with tiny white eggplants which appeared at  one of the local Indian Groceries. Apparently it grows in Africa [they were not sure whether it was in Kenya or South Africa] during this season for about 2 months.  There was a profusion of fairly hard seeds inside. It held well to deep frying: with a deep crosswise slit, flowering up  and keeping its shape  in the curry.

Internet search was not very effective in eliciting more information. Friends took the leftover curry before any photo opportunity of the dish. Any information would be most welcome.

With leftovers from entertaining,  dining out as a dinner treat and summer fruits ripening, lunch was simple today.

A simple birthday lunch offering to the Lamp [ Banana leaves from the freezer, cracked  hence layered]: Rice, Cooked Dal, Fresh Mango Pickle, Ghee/Clarified Butter, Salt, Curd, Sugar

Eggplants-Spicy Sour Eggplants

Car troubles,  reluctance to borrow out of the house.. which allowed time with Mme Ramotswe  and the warmth of Africa with heavy doses of early 1920s/1930s British mysteries... has finally lifted for the fact to filter in:

Dinner and get-together on Christmas Eve!!!

A quick check in the vegetable bin brought out those tiny eggplants..this time, am tackling a different recipe and one  I have not made in years!

I stumbled upon this blog of Kashmiri Recipes and Chandramukhi Ganju's elegant one. There are slight variations in the recipe: the use of garlic in one and the use of hing/asafoetida in the other. However the end result is a wonderful rich vegetarian dish with this luscious vegetable! So much for superlatives!

Recipe tomorrow...:-)

I have not added Yogurt to this recipe and have taken the liberty to garnish the dish with fresh finely chopped corainder.
Ingredients
10-small purple eggplants
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Fennel powder
1tsp Dried Ginger Powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
1/2tsp turmeric Powder
About 1/8 tsp Black Cardamom powder
About 1/8 tsp Green Cardamom powder
About1/8th tsp Cinnamon powder
1 tsp Garlic paste
4 tbsp Onion paste
3 tsps Tamarind paste
Salt
Oil for frying
About one cup or more  of hot water
Finely chopped corainder for garnish

Method
Score the eggplants crosswise.
Soak in water mixed with a tsp of turmeric for about 15 minutes
Wipe dry with paper towels
Fry in oil until the edges start turning red
Drain and keep aside
In the same oil, temper the cumin seeds
Add the onion and garlic paste and saute for a few minutes,
Add all the powders and bhunao = until the oil comes out
Add the Tamarind paste and saute for a few minutes
Add the hot water and  let it come to a boil
Add the fried eggplants and simmer  on medium heat for 5- 8 minutes.
Company for Christmas Eve dinner yesterday  and this appealed to the South Indian palatte with it's tangy tamarind flavour and went really well with Ghee Rice and fried green chillies with salt and asafoetida!

Brinjal Fry, South Indian Style!

This was an attempt to recreate a dear friend's mother's delicious recipe. Since then, she has her own blog and has posted the original recipe! The only change in this recipe is to use of Vegetable Oil for frying instead of Coconut Oil.

Ingredients

Purple Baby Eggplants-6

Make several slits crosswise until the stem. [Here I made only one slit, which will make the recipe milder in flavour]

Soak in water for about 15 minutes. Wipe dry.

Masala Marinade

Ginger Garlic paste- 1tsp

Besan/Chickpea Flour-1tsp

Turmeric-1tsp

Red Chilli powder-1tsp

Coconut Oil-1tsp

Coconut Milk/Cream-1tsp

Chopped curry leaves-1tsp

Chopped corainder-1tsp

Mix the ingredients above to make a smooth paste.

Stuff the brinjals with the paste  and coat the outside too.

Let it marinate for  half hour or more.

Heat Oil and deep fry until done.

Alternately we can pan fry too but the shape might get squashed a bit.

Updating the Recipe

I did feel that that marinade did not stick to the brinjals properly so as a means to sop it up, had fried some onions [ sliced lengthwise] in the same oil. They came out delish! One needs to have more slices in  the brinjal for the marinade to stick and the brinjal to cook properly.

The original recipe can be found at Roja's Recipes.

 Madras, Summer 2009: Rice, Avial, Mango Morukootan, Brinjal Fry, Pappadums, Ari/Rice Kondattams