August 02, 2006

MASALA BAINGAN (Badane` kayi Palya)

Bharwan baingan:
Bharwan Baingan or stuffed Eggplants, a Maharashtrian favorite is one of my best and the tastiest dishes so far in my collection ,if I can say so myself!! Usually, round eggplants are slit and stuffed and sauteed in a pan with lot of oil. As usual, I do my way which is lot easier and better tasting because spices distributes evenly throughout the dish except looks different visually!! So , here it is and have fun making it in my own unconventional style....

You Need:

4-6 Purple Eggplants or round Eggplants
1 Chopped Onion
Salt
Cilantro
2 tsp oil
1-2 tsp Ghee

To Roast:
1/4 Cup Dry Coconut(until reddish)
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 Onion
4 Cloves
4 Peppercorns
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
6 Cashew Nuts

Add and Grind with:
1 tsp Sugar or Jaggery
2 tsp Tamarind Paste

METHOD:

1. Dry roast all the above one by one until you get a reddish color ,add the other two ingredients and grind to a smooth paste.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil and ghee, fry onion until reddish.Add cut eggplants and any other veggies like onion slices or Pearl onions and potato cubes(both roasted seperately until reddish)if you are using and fry until almost cooked in oil.
3.Add in the ground masala,salt and cilantro,simmer until oil shines on the top.
4. Serve with Rice Rottis or Parathas.
5. This dish tastes better the next day if you have patience!:)

Another look:


NOTE:
1. You can add roasted cubed potatoes and fried pearl onions with eggplants, which I think would be a very good classic combination!!
2. If you use round Eggplants,slit each halfway vertically keeping the bottom intact in to four segments like X shape from the top ,stuff the prepared masala and fry the whole eggplants in 1/4 cup oil in a non-stick pan,cover and cook until soft but mushy on a medium heat.Add tbsps of water if it is sticking to the bottom but not too much.Idea is to fry in oil.

SERVE WITH PARATHAS:


SERVE WITH PLANTATION STYLE RICE ROTTIS TOO:

Enjoy!!

8 comments:

Catherine said...

Yum. I must dry the dried coconut, I'm sure I'd love it.

Swamy VKN said...

I am a great fan of Baingan which goes very well with any spice powders. We cook this in myriad number of ways. This one is sooo tempting. Many thanks Asha for offering this at the campaign. Cheers!

Manjula said...

Hi Asha,
I got some eggplants in the fridge. Got a few queries. Is there a need to roast dry coconut, sugar & tamarind paste? How long should the coconut be roasted? Can I use fresh coconut instead of dry?
Manjula

FH said...

Thank you Catherine.Do try this recipe atleast once.I am sure you will love it!:) Enjoy.

FH said...

Thanks Vijay. You are right!Eggplants are so versatile, we Indians have thousands of recipes including those!:)Try this dish with round Eggplants,works well.

FH said...

Hi Manjula,great queries!:)It looks confusing indeed and I will correct it.Thank you!:)
You can use fresh coconut but have to roast it lightly until reddish to give you that smokey taste and color.Dry coconut is better for that but fresh will do too.No,do not roast the other two but add to grind.Hope you try.You can also use round eggplants too.

Anonymous said...

eggplant are among my favourites...amazing as a child I didnt like them much and now i am such a big fan of them...

The eggplant looks really flavourable and declious.

also I liked the new banner look with H sign made with fork and spoon..very creative idea

Hugs
Sushma

FH said...

Hi Sushma,I know many kids don't Eggplants including mine but hopefull like you,they will like it when they grow up:))
This dish is really tasty and goes well Chapatis.Hope you try.Thanks:)