So that bottle of mustard paste sitting in my fridge (that I mentioned in my previous blog post) has been giving me 'the eye' for not using it. And last night, I finally gave in and used it for cooking my favourite eggplants again. But since I had no particular recipe in mind, I just improvised. The end product turned out to be surprisingly good (and this has been endorsed by Chelsea Dagger). Here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
1/2 kg long purple eggplants, cut lengthwise and halved
2 medium-sized onions, diced small
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of hing
2 tbsp mustard oil
Salt to taste
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
4 tsp mustard paste (recipe given in previous blog post)
Green coriander, for garnishing
Method:
1. In a large bowl, add salt and turmeric powder to eggplant pieces and mix well. Keep aside.
2. In a large non-stick pan, heat oil to smoking and reduce flame. Once oil cools down a bit, add hing and cumin seeds. Let them splutter.
3. Add the onions and saute them until they turn golden brown.
4. Remove eggplants from bowl and add to the pan (leave out the eggplant liquid that has collected by now in the bowl).
5. Cook on low flame, uncovered until the eggplants are cooked halfway. Add the collected liquid and cook on high flame. Make sure the liquid is all used up. Then lower the flame once again.
6. Once the eggplants are almost cooked through, add the mustard paste and mix well. Saute on low flame for another 15 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.
Dear Flavours,
ReplyDeleteThanks for another inspiring journey with the eggplant, our faithful friend in the up-side-down world of tastes and gastronomy. I recently ate at a Malayali restaurant in London - called "Rasa Samudra". This institution has a very high Zagat rating and deserves it completely. The food was amazing. A dish called "bagar baigan" was ordered and relished by all. It was deep fried egg plant wedges in a cocount-based tangy gravy. It was simply to die for. Have you come across this dish? I recommend it wholeheartedly!
@Itishree Your experience at 'Rasa Samudra' sounds wonderful, I would love to eat there. Yes, I've come across this dish before. It has variations throughout the south of India - in Hyderabad, it is called 'Baghare Baingan'; in Maharashtra, it is called 'Bharli Vangi'; 'Yengai' in Karnataka. The ingredients may differ slightly - some recipes call for peanuts, some call for sesame; some use fried eggplants, others call for tender green eggplants; some use a bit of jaggery to sweeten the otherwise sour masala; but cocounut (whether it is the dry version or the fresh one), curry leaves, tamarind remain ubiquitous.
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