Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan Recipe is a popular vegetarian dish from Hyderabad, that carries the state's trademark rich taste and a surprising motley of flavours.
Dry roast onion, ginger and garlic for 3-4 minutes.
Remove on a plate.
Dry roast coconut until browned and remove on a plate.
Dry roast peanuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dry red chillies and coriander seeds until browned and fragrant and remove on a plate.
Add all the roasted ingredients in a blender and grind to make a smooth paste.
Use little water if required.
Wash the baingan and wipe them dry.
Cut into long pieces.
Heat oil in a pan.
When the oil is hot, fry the baingan till slightly browned.
Drain and keep aside.
In the same oil, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
Let them crackle and then add the ground masala along with ½ cup water.
Cook the masala until oil starts to separate on the side of the pan.
Add tamarind pulp, jaggery, red chilli powder and salt.
Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Add water to thin the gravy.
Add the fried baingan and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Garnish with fresh coriander.
Serve hot with phulke or Rice.
Notes
You can use variety of aubergine to make this recipe. It they are huge, cut into small pieces before frying.To make it even richer and healthier, add almond and cashew nuts in the paste.Make sure the masala paste is very smooth. Use little water while grinding the paste.Do not use too much water while grinding otherwise it will take a long time for the masala to fry properly.Add the eggplants in the gravy just before serving. If you have guests and want to present your gravy nicely, you can also top the gravy with fried eggplants and not mix them up like how I have done in the pictures.