Baghare Baingan

It is impossible to overstate eggplant's/brinjal  significance in sub continental food, given its long availability as an indigenous vegetable. Every regional cuisine has developed its array of eggplant recipes, but in terms of richness and delicacy of preparation, Hyderabad is the winner every time.

Baghare Baingan is an iconic dish of Hyderabad. Contrary to popular belief, there is enough in Hyderbad for vegetarians to relish. 

Baghar means tempering or tadka, this delish eggplant gravy is finished off with the tempering of oil, curry, leaves and sometimes cumin. The real charmer here has to be the gravy in itself, from the smokiness of roasted onion, to the creaminess of dried coconut, to the tanginess of tamarind, this gravy encapsulates everything with such nuance. Further adding to the richness of the gravy is the nuttiness of sesame seeds and peanuts. It is one of the most soothing yet lively gravy you can toss your eggplants in.  

The eggplants here are not chopped or smashed. As we said, it is the hero here, and it is sure treated as one. Two deep cuts from the base, one horizontally, one vertically, and then you grab hold of the eggplant from the stem and splash it into the masala. It is up to you whether you want to fry the baingan beforehand or cook it in the gravy itself.

Baghare baigan is almost as famous as Hyderabad’s biryani, and has titillated the palates of both the nizams and commoners. And it is not just bias  that it outdoes the Turkish imam bayaldi (literally meaning the imam fainted – a stuffed eggplant dish) in its potential to make the consumer faint with pleasure.

The history of bhagaray baigan itself is vague. However, a wider history of the region suggests that the Hyderabadi cuisine as we know it today, evolved to be so in the 17th century. The Mughul Emperor Aurangzed marched to Deccan and lay siege to the Golkanda Fort in hopes of conquering the region.

The Deccanis resisted the Mughul ruler for eight long months, and as the victorious Mughul Army and its cooks sat waiting, the besieged cooks inside the fort and their counterparts outside provided the gestation period for the modern day Hyderabadi unique.

For, out of sheer desperation, the Moghul army cooks foraged in the land around the castle and learned to cook the local herds and vegetables in the meals they cooked for the soldiers.

The eggplant, also known as brinjal and aubergine, was first stumbled upon four thousand years ago in the region we now know as  India.

Most believe this purple delight to be a vegetable, but botanists consider it to be a fruit; a distant cousin to the bell pepper, tomato and potato. In the sub continental and Mediterranean cultures, the eggplant is considered to have a cooling effect upon consumption, and the ancient Chinese culture also refers to the eggplant as a yin vegetable; one that is water-based and brings a less dense, cold and damp energy with it.

Here it is, from my kitchen to yours.

Ingredients:

6 small eggplants

2 tsp white sesame seeds
2 tbsp grated coconut
2 tbsp peanuts
2 medium sized onion, chopped
2 inch block of tamarind soaked in  ½ cup hot water
Red chili powder to taste
Salt to taste
½ to 1 tsp cumin 
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp. whole coriander

Cilantro for garnish

1 tomato chopped

Method:

Take a ¼ to ½ cup of oil and fry eggplants whole with stems, maintaining the shape until half tender; the set aside.

In the same oil, fry chopped onions, add ginger and garlic and fry for about one minute.

Add peanuts, sesame seeds and whole spices and fry till golden brown.

Remove from heat and when cold, blend with tomato.

Heat remaining oil and add curry patta, cumin and mustard seeds, asafoetida and fry blended masala adding salt and dry spice powders.

When oil starts coming out on the surface, add tamarind and bhuno further.

Now add fried eggplants and cover and cook till fully cooked. Add water keeping in mind that the gravy should not be thin.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with chapati, naan, paratha or rice