Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Bagara Baingan or Eggplants in an exotic gravy of peanuts,coconut and sesame seeds ....


Deserted afternoon streets, piles of watermelons on the roadsides, exuberantly priced mangoes and frequent power outages. Does this ring a bell ??
You guessed it right - The Indian Summer.Our schools were closed and we were a bunch of juveniles running around Aai's (Grandma) courtyard, mostly engaged in regular squabbles ..... like who would sleep next to Aai during the afternoon story telling session, yet another thing that we fought over regularly was who would get to eat the takua (Mango seed or Endocarp)!
While we fought about the most trivial things within the comfort of the four walls caring little about the difficulties of life, there was one sweaty lean guy who struggled to make a living ... Raghu Kaka. He was probably in his forty something, dark complexioned and wrinkled faced, paan stained teeth and unkept hair ... in short nothing close to looking attractive. The only thing that made him look human was his warm affectionate smile.

Every morning I would see him sit by the staircase having a word with Aai. He would often talk about the village politics,his daily business and the sabzi mandi, his family and about his four kids who went to school. At times Aai would offer him a cup of tea with some Mudhi (puffed rice). He was supposedly from Aai's native and was a fruit vendor. He would arrive by the early morning passenger train and pull out his rickety rusted cycle which he kept in one corner of our garage. He would carefully inspect the bicycle and then tie a big bamboo basket behind the cycle and tightly secure it with a rope before riding it away. That was his everyday routine. I would sometimes watch him sitting on the staircase leaning against Aai as they made a conversation ..... Some days he would offer me a mango. But it was Aai's strict instruction not to take anything for free.
This was everyday routine to see Raghu Kaka during our summer vacations for years together till he grew old and weak and stopped coming.
Today I remembered him after decades ...simply out of the blue without any relevance while preparing this South Indian delicacy. There wasn't anything significant about this person that would leave a lasting impression ..... he was like any regular guy who came to the city to make a living.

I wondered why he crossed my mind after all these years .... Is it because things which we sometimes consider to be insignificant and irrelevant leave a bigger impression on our lives ??

Preparation Time 60 minutes
Serves 3




Ingredients
Small Tender Eggplants/Bringjal - 6
Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp
Dry Coconut powder - 1 tbsp
Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilis - 5
Cumin Seeds - 1/2tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - Few
Turmeric Powder - 1/3 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/3 tsp
Tamarind juice - 1/3 cup
Jaggery/ Sugar -1/2 tsp
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cardamon - 2
Bay Leaf - 1
Salt per taste
Oil for cooking


Method of Preparation
1 Wash the eggplants and pat dry. Slit them into four halves with the stem intact and fry them in oil. Keep aside.
2 Dry roast peanuts,sesame seeds, coconut powder and red chilies. Grind them into a paste adding little water and keep aside.
3 Heat little oil in a wok. Add all the whole spices,curry leaves and cumin seeds. Add chopped o onions and fry till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and turmeric.
4 Now add the tamarind juice and add cumin and coriander powder. Mix well and let it simmer. Add sugar/ jaggery to it. Also add the asafoetida.
5 Take the peanut paste and add it to the above mixture. You may add water to adjust the consistency.
6 Once the gravy begins to simmer add the egg plants and cook. Make sure to stir the gravy in between.

Serving Tips
Serve as a side with pulao/rice or any Indian Flat bread.

40 comments:

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious flavourful eggplants looks good with peanuts

divya said...

They look really delicious..looks superb..:)

Prema said...

Omg thats very tempting recipe dear,loved the addition of Peanuts Powder in masala...Sure the taste will be amazing...

aipi said...

My hubby is a BIG eggplant lover and he goes crazy for this one - lol..looks really delcious with the perfect shots!
US Masala

Hari Chandana P said...

Yummy and delicious recipe.. looks awesome !!!
Indian Cuisine

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Looks perfect and love all the shots.. absolutely yummy meal.

Nandinis food said...

It's surely a great treat for eggplant fans...Very amazing flavours in it...

Oriyarasoi said...

Bagara baingan looks awesome.....anyone who visits Hyderabad shud sample some of it along with the famouus Biryani!!!!

Nice recollections about the summer holidays....even i used to fight with my brother over the amba tanku!!!

chef and her kitchen said...

I love this....love it wid jolada rotti..yummy combo

Priya Suresh said...

Bagara baingan looks simply irresistible, give me that bowl,i'll happily finish it rite now..

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

you are a fabulous write Satrupa. love reading your posts and yes the baghara baingan looks delectable.

Indian Khana said...

Looks so gud ...I love bagara baigan and your is so tempting

Suja Manoj said...

Wow tempting curry, rich and creamy sauce,looks divine.

Unknown said...

Never tried preparing bagara baingan..It looks amazing Satrupa..Really tempting clicks!

JishasKitchen said...

omg...that looks so tempting and delicious...loved your clicks..!!

Rajani said...

Looks perfect, I have a soft corner for brinjal, so this is must try, it is slightly different from my treatment of brinjals.
Have you deep fried or shallow fried the brinjals? Any tips to get the frying right?Thanks.
Rajani.

Ramya said...

What a great combo..:-) Loved the bagara baingan..
I love egg plants in any form..I am soo waiting to try it!!

Raks said...

Never tried this famous dish,looks very comforting with that peas pulav,lovely presentation!

Deepi's World said...

lovely post...like the story.. a walk to the memory lane. I don't know how many times that mango seed became the fighting ground between me and my brother.liked the first click too.

Unknown said...

lovely post satrupa, i like ur new profile pic, indian summer, watermelon, mango it is the best, can't find it anywhere in the world and bagara baingan looks heavenly missing mum!

Chitra said...

Iama big fan of brinjal but never prepared this, looks abs. delicious. will try for sure.

Mehjabeen Arif said...

Super yummy.. ! lovely post..

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Joyti said...

I normally do not like eggplant, but this sounds really delicious. Very different...

Plateful said...

I'm not a big eggplant fan but you are tempting me with your delicious curry and even more gorgeous shots!!

My Kitchen Antics said...

looks great...i love this but ive never been successful in making it well

Reshmi Mahesh said...

Awesome recipe....superb clicks.....

Roopa said...

Hi there. I got to your blog while searching for bagara baingan recipe. I am glad I found this because after following your instructions exactly, the result was a delicious dish that I would've otherwise never thought of making. Thank you so much.

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