Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan - Baby Eggplant Curry

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Bagara Baingan or baby eggplant curry is a traditional dish from Hyderabad served with Biriyani. Ground peanut, coconut and sesame seeds slow cooked in tamarind water and spices gives it a very rich texture. It tastes delicious with chapathi and rice too.

Ingredients:

Baby Brinjal: 8-10
Peanuts: 1 cup
Dry Coconut: 2 Tbsp
Sesame Seeds: 3 Tbsp
Cinnamon : 1 small stick
Cardamom: 3
Cloves: 3
Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds : 1/4 tsp

Onion: 1 medium
Green chilli : 1
Curry leaves:  1 spring
Asafoetida/ Hing: 1 pinch
Turmeric : 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 tsp 
Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp
Cumin powder: 1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp
Jaggery : 1 tsp
Tamarind juice : 1/4 cup
Salt
Oil : 2 tbsp + for frying eggplants 

Method:
1. Dry roast peanuts on low flame for 2-3 mins then add sesame seeds and dry coconut and roast until sesame n coconut turn golden in color. 

2. Put it in a blender and add 1/2 cup water and grind to a slight coarse paste.

3. Slit the baby eggplants in the centre to ¾ th keeping the stems. Make another slit making + mark.

4. Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry the eggplants until they turn soft. Keep aside until needed.

5. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok, add cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.

6. Then add mustard seeds once it splutters add cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds and sauté for 30 seconds.

7. Add chopped onion, hing, curry leaves and green chilli and fry until onions are cooked well.

8. Next add ginger garlic paste and sauté until the raw smell disappears.

9. Add turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder and mix well.

10. Add 1/2 cup water and salt and bring to boil.

11. Now add the ground peanut,coconut and sesame seeds paste and mix well.

12. Cook it covered on low flame until the oil separates, keep stirring the gravy so that it doesnt stick to the bottom

13. Add tamarind water and jaggery and cook on a very low flame until the gravy is thickned to the desired consistency.

14. Add fried eggplants to the gravy and mix gently.

15. Close the lid and cook for another 5 minutes and turn off the gas.

16. Serve hot with chapathi or any flavored rice of your choice. 

Notes:

1. Do not grind peanut, coconut and sesame to fine paste, it will take longer to cook.

2. Keep the flame low and keep stirring otherwise the gravy will stick to the bottom and burn.

3. Cover with the lid as the gravy will splutter once it starts boiling.

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Ragi mudde - Soppina saru : finger-millet balls and dill curry

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Dill leaves, sabbasige soppu in Kannada is also known as dill weed, this is a green herb with wiry, thread-like leaves that grow in clusters. It has a strong, distinctive taste that is like a combination of fennel, anise and celery. Dill leaves are highly nutritious with many anti oxidants, vitamins and dietary fibers.

Here is a simple recipe of a comfort food that's dill curry and finger millet balls aka Ragi mudde.

Dill curry /Soppina saru: 

Ingredients:

Dill leaves :3 cups

Yellow Pegion peas (togaribele/Toor dal) : 1 cup

Dry red chillies : 4-5

Peppercorn : 1 tsp

Coriander seeds : 1 tsp

Cumin seeds : 1 tsp

Small onion : 1

Garlic : 4-5 cloves

Dry coconut : 2 tsp

Tamarind : 1 small marble size

Oil: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Jaggery : 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and cook toor dal with a pinch of turmeric and few drops of oil.

2. Clean and wash dill leaves, remove hard stems and finely chop the leaves and keep aside. 

3. In a mixer jar add red chillies, coriander - cumin seeds, peppercorns, garlic, onion, dry coconut and tamarind and a little water and grind to a coarse paste.

4. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pot and add cumin seeds.

5. When the cumin seeds sizzle,  mix in ground masala and jaggery and sauté until the oil separates.

6. Add chopped dill leaves and 1/2 cup water and cook until the leaves wither, takes about 2-3 minutes.

7. Now add cooked dal and salt and bring to boil. Turn off after 4-5 minutes

For tempering:

Clarified butter /ghee : 1 tsp

Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida : 1 big pinch

Broken dry red chili : 1

Curry leaves : 1 spring.

8. In a small tempering pan, heat clarified butter and add mustard seeds, when it crackles add asafoetida, curry leaves and broken red chilli and fry.

9. Add this tempering to the curry and close the lid. Let it sit for 5 minutes so that all the flavors are combined well.

10. Serve hot with Ragi balls or plain rice.

Ragi balls:

Finger-millet or Ragi balls or Ragi mudde is a very popular dish in south Karnataka. It's made by cooking Ragi flour with hot water until there is soft dough like consistency. It's then rolled into balls served with soppina saru/huli (spinach/greens curries). Nonvegetarian also relish with chicken/mutton curries.

Ingredients:

Ragi/finger-millet flour : 3 cups

Salt: 1 tsp

Water: 6 cups

Oil: 1 tsp (optional)

Method: 

1. In a thick bottomed pot add water and bring to boil, add salt and oil.

2. Reduce the flame and start adding the Ragi flour slowly and keep mixing it continuously until cooked. It will take about 8-10 minutes. 

3.Taste a small pinch of dough, if it feels rubbery let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

4. Remove it on a wet cloth and let it cool down a bit.

5. Wet your fingers and palm with water and take a big pinch of dough and make mudde/balls. Take care not to burn your fingers. Serve hot with dill curry.

Notes:

1. You can make the curry with Indian spinach (palak) or round spinach (dantina soppu).

2. You can skip the ghee tempering totally, but it enhances the taste of the curry.

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Garlic dal

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Garlic Dal is one of the easiest and quickest recipes. Preparing the gravy takes only 5 minutes. A perfect blend of garlic and aromatic spices combined with dal gives it a unique taste. It goes very well with jeera rice (cumin rice) or any flavored rice. 

Ingredients:
Pegion peas (toor dal/togari bele): 1 cup
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice : 1 tbs
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Sliced Garlic: 1 pod
Coriander leaves
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1/4 tsp
Oil: 2 tb

Method:
1. Cook dal with turmeric, few drops of oil and enough water in pressure cooker.
2. Heat butter in a pan and add cumin seeds and fry.
3. Add sliced garlic and sauté until the raw smell disappears.
4. Add turmeric and fry garlic until it turns golden in color.
5. Add chopped coriander leaves and add red chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder  and garam masala powder and mix it quickly. Keep the flame low so the spices don't burn.
6. Add dal and salt and mix well
7. Bring it to boil and garnish with coriander leaves
8. optional: Add a tempering of sliced garlic and dry chillies on top.

9. Serve hot with rice of your choice :)

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Dal Fry

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Dal fry is a famous dish in roadside eateries. It goes well with both roti and rice. Here is my simple recipe.

Ingredients:

Split Pigeon peas/ Togari bele/ toor dal: 1cup

Butter:2 tbsp

Garlic: 6-8 cloves

Ginger: 1inch

Onion: 1 medium

Green chillies: 3-4

Cumin: 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

Cumin powder: 1 tsp

Garam masala: 1/4 tsp

Lemon juice: 2 tsp

Coriander leaves: 2 tsp for garnishing

Method:

1. Soak dal in enough water for 15 minutes and pressure cook.

2. Fine Chop garlic, ginger, chillies and onion.

3. Heat butter in a wok and add cumin seeds and fry.

4. Next add in chopped garlic and chillies and sauté until garlic is golden in color

5. Then add chopped onion and ginger and fry until onions are cooked well.

6. Mix in turmeric, coriander powder and cumin powder and sauté for a min on low flame

7. Add cooked Pegion pea/dal, add salt and bring to boil

8. Mix in garam masala powder and let it simmer covered for 5 minutes and turn off the gas.

9. Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

10. Serve hot with plain or flavored rice or with roti.

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ಮಾವಿನಹಣ್ಣಿನ ಮೆಣಸ್ಕಾಯಿ - Mango Menaskai

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Menaskayi is a popular dish in South Canara (current day Udupi/Mangalore), it is spicy, tangy and sweet in taste. Usually served in weddings and other functions. Eating it on a banana leaf is an experience in itself. This is one of my favorite curries. It's a quick and easy recipe passed to me from my mother in law.

Ingredients:

Small Mangoes:6
Dry Red Chillies:10-12
Sesame seeds: 1 tsp
Coriander Seeds:2 tsp
Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds:few grains
Turmeric:1/4 spoon
Hing: 1 pinch
coconut:1/2 cup (fresh or frozen)
Jaggery: 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil: 2 tsp

Method:

1. Clean mangoes properly.

2. Peel the skin and put it in a cooking pot, add 2 cups of water, hing, Jaggery, salt and turmeric and let it cook covered on low flame for 10 mins.

3. In the meantime heat oil in a pan and roast red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and Fenugreek seeds one by one. Dry roast coconut until it's slightly brown.

4. Make a coarse paste of coconut and all spices in the blender and add it to the boiling mangoes and bring to boil and turn off the flame.

Seasoning:
Oil: 1 tsp
Hing: 1 pinch
Mustard: 1 tsp
broken dry red chilli: 1
Curry Leaves: 1 spring

Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when the mustard splutters add dry red chilli, curry leaves and hing. Pour the tempering on the Mango gravy and serve with plain rice. 

Notes:

• You can add split black gram and Bengal gram if you like nutty flavor.
• Adjust the amount of Jaggery depending on the sweetness of mango.
• You can also add tamarind juice if it's too sweet.
• You can replace mango with pineapple.

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