Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan or Baby Eggplant Curry, This spicy curried eggplant is a popular curry of Hyderabad, Telangana, accompanies with Hyderabadi biryani or roti. Its key ingredient is baby eggplants which cooked with spices like sesame seeds, coconut, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic paste, turmeric powder, bay leaf and tamarind pulp. We can also add peanut for grainy texture to this dish.
This curry is belonging to Hyderabad cuisine, so also called Deccani cuisine. It is the native cooking style of the Hyderabadi Muslims, and began to develop after the foundation of the Bahmani Sultanate, and more drastically with the Qutb shahi dynasty around the city of Hyderabad, promoting the native cuisine along with their own. Hyderabadi cuisine had become a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad State, as it began to further develop further on from there. It is an amalgamation of Mughal, Turkish, and Arabic along with the influence of the native Telugu and Marathwada cuisines.
Bagar means, tempering the oil with spices and baingan is baby eggplant or brinjal. Basically in Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan, we are tempering oil with spices and mix it with baby eggplant. Traditionally baby eggplants is deep fried in the oil. But I just shallow fried the baby eggplants with less oil. The gravy is made from roasted sesame seeds and peanuts with grated coconut. Okay then lets learn how to make this easy-pesy delicious curry!
Ingredients:
For Gravy Paste
• ¼ Cup Peanuts
• 2 Dry Red Chilies
• 1-2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
• ¼ Cup Grated Fresh Coconuts
Other Ingredients
• 8-10 Baby Eggplants/Small Baingan
• ½ cup Finely Chopped Onion
• 1 tsp Ginger Paste
• 1-2 tsp Minced Garlic
• 2 Chopped Green Chilies
• 1 tsp Tamarind Pulp (Used Readymade Pulp)
• 2-3 tbsp Oil
• ¼ tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 Bay Leaves (optional)
• Pinch of Hing
• 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder
• tsp Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• Salt
• Chopped Coriander Leaves
Method:
1. Wash the baby eggplants and give a slit cut cross way on the top of it, left the stem as it is.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a kadai and deep shallow fry the baby eggplants until it tenders and soft. Once done remove it and Keep aside.
3. Dry roast peanuts, dry chilies, sesame seeds and fresh grated coconut separately in another kadai for few minutes.
4. In a mixer or blender add the roasted items along with 1/4 cup water and make a fine paste of it.
5. In the same kadai (which is used for frying baby eggplants) heat the 1 tbsp oil, and then add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Bay leave and pinch of hing. Add ginger garlic and green chilies and mix well. Add finely chopped onions and fry until it turns into transparent.
6. Add grounded paste, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and turmeric powder, then stir fry it. Add tamarind pulp and salt, mix well, add 1/4 cup of water in the mixture and allow it to boil.
7. Then add fried baby eggplants. Mix it well with the masala and cover with the lid.
8. Allow to cook 7-8 mins on a medium flame, slowly it will form a thick gravy, turn off the stove and garnish it with fresh chopped coriander leaves.
9. Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan is ready now. Serve it hot with biryani, rice or roti and enjoy your meal.
Tips:
• I used readymade tamarind pulp. However, if you would like then you could make it at home using lemon sized tamarind ball soak it into the warm water for 30 mins, and then strain the soaked mixture pressing thru the strainer.
• You can remove the baby eggplants stems if you don’t like it.
• You can deep fry the baby eggplants too or shallow fry it.
- ¼ Cup Peanuts
- 2 Dry Red Chilies
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- ¼ Cup Grated Fresh Coconuts
- 8-10 Baby Eggplants/Small Baingan
- ½ cup Finely Chopped Onion
- 1 tsp Ginger Paste
- 1-2 tsp Minced garlic
- 1-2 Green Chilies Chopped
- 1 tsp Tamarind Pulp (Used Readymade Pulp)
- 2-3 tbsp Oil
- ¼ tsp Mustard Seeds
- ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Bay Leaves (optional)
- Pinch of Hing
- 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- Salt
- Chopped Coriander Leaves
- Wash the baby eggplants and give a slit cut cross way on the top of it, left the stem as it is.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a kadai and deep shallow fry the baby eggplants until it tenders and soft. Once done remove it and Keep aside.
- Dry roast peanuts, dry chilies, sesame seeds and fresh grated coconut separately in another kadai for few minutes.
- In a mixer or blender add the roasted items along with ¼ cup water and make a fine paste of it.
- In the same kadai (which is used for frying baby eggplants) heat the 1 tbsp oil, and then add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Bay leave and pinch of hing. Add ginger garlic and green chilies and mix well. Add finely chopped onions and fry until it turns into transparent.
- Add grounded paste, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and turmeric powder, then stir fry it. Add tamarind pulp and salt, mix well, add ¼ cup of water in the mixture and allow it to boil.
- Then add fried baby eggplants. Mix it well with the masala and cover with the lid.
- Allow to cook 7-8 mins on a medium flame, slowly it will form a thick gravy, turn off the stove and garnish it with fresh chopped coriander leaves.
- Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan is ready now. Serve it hot with biryani, rice or roti and enjoy your meal.
• You can remove the baby eggplants stems if you don’t like it.
• You can deep fry the baby eggplants too or shallow fry it.
4 Responses to “Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan (Baby Eggplant Curry)”
Wowww Binjal! Love that steam! The curry looks too good! yum!
Thanks Janani 🙂
Amazing Binjal, just amazing. The baingan, the photography everything… <3
Jyothi Rajesh recently posted…Mexican Grilled Corn
Thanks Jyothi 🙂