Bagara Baingan Recipe | Hyderabadi Baby Eggplant Curry

Bagara Baingan is a scrumptious Hyderabadi dish. Baby eggplants are simmered in a spicy peanut sauce until soft and delicious. Serve with Biryani and Enjoy!!

Hyderabadi cuisine is very famous for its Biryanis and other rich and delicious Mughal & Nizam influenced dishes. Hyderabadi dum biryani is a delicacy that has to be enjoyed to describe its taste. But being an eggplant lover, my favorite dish is this Bagara Baingan.

This is a 100% vegan dish that is spicy, creamy and absolutely delicious. Bagara Baingan was a standard item on all of the wedding menus and other special occasions when I was growing up. That is not the case these days, but you can easily make the dish at home with my recipe.

Restaurant Style Bagara Baingan:

Baby eggplants are simmered in a creamy, spicy peanut-sesame sauce until nice and tender. This is a dish that has lots of flavors – it’s spicy, tangy, slightly sweet. So achieving that balance is the key. I would suggest tasting the curry as you go, to get make the right balance.

Ingredients needed for Hyderabadi Baby Brinjal Curry:

Today’s recipe is adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. It is ended up choosing a dish that is very close to my heart (and tummy) and the city I’m from, Hyderabad.  Here are the main ingredients needed to make this dish:

• Baby Eggplant – Purple variety and choose smallish ones that are blemish-free.
• For the Sauce/ Gravy:
  • Nuts & Seeds – Peanuts, sesame & poppy seeds, dry grated coconut
  • Spices – Whole Coriander seeds
  • Dry red chilies
  • Onion, ginger and garlic
• Tamarind – for some tanginess
• Jaggery – for slight sweetness

How make Bagara Baingan:

First step is to make the sauce for the curry.

• Dry roast the peanuts until lightly browned on all sides. Remove into a bowl.
• In the same pan, dry roast coriander, sesame, poppy seeds and dry red chilies until browned and aromatic. Add to the bowl with peanuts.
• In the same pan, roast dry grated coconut until golden brown. Remove into the bowl.
• Cook onions, ginger and garlic in 2 tsp oil until browned around the edges. Add to the bowl.
• Once all the ingredients are cool enough to handle, grind to a coarse paste along with salt and turmeric. Set it aside until ready to use.

Next is to prep the Eggplants:

Keep the crown intact and make a slit ¾th of the way through the eggplant by making a ‘+’ on the bottom. Prep the eggplants just before making the curry. If not, they will oxidize and turn dark.

Once the sauce and eggplants are ready, then make the curry. Here’s how:

• Heat oil in the same skillet, add cumin, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Cook for 5-10 seconds.
• Heat oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplants and cover and cook until their skins blister and they are fork-tender, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer the eggplants to a plate.
• Now add the peanut-coconut paste along with ½cup of water. Reduce the flame to medium-low. Cover the skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the eggplants have absorbed the flavors from the gravy, about 5-10 minutes. Curry is ready to serve!!

Bagara Baingan | Hyderabadi Baby Eggplant Curry

Bagara Baingan is a scrumptious Hyderabadi dish. Baby eggplants are simmered in a spicy peanut sauce until soft and delicious. Serve with Biryani and Enjoy!

Author: Pavani

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Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 1 hr

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: hyderabadi, south indian

Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients

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For the Peanut-Sesame Sauce/ Gravy:

• 2 teaspoons Oil
• ½ cup Peanuts (use the ones without skins, if available)
• 1 teaspoon Whole Coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons Sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoons Poppy seeds
• 3~4 Dry Red Chilies, broken
• ½ cup Dry grated Coconut
• 1 Small Onion, chopped
• 1" Ginger, chopped
• 2~3 Garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric
• To taste Salt

For Bagara Baingan:

• 10~12 Baby Eggplants, slit ¾ of the way through by making an 'X' on the bottom
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
• 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• 6~8 Curry leaves
• 2 tablespoons Tamarind paste
• 1~2 teaspoons Jaggery

Instructions

Make the Peanut-Sesame Sauce:

• Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Dry roast the peanuts until lightly browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer them to a medium-size bowl.
• In the same pan, dry roast coriander, sesame, poppy seeds and dry red chilies until browned and aromatic, about 1-2 minutes. Add the seeds to the peanuts.
• Add the dry grated coconut to the skillet and toast until lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Add this to the peanut-spice mixture.
• Heat oil to the skillet; add onions, ginger and garlic. Cook until they turn lightly browned all over, about 5~6 minutes. Place these onions with the oil that's leftover on the peanuts mixture. Let cool slightly, then grind into a thick paste along with 1 cup of water, salt and turmeric.

Prep the Eggplant:

• Keep the crown intact and make a slit ¾th of the way through the eggplant by making a '+' on the bottom.

Make Bagara Baingan:

• Heat oil in the same skillet, add mustard, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Cook for 5-10 seconds.
• Add the eggplants and cover and cook until their skins blister and they are fork-tender, about 12-15 minutes.
• Now add the peanut-coconut paste along with ½cup of water. Reduce the flame to medium-low. Cover the skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the eggplants have absorbed the flavors from the gravy, about 5-10 minutes. Curry is ready to serve!!

Notes

• Prep the eggplants just before making the curry. If not, they will oxidize and turn dark.
• Bagara Baingan is best served hot or at room temperature the same day it is cooked. 
• Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

 

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Bagara Baingan | Hyderabadi Baby Eggplant Curry

Amount per Serving

Calories

319

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

20

g

31

%

Saturated Fat

 

6

g

38

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Sodium

 

104

mg

5

%

Potassium

 

1086

mg

31

%

Carbohydrates

 

34

g

11

%

Fiber

 

15

g

63

%

Sugar

 

19

g

21

%

Protein

 

9

g

18

%

Vitamin A

 

226

IU

5

%

Vitamin C

 

30

mg

36

%

Calcium

 

108

mg

11

%

Iron

 

2

mg

11

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

How to serve:

Bagara Baingan pairs well with biryani, so serve with Hyderabadi vegetable biryani or this vegetable dum biryani. It can also be served with simple roti or naan.