• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pakistan Eats

  • Recipes
    • Bread and Rice
    • Meat and poultry
    • Sides
    • Vegetarian Mains
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Features
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Nevine’s Bagara Baingan (Eggplant with Tempering)

September 1, 2016 by Maryam Jillani 2 Comments

bagara-baingan-landscape

This bagara baingan recipe is an attempt to begin to diversify the type of recipes featured on the blog. It is our collective misfortune that despite the sub-continent having a vibrant and eclectic cuisine, we are often exposed to only a small piece of what it offers.

A large part of why I started Pakistan Eats was to crowdsource recipes from different parts of Pakistan so we, or at least I could begin to get a truer picture of what is eaten inside homes across the country, and archive it in a meaningful and accessible way. 

bagara-baingan-angle

Six months into the blog, I however found that nearly all my recipes are reflective of what is eaten among Punjabi and Urdu-speaking families but not necessarily elsewhere. So I recently asked my friend, Erum who grew up in Karachi to recreate what her mom cooked at home. 

landscape2

Erum’s family primarily comes from Mumbai, and their cuisine is strongly rooted in South Indian and Gujarati culinary traditions. It is mostly vegetarian, and draws upon incredibly complex spice blends. 

Here Erum recreates her mom, Nevine’s twist on the Hyderabadi classic, bagara baingan. It is a gorgeous dish that is typically served as a side to biryani or pulao (pilaf) but we enjoyed with a side of Trader Joe wraps and gawar ki sabzi (green beans). 

vertical

bagara-baingan-angle

Bagara Baingan (Eggplant with Tempering)

This bagara baingan is my friend's mother, Nevine's modern take on the sub-continent classic. It's a flavorful vegetarian side: sliced eggplant simmered in a rich masala paste and topped with a vibrant tadka of curry leaves, dried chilies, cumin and mustard seeds.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Total Time 1 hr
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Pakistani Cuisine
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1- inch tamarind pulp
  • ¾ cup hot water
  • 4 tbsp canola/sunflower/vegetable oil
  • ½ medium red onion sliced in half rings
  • 1 ½ tsp ginger paste
  • 1 ½ tsp garlic paste
  • 3 baby eggplants thinly sliced crosswise
  • Salt to taste
  • 12 oz full-fat yogurt slightly whipped
  • 1 tsp birista thinly sliced dried onion (optional)
  • Handful of roughly chopped cilantro for garnish optional

Masala Paste

  • ½ medium red onion sliced in half rings
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp poppy seeds
  • 2-4 red chilies

Tadka (Tempering)

  • 4 kadi patta (curry leaves)
  • 4 dried round chilies
  • 1 tsp of cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp mustard seed

Instructions
 

  • Place tamarind pulp in a bowl, and add roughly 1 cup hot water (see notes). Squeeze the tamarind to soften it and make it paste-like. Remove seeds. Set the tamarind water aside.
  • Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a small sauce pan. Add the ½ sliced red onion and brown on medium heat till soft.
  • Add the spices listed under masala paste and roast them on low heat till they change color and become fragrant (about 10 minutes). Make sure they don't burn. Once done, grind the onion and spices in a food processor or spice grinder to create a smooth paste. Set aside.
  • Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a medium-sized sauce pan. Add remainder of the chopped onion. Turn up heat and fry till soft and translucent. Add ginger and garlic paste and fry for a few seconds. Add splash of water to deglaze the pan as needed.
  • Add the ground masala paste and fry till aromatic.
  • Lower heat, and layer the sliced eggplant on top of the onion and paste.
  • Slowly strain the tamarind water into the pan while squeezing the tamarind to infuse it with more flavor.
  • Add salt.
  • Turn up the heat to bring the tamarind water to a boil. Once it begins to simmer, lower heat to medium and cover the pan with a tight lid. Turn heat off when the eggplant softens (about 10-15 minutes).
  • Layer the eggplant onto a serving dish. Drizzle with whipped yogurt. Top with birista.
  • For the tadka, 2 tbsp oil. Add kadi patta (curry leaves), dried red chilies, cumin seeds and mustard seeds in quick succession as they change color. Remove from heat.
  • Pour the tadka (with oil) over the eggplant. Add cilantro for garnish.

Notes

Please note that the water you add depends on the size of the eggplant. You don't want the dish to be soupy - it's a dry dish - just enough water that the sliced eggplant can gently simmer and draw flavor from the tamarind-infused water. 
Keyword eggplant
Tweet
Share
Pin3
Share21
24 Shares
Previous Post: « Qaiser Mamoon’s Chicken Tikka
Next Post: November 9, 2016 »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Aloo Sabzi (Curried Potatoes) - Pakistan Eats says:
    March 29, 2020 at 6:12 am

    […] Some of them are a little bit more mundane like updating old recipes, such as kadhi chawal and bagara baingan; others more interesting like poring through cookbooks to look for recipes of Pakistani regional […]

    Reply
  2. Erum's Gawar Sabzi (Cluster Beans) - Pakistan Eats says:
    April 12, 2020 at 11:14 am

    […] and “guvar” (cluster beans) last August when Erum was preparing her mother’s bagara baingan for the blog. Erum, whose family had immigrated from Mumbai to Karachi, had grown up eating gawar […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

About Me

Hi! I'm Maryam, a food writer and enthusiastic home cook, excited to share traditional but accessible Pakistani recipes. Read More…

Copyright © 2021 Pakistan Eats on the Foodie Pro Theme