Now today's recipe is a simple one and easy for beginners too. I had Baingan or big eggplant variety lying in my refrigerator for a week. Everytime I was postponing to cook with it. I wanted to try something totally new. I saw this recipe on Youtube and compared many recipes to finalise my dish and it came out pretty well. It's a yogurt based curry but also spicy, based on how spicy you want to make it. It is a great option when you run out of onion and tomato at home. I added a potato to make it appealing for my husband, you can also try that to make kids eat it. It goes well with Roti, chapati, pulao and even rice too. I did not click any good pics before we finished it off today. So here is a short snippet from my instagram story of the dish. Lets move on the actual recipe.
Serves - 2-3
Time required: 20 mins
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped eggplant (big variety is best)
1 potato chopped (optional)
1 slit green chilli (optional)
150ml curd beaten
1.5 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp corriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
a pinch of garam masala
1/4 tsp saunf / fennel seeds powder
1/4 tsp dry ginger powder
1 clove
1/2" cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Oil
Method:
1. In a wide pan or kadai, take 4-5 tbsp of oil and saute the eggplant and potato until they become slight brown and cooked. Most recipes called for deep frying, but I chose to pan fry. Remove from pan and keep them aside.
2. In the same pan with little oil, add a bay leaf, clove, cinnamon and cumin seeds. Once it splutters, add the green chilli if using. Saute well.
3. In a small cup dissolve the red chilli powder in 1/4 cup water. Pour it in the pan.
4. Add turmeric powder, corriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, saunf powder, ginger powder and salt. Let it boil and masalas get cooked.
5. Add the well beaten curd now. The color looks brilliant now when you mix. Let it come together.
6. Now add the fried veggies and mix together. You can see the oil seperating or gravy becoming rich.
7. Have a taste and adjust seasoning. Tada! Your yummy gravy is ready.
Tips:
- When you chop the eggplant potato, put them in a cup of water with salt to prevent oxidising or turning brown.
- I added half a tomato while sauteing the masala. But did not mention in the recpe above, because the gravy is already a little tangy because of curd, so you can skip tomatoes I felt.
Hope you will try this recipe and let me know how you liked it.
Which are your time saving recipes?