Baigan-tamatar ki sabzi (Eggplants / Brinjals with Tomatoes)

Granny's Achari Baigan

Eating brinjal savory (Baigan ki sabji) at my daughter’s place was like jogging down the memory lane. It has been years that my grandma left us and though I remembered her cooking yet do not know how such a wonderful dish had not come to my mind earlier. In Kumaon many people at that time not used to eat (as well as store in house) onions and garlic thus my grandmother used to make brinjal my mom’s favorite vegetable with lots of tomato and spices. I had completely forgotten about it till my daughter made it for me. What a delightful experience it was to be reminded of my grandma’s cooking by my daughter. Today I share this recipe with nostalgia of childhood visits to my granny’s place and have nasmed it as Granny's Achari Baigan in her memory. Absolutely easy, least oily full of flavors and taste this recipe is a must try for all brinjal lovers. Even those who do not like brinjal much will fall in love with this brinjal preparation.

Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

Servings:  6 Large servings

Ingredients Required For Making Granny's Achari-Baigan:

• 1 kg Big Dark Violet Color Brinjal  

Brinjals

• 1 kg Red Ripe Tomatoes

Ripe Tomatoes

• 3 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
• 3 Teaspoons Kalonji (Black Caraway seeds)
• 1/2Teaspoon Asafoetida powder (I use LG Asefoetida powder)
• 10 ml Mustard oil (any cooking oil)
• 3-4 Teaspoon Red chili powder (or to taste)
• 2 teaspoon sugar (Optional)
• Salt to taste

Direction For Making Grand-Ma’s Achari-Baigan:

• Mix Turmeric, salt, 2 teaspoon Red chili powder to make spices mixture for brinjals. Keep aside for later use.
• Wash the brinjals, tomatoes and dry with a cloth.
• Cut one brinjal horizontally to get 2-2.5 mm round pieces.

Brinjal Pieces

• Immediately sprinkle the brinjal pieces with the spices mixture. Make sure all pieces are coated on both sides with spices mixture.
• Heat non-stick tawa and sprinkle 1 oil on it. Spread oil on tawa and place the brinjal pieces on hot tawa and lower the flame.

Brinjal Pieces Cooking with spices mixture

• Repeat the same with all brinjals.
• Cook for 8-10 min on low flame without covering it.

One side cooked 

• Flip the brinjal pieces and cook on the other side also for 4-5 min. This will make the brinjal pieces soft. Do not cook on high flame and do not overcook brinjal.

I love the stalk also yummy to chew and suck the juices

• While the brinjals are cooking make paste of tomato in a grinder- mixer.
• Take 2 ml oil in a wok and heat it till smoking hot.
• Lower the flame and add Black caraway seeds (Kalonji), Fennel seeds (Saunf) and let them split to get maximum flavor. Make sure they do not burn.
• Add asafoetida mix and add tomato paste.

Ready for tomato paste

Tomato paste cooking with tempering 

• Cook on low flame with regular stirring till tomato paste becomes thick and starts leaving the edges of wok. It took me 15 min.

Tomato paste and Brinjal pieces cooking side by side

Tomato paste ready fort cooked Brinjal pieces to be added

• Add the cooked brinjal pieces to the cooked tomato paste and mix lightly so that the brinjal pieces get coated with tomato paste but not get mashed up.

Brinjal pieces added to tomato paste and mixed

• Add salt and chili powder according to your taste.
• Cover and cook for 2-3 min. stirring with light hands once or twice max.
• Add sugar and mix. Cook for 1 min with lid on the wok.
• Grand-ma’s Achari baigan is ready.

Ready to be served

• Remove from the wok in a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leafs.

Granny's Achari Baigan

Granny's Achari Baigan

• Serve hot with any type of Indian bread/Dal-Chawal.

Tips:

• Make sure brinjals do not have seeds.
• All utensils used by me are non-stick thus less amount of oil usage. If other non-stick vessels are not used then oil for brinjal pieces cooking will have to be increased so that they do not stick to pan and break.
• Cut the brinjals and add spice to only that many pieces which can be accommodated on your cooking pan/tawa rest can be kept covered in fridge till one lot is cooked.
• Do not add spices mixture to all pieces until unless you can cook them immediately, else juices will start coming out of brinjal and they will become soggy (Undesired change).
• Make sure brinjal pieces are not cut too thin or too thick. Thin pieces will burn off and break while mixing with tomato paste and too thick will become lumpy.
• The wok taken for mixing the cooked tomato paste and brinjal pieces should be large enough to allow them to spread nicely not get crowded, else mixing will take properly also brinjal pieces will get crushed while mixing.
• This dish tastes best with mustard oil.
• Always take chili powder quantity according to the hotness of it. All variety of chilies, chili powders have different degree of hotness.
• Sugar adds that extra element to tangy, spicy, sour taste of Achari baigan. This is the only change I made to original recipe.

Alternative Suggestions:

• I do not throw away the stalk with green on it, but cook a;longwith. It is yummy to chew and suck juices out of it.
• Tomatoes amount can be increased to 1:1.5 ratio by weight. 
• You can cook baigan and tomato paste as directed in recipe and store them separately in fridge. Mix the required quantity of both cook and enjoy as and when needed.
• If tomatoes are too sour in taste then sugar adding is must.

Plain Puri (Puffed Fried Bread )

Puris with Sukka Kala Chana

Puri are fried bread made of mainly whole wheat flour. Different variation of puri are made by adding spices and vegetables to the wheat flour before making it to dough. Plain puri are made of wheat flour dough with out mixing any other thing to the flour. What ever type of puri it may be, hot puffed puri are so luring that it becomes difficult to resist. It is a delightful scene to see my children to poke a hole in the middle of puffed hot puri to let the steam out and eat.

Preparation Time:  5-10min.

Cooking Time: 20min.

Servings:  20 - 25 Puri can be made from the material given below.

Ingredients Required To make Puri:

• 250gm. Whole Wheat Flour.
• 10-15 ml. cooking oil.
• 1/2Teaspoon salt
• 100-150ml. Water to make dough.
• 200 ml. Cooking oil for frying.

Directions To Make Dough:

• Take wheat flour in a bowl and add 5 ml. of oil, and salt to it.
• Mix with your fingers.
• Add another 5 ml. of oil and mix nicely.
• The flour oil mixture should resemble bread crumbs.
• If required then add another 5ml.oil.
• The requirement of oil changes with the quality of wheat flour.
• Do not add too much oil; otherwise the puris will become too oily.
• Add water in little amounts and mix and knead.
• The dough should be soft but firm.

Dough for Puri

Directions To Make Puri:

• Put 200ml. oil in a wok and keep the wok on gas, with the gas on high flame.
• Make small balls from the dough.

Dough ball for Puri

• Oil the rolling board and rolling pin with few drops of oil.

Rolled Puri

• Keep the ball of dough in the center of rolling board and roll it to 8-10 cm. diameter round puri.
• When the oil is smoking hot reduce the flame.
• To the hot oil put the rolled puri from the side of the wok.
• Fry it from both sides to golden color by turning it once or twice.

Puri being fried

Puffed fried Puri

• Plain puri is really to be served with any vegetable.

Hubby dear enjoying Puri with Sukka Chana

My personal preference is eating this puri with Aloo ki sabji (Dry potato vegetable) /Sukka kala chana

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/sukka-kala-chana-gravy-less-black-gram.html

      and mango pickle.

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/tangy-mango-pickle-maharashra-style.html, http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/mango-pickle-north-indian-style.html

Tips

• Add water in little amounts while making dough as requirement of water changes with different type of wheat flour.
• Take care while putting rolled puri for frying, it should be put slowly from side otherwise hot oil may spill causing burns.
• For those who are not too adept at rolling, you can roll few puris and keep them separated on an oiled plate and then start frying them one by one.
• The oil should be very hot while frying otherwise puri will not puff.
• Maintain the temperature of oil by reducing/ increasing the flame.
• Puris can be kept in a closed container for a day and eaten by warming in microwave or on flat iron plate(Tawa) over gas.

Suggested Variations:

• Add  one coarsely ground red chili to the flour before kneading it adds color and taste to the puri.
• Cumin seeds / roasted cumin seed powder can be added to the flour before kneading.
• Add 2 tea spoonful of Ajwain ( caraway seeds) to make ajwain puri.