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Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan curry masala in a serving bowl with a spoon.
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5 from 6 votes

Bagara Baingan Recipe (Hyderabadi Eggplant Curry)

This Bagara Baingan Masala is a rich, flavorful and authentic Hyderabadi curry served as a side dish with biryani, rice or Indian breads. The fried eggplants are simmered in nuts, seeds and tamarind based gravy to give a perfect vegetarian masterpiece for your dinner table!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
Servings: 6
Calories: 342kcal
Author: Farrukh Aziz

Ingredients

  • 12 Baby Baingan small brinjals or eggplants
  • 6 tablespoons Peanut Oil or Cooking Oil of choice divided

To make masala paste

  • 4 tablespoons Raw Peanuts dry roasted and peeled
  • 3 tablespoons Sesame Seeds see notes 5
  • 3 tablespoons Coconut desiccated or dried and grated
  • 2 teaspoons Ginger chopped
  • 7 Garlic
  • 4 Green Chilies
  • 1½ teaspoons Cumin Seeds
  • 1½ tablespoon Coriander seeds see notes 5
  • 8 Black Peppercorns
  • 4 Cloves
  • ¼ Salt

For the gravy

  • 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • 2 Sprigs of Curry Leaves
  • ½ cup Onion finely chopped
  • ¾ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
  • ¾-1 cup Water
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon Tamarind paste
  • Fresh Cilantro for garnish
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • In a blender jar, add dry roasted (and peeled) peanuts, sesame seeds, desiccated coconut, chopped ginger, peeled garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and little salt.
  • Grind everything to a paste with very little water. We do not need wet runny paste, but a thick paste to stuff the brinjals and should be smooth enough make a nice gravy base.
  • Now, slit the baingan into quarters keeping the stem intact.
  • Next, stuff each slit baingan with the prepared ground masala (reserve ⅔ masala for the gravy base). Do not stuff too much at a time, a little bit is fine as we want brinjal to soak the flavors of nuts, seeds and spices we added in paste. Stuff all the slit baingan in the same manner and set it aside.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add stuffed baingain.
  • Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat until they are slightly browned (you can simmer them for 10 minute to half cook the baingan). Take them out onto a plate and set aside.
  • In the same pan, heat the remaining oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and fry for few seconds.
  • Add chopped onion and sauté until soft and pink.
  • Now, add the reserved ⅔ masala paste in the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes on medium high heat.
  • Add turmeric and Kashmiri red chili powder, mix and cook for a minute.
  • Add salt, water (depending upon the consistency of the gravy you like) and bring it to a boil.
  • Gently place the baingan into the boiling gravy and simmer until brinjals are soft but intact.
  • Add tamarind pulp and give a very gentle mix (cooked brinjals shouldn't break). Simmer for 3-4 minutes, you will see oil floating on the top.
  • Finally, add chopped coriander and mix.
  • Dish out this delicious bagara masala baingan snd serve hot with rice, rotis, pooris, or any kind of your favorite biryani.

Notes

  1. Choose eggplants of same size and shape, this will help them to cook evenly.
  2. If you plan to slit the eggplants ahead of time, then soak them in water with little salt to avoid them turning dark or black until use.
  3. You can make the ground masala paste ahead and store in the tight sealed container up-to 5 days. 
  4. I have dry roasted the raw peanuts, peeled and used here. Feel free to leave the peel as is and proceed with process
  5. Usually, I dry roast sesame and coriander seeds and store in an airtight jar for my convenience. I highly recommend you dry roast these two a little bit and then add to make the ground masala.
  6. Feel free to use grated or chopped dry coconut instead of desiccated coconut.
  7. You can use few cashew nuts to make the gravy more rich and creamy.
  8. While making the masala, ensure using very little water as we do not want wet runny paste for stuffing. It should be thick enough to stuff and smooth enough to give a nice brinjal gravy.
  9. Add water to a gravy as per the consistency to you like.
  10. You can totally control the spiciness and sourness(amount of tamarind) in this recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 342kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 122mg | Potassium: 1208mg | Fiber: 17g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 212IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 3mg