Bagharay Baingan

Ingredients

Eggplants ½ kg
Onion 1 medium
Green chilies 4
Peanuts 10
Coconut 1 small piece
Poppy seeds 1 tbsp
White cumin 1 tbsp
White sesame seeds 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds 2 tbsp

For gravy

Onions 4 crushed
Tamarind juice 1 cup
Green chilies 4
Curry leaves few
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Onion seeds 1 tsp
Red chili powder 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

For baghar

Fenugreek seeds 6 – 7
Whole red chilies 6 – 8
Curry leaves few
Oil 1 – 1 ½ cups
White cumin 1 tsp

Method

Wash small eggplants and soak in cold water.
Roast together coriander seeds, poppy seeds, green chilies, white sesame seeds, white cumin, peanuts and grated coconut on a tawa and grind finely.
Add chopped onion and mix with ground spices.
Add enough water to the spices to make consistency of chutney.
Make a slit on each eggplant.
Fill in the eggplants with a pinch of salt and prepared spices mixture.
Keep the remaining spices mixture aside.
In a cooking pot, heat cooking oil and sauté white cumin, fenugreek seeds, whole red chilies and curry leaves.
Then add onions and stir fry until they are transparent.
Then add red chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste and some water and stir briefly.
Then add eggplants, salt to taste and some water and allow cooking on low flame.
When eggplants are tender, add tamarind paste, few curry leaves, remaining spices mixture, green chilies and onion seeds and allow simmering on low flame until oil forms a separate layer.Serve hot with Chapati or white rice.

Bagharay Baingan

Luqmi

Ingredients for dough

Whole wheat flour/Durum Atta – 2 1/2 cups+extra for dusting (you can also use All-Purpose flour/Maida instead)
Semolina/Sooji – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1 tsp
Yogurt – 1/3 cup
Warm water/milk – 1/4 cup
Ghee – 1 tbsp
oil to deep fry

Ingredients for mince filling

Qimah~Minced Veal/Lamb/Sheep meat – 700 gms
Onion -1, large, finely sliced
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Long green chillies – 3, chopped finely
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice – 3 tbsp

Method for mince filling

In a large frying pan, pour oil and as soon as it warms up, add the onion and fry until evenly golden brown in color. Add the cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste, cilantro and green chillies. Fry for a few seconds. Add the minced meat and cook mixing it well. Add the red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Mix well and cook stirring frequently until all the moisture has been dried up. Pour lemon juice, mix well and remove from heat. Let it cool down completely.

Method for dough

In a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except ghee and oil and working with your fingers, form a soft dough. Add a few more sprinkles of warm water if needed to form the soft dough. Once the dough has formed into a ball, smear ghee and cover with a lid. Keep aside for 40 minutes.
Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Form the dough into 30 equal size balls and cover them all with a damp kitchen towel. Also divide the prepared Qimah filling into 15 equal portions. Pour cool water into a cup and keep aside.
Dust with extra flour and roll out two dough balls, one at a time into 8 cm in diameter circle each, using your rolling pin on the work surface. Make sure the rolled out circles are not very thin, they should be just a little bit thick. Place a potion of the divided Qimah filling in the center of the rolled out dough circle. Dip your fingers into water and smear lightly on the entire outer edge of the dough circle. Gently place the second rolled out disc over the filling and press the edges of the dough circle to seal them. Using a pizza cutter cut out the extra outer edges of the dough to shape into a rectangle. (You can collect the scraps until the last luqmi is done and roll it out into a ball and repeat the procedure again). With your fingers, press the edges once again to make sure they are sealed. Crimp the edges with a fork to form a pattern. Repeat until all the luqmi is prepared. Keep them on a tray, covered with a towel, until all are ready to deep fry.
4. Heat oil to deep fry in a kadai. Depending on the size of your kadai, you can fry the luqmi, one or two at a time, until lightly browned on both sides. Remove using a slotted spoon into a wire mesh strainer for the extra oil to drain away. Serve them hot with raita.

Luqmi

Bagara Baingan

Ingredients

• 250 gms small Brinjal (baingan / eggplant)
• 1 tsp Tamarind (imli)
• 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds (til)
• 1 tbsp roasted Peanuts
• 1 tbsp grated Coconut
• 4 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Ginger-Garlic (adrak-lehsun) paste
• 1 cup chopped Onions
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder(haldi)
• 1/2 tsp Coriander (dhania) powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera) powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• Salt to taste 

Method

• Slit brinjals from both the sides without cutting the vegetable completely.
• Soak tamarind in 2 cups of water for half an hour.
• For the masala, make a smooth paste of seseme seeds, roasted peanuts and grated coconut. Keep aside.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and fry the brinjals till they become soft and keep aside.
• Heat the remaining oil in the pan; add the ginger-garlic paste and onions and fry until the onions turn light brown.
• Add the prepared masala paste and fry for 1 minute, while stirring continously.
• Add the turmeric powder, cumin seeds powder, coriander powder, garam masala and chilli powder and mix well.
• Add the tamarind juice, and salt, mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the fried brinjals, cover and cook on a medium flame for 5 minutes or till the brinjals are completely cooked.
• Add the coriander and serve hot.

 Bagara Baingan