Eggplant with Yogurt sauce (Dahi Baingan)

Blogging Marathon# 57: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Eggplant Dishes from here

Dish: Dahi Baingan

After 2 International eggplant dishes (Imam Biyildi and Eggplant Parmesan), I made an Indian dish for the final day. It was really tough picking dishes from Valli's list because I have already posted some of them on the blog and there are quite a few that I really wanted to try.

This is supposed to be Dahi Baingan from the list. This dish is made in Orissa and West Bengal. But this recipe is not the traditional way of preparing it. From what I have seen, traditionally eggplants are marinated in spices and deep fried, then cooked in a yogurt sauce.

This recipe is slightly different: eggplant is smeared with spices and broiled. Then served with a spinach flavored yogurt sauce or kadhi. This recipe is from Cooking Light way to cook vegetarian cookbook and I absolutely loved the dish.

Recipe from Cooking Light way to cook vegetarian cookbook:
Ingredients: Serves 4

For the Eggplant:
Eggplants - 6~8 baby ones or 1 small globe eggplant, cut crosswise into ¼" slices
Ground Coriander - 1tsp
Ground Turmeric - ½tsp 

Red Chili powder - ½~1tsp
Oil - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

For the Yogurt Sauce (Hariyali Kadhi):
Red Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Ginger - ½" piece, grated
Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Frozen spinach - 1cup, thawed, drained and squeezed dry (or use 3~4cups fresh spinach)
Chickpea flour/ Besan - 2tbsp
Yogurt - 1cup
Salt - to taste

For Tempering:
Oil - 1tsp
Red Chili powder - ¼tsp
Garlic - 2 cloves, thinly sliced

Method:

• For the Eggplant: Preheat the broiler on high. Place eggplant slices on a foil lined baking sheet in a single layer. 
• In a small bowl, combine ground coriander, turmeric, red chili powder, salt and oil. Using the back of the spoon, spread a small amount of the mixture over 1 side of each eggplant slice. Broil 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
• For the Yogurt Sauce/ Hariyali Kadhi: Heat 1tsp oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, saute till lightly browned around the edges. Add ginger, garlic and cook for 1 minute.
• Next add the tomato and cook till mushy, about 3 minutes.
• Next add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes. At this stage, you can add water and simmer for a minute, then grind to a smooth paste. I like the chunky texture, so I left it like that.
• In a small bowl, whisk chickpea flour in 3tbsp water, ¼cup yogurt and salt.
• Stir the flour mixture into the spinach mixture along with remaining yogurt. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently. Cover and remove from heat.
• For the Tempering: Heat 1tsp oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the tempering ingredients and saute till garlic turns lightly browned, about 1 minute.
• To Serve: Pour warm spinach sauce into a shallow serving dish, top with eggplant. Drizzle with the garlic mixture and serve with rice.

 

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 57.