Baghaar-e-Baingan; an ode to Hyderabad

Hyderabad to me had always been synonymous with pearls – white spheres of the cultured kind, grey, pale pink too and, the natural irregular ones. Back in the 1990’s I recall officers and their wives traveling to and fro between various cantonments would ask friends if they wanted something. And an army wife has to have pearls for all the formal dos she’ll host and attend. So it is that my mother had pearls too, from Hyderabad. Who brought them and when is lost to me. Fast forward a decade and Hyderabad became home when my parents moved there as civilians, no longer donning the olive greens. Papa worked with a Tata subsidiary and mumma eventually headed the prestigious Hyderabad Public School(s), Ramanthapur and Begumpet. From then on the city has also become synonymous as the place of abundant food: varied and delicious biryanis, haleem, Khubani ka Meetha, bakeries, Baghaar-e-Baingan and, khada dupattas, qawwali, ghazal, theatre and more! Since this is a food blog, I’ll press on with the food of that marvelous city. Baghare baingan, baghaar-e-baingan or baingan bagare are not unique to Hyderabad but their’s are the kind I enjoy and hope you will too.

Jewel of the Deccan, a place of contrasts

Hyderabad is a multifaceted city. At first, it comes across as any other metropolitan – big, bustling, sprawling in all directions, mindlessly built in some parts and full of smells, fragrant and foul. But as you peel back the layers you find a city that is simultaneously rooted in the past and rushing toward the future. The old city and lanes of Banjara Hills are the domain of erstwhile aristocracy, turn-of-the-century industrialists and rich landowners. Below them the city sprawls and rises in towers filled with its newest work force – IT workers slogging away at all hours. Then there is Secunderabad, the cantonment town that seamlessly merges with its older neighbor.

Secunderabad has a decidedly different atmosphere. Its gated colonies, bakeries, churches, cenotaphs, parade ground, barracks, flocks of retired officers and the greenery enveloping it’s still thriving and strategically important cantonment lend it an old world charm that conjures up the Raj. If the old city around Charminar is about adab, attar, brocades, lac bangles and biryani; Cantt and surroundings are all about the forces, golf, girls’ and boys’ missionary schools, socializing at the club, bakeries and a slower pace of life. Between these two is the domain of the Indian Railways, another bridge between the eras that define Hyderabad and Secunderabad. No matter where you are from there is a diasporic community waiting for you in Hyderabad – Punjabis, Bengalis, Anglo Indians, Parsis, Gujaratis and Marwaris.

A meeting of culinary traditions

Much like other Indian metros the twin cities are rich culinary destinations. It is easy to trace this in the history of the Deccan. Since the late 1300s, Sultans and Nizams with Central Asian and Persian ancestry ruled the city up until its merger with independent India. Is it any wonder that khubaani ka meetha – a decadent apricot dessert – made with a fruit that doesn’t grow anywhere near Hyderabad or in the arid Deccan plateau is one of this cuisine’s highlights? This like many other delicacies are a nod to the city’s ties with Central Asia, Persia and Turkey. Similarly, chapati or roti is as much a part of this city’s food as rice, dosa and idli.

Familiar foods with new flavors

One of the things we began to relish in Hyderabad was the use of gongura/roselle leaves in dal. In Punjab and even Rajasthan where we’d lived for over a decade, peeli daal (moong-masoor often) is rarely tart or sour except with the use of lime juice as a seasoning. But in Hyderabad we learned to enjoy this staple and arhar with roselle leaves grown in the kitchen garden; often times added as an additional green to palakwali dal. Many more melons became a part of our diet (such as dosakai) and so did the abundant use of sesame, khas-khas (poppy seeds) and peanuts.

Sesame-poppy-peanuts; an almost sacred trifecta

Such is the hold of this trifecta of ingredients that if they were missing in the pantry there was a veritable strike in the kitchen! The cook would be aghast. How could madam and sir (my parents) have forgotten to buy these? I was inspired by this rich, creamy combination when I wrote the recipe for Sunehra Murg. And, of course you have to have coconut, freshly grated. I do not have the luxury of using fresh coconut in the US. I make do with frozen, grated coconut or sometimes desiccated coconut has to do.

Baghaar-e-Baingan or more like a bahaar of baingan

Baingan/eggplants/aubergines/brinjal are plentiful in Hyderabad. Its warm climate and well drained soils produce eggplants all year round. My father’s small patch of eggplants was enough to keep the kitchen flush with this berry (yes, the fruit’s technically a berry!) in varied colors – white, purple and striped. So naturally it had to be consumed – in sambar, aloo gobhi, aloo baingan, baingan bharta and as bagare baingan.

Baghaar or bagar is another word for tempering. Others such as tadka and chhaunk have been used on the blog. So the recipe really is one for tempered eggplants. In typical Hyderabad style, one bagar isn’t enough. It has to be rich and decadent to be truly Hyderabadi. A simpler version of the recipe makes its appearance in Pushpesh Pant’s India Cookbook, a great gift from Sakshi. His recipe didn’t quite evoke the same memories of luscious Bagare Baingan made by my mom’s cook. So while trying to conjure my taste memories, I also went on a web crawl and landed on Saffron Streak’s recipe. She too has a lovely story to tell about her time in Hyderabad and a recipe that touched upon a lot of what I recalled. So my recipe is a mix of these inspirations with an attempt to recall some of that Hyderabad magic from the kitchens at Hyderabad Public School’s Principal bungalow.

Total time ~ 50 minutes, Prep: 10-15 minutes, Cooking ~ 40 minutes

For Baghaar-e-Baingan you’ll need

• Eggplants 10-12

Paste for stuffing eggplants:

• Til/Sesame seeds 1 tbsp
• Moongphali/Peanuts 2 tbsp
• Nariyal/Coconut 2 tbsp
• Putnala Pappu/Parched gram or roasted gram flour 1 tbsp
• Khas Khas/Poppy seeds ~ 2 tsp (optional)
• Dhania/Coriander seeds 1 tsp
• Hara dhania/Fresh Coriander (cilantro) ~ 2 tbsp (optional)
• Haldi/Turmeric powder 1 tsp
• Namak/Salt ~ 1 to 1.5 tsp
• Laal mirch/ Red Chili powder ~ 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Baghaar:

• Groundnut oil/Olive oil ~ 3 tbsp
• Rai/Black Mustard Seeds 1/2 tsp
• Jeera/Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
• Methi/Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
• Kalonji/Nigella seeds 1/2 tsp
• Kari Patta/Curry Leaves ~ 10 to 12

For the sauce:

• Onion – roughly chopped, 1 or 1/2 based on size
• Ginger – 1/2 tbsp, paste or grated
• Garlic – 1/2 tbsp, paste or grated
• Kashmiri Mirch/ Kashmiri Red chillies, whole 3-4, soaked in water
• Imli/Tamarind paste – 1 tbsp or pulp from soaked ball of tamarind (about a golf ball sized portion)
• Laal Mirch/Red chilli powder ~ 1/2 tsp or more (optional)
• Gur/Jaggery or molasses ~ 1 tbsp
• All remaining stuffing prepared for eggplants
• Water ~ 1 cup, more as needed
• Namak/Salt as needed

To make Baghaar-e-Baingan:

Begin by washing and cleaning the eggplants. Dry them off and then slit lengthwise up to the stem. Leave enough flesh intact so they don’t separate or fall off. Sukanya of Saffron Streaks recommends soaking them in salted water until ready to stuff. I’d add to that – wash after the soak to remove excess salt. Soak whole Kashmiri red chillies in a cup of water. Keep these as is until needed later.

Make the stuffing

Roast the first four ingredients for the stuffing i.e. up to parched gram. Roast until fragrant and just starting to turn golden. Do not brown. If you plan on using poppy seeds, soak them in water until ready to pulse into a paste. Next, put all the roasted ingredients, soaked poppy seeds, and the remaining ingredient from the list into a blender/processor. Pulse until you get a fine paste. Then stuff the eggplants that have been washed and dried off with a kitchen towel.

A note about parched gram:

• Known as putnala pappu in Telugu, our cooks would often just say “pu-dana dal”. I suppose an abbreviated name easy for us northerners to grasp. If you do not have parched gram, i.e. bengal gram that has been roasted, use gram or chickpea flour instead.

Make the baghaar/bagar

Time for the bagar. This part was slightly new to me and adapted from Saffron Streaks’ recipe. In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan or kadhai heat up oil. I had peanut oil at hand as Sukanya suggests using. Otherwise any cooking oil is okay to use. To it add all ingredients listed under baghaar above. Sauté for a few minutes ~ 2, until fragrant. Then add eggplants to the pan and shallow fry until the skins start to brown. I found 3 tbsp of oil was enough. Remove from the pan and rest until later. Keep any remaining baghaar left in the pan. We’ll use it next.

I do recall eggplants being cooked only once the gravy was ready, such that they would simmer in it instead of being sautéed ahead of time. That is one way to go. You could skip frying eggplants and instead proceed to cook onions to make the gravy.

Make the sauce

In the pan just used to fry eggplants, add all the chopped onions. Use oil leftover from making the baghaar. Add more if needed. Sauté until the onions are translucent and starting to caramelize. Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a minute or so before remove from heat. Cool, then transfer into the jar of a blender or food processor. Add all the other ingredients except jaggery and blend adding water as needed to get it going. Finally, add any leftover stuffing from earlier in the jar and give it a stir, maybe even blend once or twice to combine well. Do not wash the pan that was just used. It will be used to assemble baghaar-e-baingan.

A note on ingredients:

• I used whole kashmiri red chillies with the seeds. They will soften in water. Remove from water, break off the stem if still attached. If you want you could cut the chillies open and wash away the seeds. Since this is a mild pepper the seeds do not add too much heat.
• I used tamarind paste instead of soaking a ball of tamarind. If you soak tamarind, squish out as much pulp as you can, throw away any seeds, covering and string like strands common in the fruit.
• I did not have molasses. Instead I used jaggery which I added to the sauce later while it simmered on the stove.

The red chillies and previously cooked seeds in the baghaar will make for a smoky looking paste. In the last few years having tried various kinds of bagare baingan I’ve realized there isn’t a universal color or flavor profile.

Let’s assemble Baghaar-e-Baingan

Put the frying pan or kadhai back on the stove at medium heat. Pour in the recently ground ingredients. Add jaggery and water. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Check for salt and adjust if necessary. Finally, place previously fried eggplants in the pan and simmer covered for a few more minutes. Check again for seasonings and adjust as needed. I like my bagare baingan to have the warming notes of peanuts, sesame and coconut. But sometimes its also nice to have a sour-sweet sauce. Additional tamarind with a little more jaggery usually sorts that out!

Another bagar?

Some people finish off the dish with a final tempering or bagar of curry leaves and maybe some red chillies. I did not do that. But it’s always an option.

After a gentle simmer Baghaar-e-Baingan are ready to be served! Enjoy with freshly made long grain rice or warm chapatis.

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