Dahi baigana

Built so it can be made without onion or garlic, for the festivals that forbid them.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, in 1 cm rounds
• 500 g plain yoghurt
• 3 tablespoons mustard oil
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3 dried red chillies
• 20 curry leaves
• a 3 cm piece of ginger, grated
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Method

1. IT IS BUILT SO IT CAN BE MADE WITHOUT ONION OR GARLIC, FOR THE FESTIVALS THAT FORBID THEM. Its article says so in its second sentence: THIS DISH CAN BE PREPARED WITHOUT USING ONION AND GARLIC WHEN THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED IN SOME AUSPICIOUS FESTIVALS. Neither is in the ingredient list below, and that is a design decision rather than an omission -- everything that would normally come from a browned onion base has to come from the tempering instead.
2. WHICH IS WHY THE TEMPERING IS FOUR SEEDS AND NOT TWO. The article's list is unusually full: MUSTARD SEEDS, CUMIN SEEDS (JEERA), FENUGREEK SEEDS (METHI), FENNEL SEEDS (PAN MAHURI), DRY CHILLI, CURRY LEAVES, GINGER, GREEN CHILLI, SALT AND SUGAR. Fennel and fenugreek together are what make it taste of Odisha rather than of a raita.
3. FRY THE AUBERGINE ROUNDS FIRST AND LET THEM COOL. Salted ten minutes, patted dry, fried in mustard oil until soft and brown on both sides. Hot aubergine in yoghurt splits it.
4. BEAT THE YOGHURT SMOOTH WITH THE SALT AND SUGAR. The sugar is in the article's own list and it is not optional: it is what balances a dish with no onion sweetness in it.
5. THE TEMPERING GOES IN HOT OIL IN THIS ORDER. Mustard seeds until they pop, then fenugreek for ten seconds, then cumin and fennel, then the dried chillies and curry leaves. Fenugreek burns faster than the rest and has to be watched.
6. LET IT COOL FOR A MINUTE BEFORE IT MEETS THE YOGHURT. Poured in at frying heat it will curdle the bowl.
7. FOLD THE AUBERGINE IN LAST, GENTLY. It should stay in rounds. Stirred hard it becomes a mash, which is a different Odia dish.
8. SERVED COOL, AND ITS ARTICLE NOTES A KASHMIRI COUSIN. SOME VARIATION OF DAHI BAIGANA IS SEEN IN KASHMIRI CUISINE AS THE KASHMIRI VERSION ADDS SPICE PASTE AND A LOT OF CHILLI POWDER TO THE DISH -- which comes out SOMEWHAT GOLDEN RATHER THAN BEING YELLOWISH WHITE.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes