Baingan Raita

- Submitted by Dahlia

(Baingan Ka Raita, Dahi Baingan, Brinjal in yogurt sauce, Brinjal Raita, Eggplant Raita)

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I am a great fan of raita or what we call as thayir pachadi in Tamil. Primarily because I think it is a great way to infuse vegetables into our diet. The goodness of yoghurt along with nutrition from vegetables makes it a great combo. In fact, when on a weight loss mission, eating just the raita made with lot of vegetables keeps our stomach full for longer hours. I have tried making raitas with all vegetables and sometimes a mix of all vegetables. I feel raitas give a satiating and a finishing touch to the meal. The meal could be a chapatti sabji or a traditional south Indian full lunch menu or even a one pot meal, whatever it could be, raitas are the apt side dishes. Even in the traditional lunch that is served in banana leaf in wedding or other rituals, after the payasam, the thayir pachadi is served. That is the importance of the raita or thayir pachadi in the Indian menu.

As we all know raita is commonly made with vegetables like onion, tomato, cucumber, carrot, beetroot and capsicum, but one day I came across the brinjal raita or the egg plant raita at a friend’s dinner. Initially I was surprised at the combination, but being an ardent fan of raita I tried in my kitchen and it was just awesome. The slightly marinated and burnt brinjal in cool yogurt with spices was just heavenly. Set out and try this novel and interesting recipe in your lunch today and make it a complete meal, just like I did. This Baingan ka raita or Kathrikkai Pachadi is a very satisfying dish that can be served with any type of rotis, pulav, vegetable biryani or variety rice.

Recipe for Baingan Raita

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Tender brinjal - about 1 lb (You could use Indian brinjal or Chinese ones or the American eggplant.)
• Curd - 1.5 cup (or as needed)
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Pepper powder – ½ tsp
• Roasted cumin powder – ½ tsp
• Sugar – 1/4 tsp
• Salt – as per taste
• Cilantro (Coriander leaves) – for garnishing
• Oil - 2 tsp

For Seasoning

• Mustard – ½ tsp
• Dry Red chillies – 1 or 2
• Curry leaves – few
• Oil – 2 tsp

Method

1. Choose tender brinjal of any variety. Wash it and cut it into thin round, semi circle or oval shaped pieces.
2. If you do not like the slight bitterness in brinjals just soak it in water for about 5 minutes.
3. Add salt and turmeric powder and coat all the brinjal slices nicely. Let it marinate for about 5 minutes.
4. Heat a flat griddle or pan. Drizzle some oil and shallow fry the brinjal pieces.
5. Fry the brinjal till it is roasted on all sides.

   

6. In the meantime, whisk the curd with required salt, cumin powder, pepper powder and a pinch of sugar.
7. Add the roasted brinjal pieces to the beaten curd.

   

8. Heat oil in a small pan and do the seasoning with mustard seeds, dry red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add this to the curd. This step is optional but it adds a nice flavor to the dish.
9. Finally garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with pulao, variety rice or roti.

Tip

• To make a beautiful presentation, you can also arrange the roasted brinjal pieces in a nice serving dish, pour the beaten curd on top and finally top it with the seasoning.

Variation

• Sometimes I like to make this into a curry. In that case, do the seasoning first, shallow fry the brinjal pieces and finally add the beaten curd. Cook everything together while constantly stirring till the gravy gets heated through. This can be served as kathirikkai mour curry or dahi bainghan.

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