Bharela Ringan Bataka
All my favourite ingredients – the usual suspects – the seed/nut triumvirate, eggplant, potatoes and besan. My latest proud possession, my Tuffware langdi pan and a traditional cooking technique that intrigues me - the panyachey zhakan or “lid filled with water”. The recipe from my favourite cuisine - Gujarati…
This dish is simply currying favour.
As it did with Suranga Date, my very wise, witty and wonderful blogger friend from Mumbai - who has this knack of capturing the soul and spirit of a recipe and story and presenting it in a fabulous fable...
Do visit her blog Strewn Ashes to see how Suranga paints a milieu of a mass wedding ceremony of delicate vaangi ben (and other brides) and robust bataka bhai (and other grooms) at the Langadi Function Hall...
As it did with Suranga Date, my very wise, witty and wonderful blogger friend from Mumbai - who has this knack of capturing the soul and spirit of a recipe and story and presenting it in a fabulous fable...
Do visit her blog Strewn Ashes to see how Suranga paints a milieu of a mass wedding ceremony of delicate vaangi ben (and other brides) and robust bataka bhai (and other grooms) at the Langadi Function Hall...
Tuffware Langdi |
I have seen many variations of this dish; some
make it with tomatoes, others without. This one with tomatoes is possibly a
Kutchi variation. The combination of all these ingredients makes this typically
Gujarati – but there is one key ingredient missing.
Ingredients
6 small sizes ringan (eggplants)
6 baby bataka (potatoes)
2 tbsp thick tomato puree or two small
tomatoes, finely chopped
For the stuffing
1 tbsp coarsely powdered roasted peanuts
1 tbsp toasted and roughly crushed sesame
seeds
1 tbsp toasted desiccated coconut
2-3 tbsp besan
1 tsp garam masala/goda masala/ Badshah
undhiyu masala
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder (or more)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
For the tempering
4 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of hing
Method
Heat a pan and add 2 tbsp oil and roast the
besan until light brown and fragrant.
Cool and mix all the other ingredients for the stuffing. Check to adjust
the taste to your liking.
Parboil the potatoes in salted boiling
water (only about 50 % done) and when cooled, cut each potato into half almost
all the way down, so the two halves are not separated. There is no need to peel
the potatoes if the skin is clean and unmarked.
Wash eggplants and slit into quarters,
almost all the way to the calyx.
Stuff the eggplant and potatoes with the
stuffing, pressing the cut veggies together to keep the stuffing in.
Heat 3-4 tbsp oil in a langadi pan (squat
and wide bottomed pan) and add mustard seeds to crackle. Then add hing,
turmeric, chilli powder, potatoes, and eggplants and shake gently to coat the
stuffed vegetables with the tempering. Sprinkle any remaining stuffing over the
eggplant and potatoes. Cook covered with a water bath- a deep dish filled with
water, until you see the water in the dish steaming.
Remove the lid and gently move the vegetables
around the pan. Now add tomato puree or finely chopped tomatoes. Add a little
salt to taste – only for the gravy. If required, add a little water to keep the
mobility in the gravy. Cover again and cook till done. Check the potatoes and
eggplants for doneness and for the tomato gravy to release the oil.
Remove from the heat and let it stand for a
few minutes.
Some people make this in a pressure cooker
or pressure pan.
Garnish with coriander (I didn’t have any
when I made this!)
Serve hot with roti, bhakri or puri.
And the missing ingredient is 1 tsp of sugar or grated jaggery... to be added to the stuffing!
And the missing ingredient is 1 tsp of sugar or grated jaggery... to be added to the stuffing!
Ooh-awesome! I have never tried this variation with tomatoes and undhiyu masala. I shall try soon!
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