Grilled Eggplant in tempered spices

This Grilled eggplant in tempered spices or Tadka Baigan was, as if a modern preparation with a desi soul, just like Big Z.

Big Z turned sixteen… she was merely eight-year-old when my blog started! Today’s recipe is much like her, at least in temperament. Grilled Eggplant in tempered spices… baby eggplants in a spunky tadka of Indian spices. I used a mishmash of cooking techniques… grilling as well as a traditional chaunk or the tempering with whole spices roasted in pungent mustard oil and then poured onto the grilled eggplants. It was a burst of colours as well as flavours.

I also tried out a variation of Doi Begun, the Bengali preparation of eggplant in yoghurt (below). This turned out to be equally amazing, so might keep it for another post. In Doi Begun, eggplants are fried and then cooked in a yoghurt gravy. In my version, I added some whipped yoghurt with spices to the eggplants and grilled them, before adding the tempered whole spices.

The tadka baigan or grilled eggplant in tempered spices was, as if a modern preparation with a desi soul, just like Big Z. For her birthday lunch, however, she demanded to be surprised. We did manage to surprise her, which is a feat in itself considering that we are staying at home together all the time these days. We celebrated amidst screaming and screeching and zoom parties and cakes and surprises and hopefully everything that our young lady wished for. Do catch me on my instagram stories if you would like to see the feat and the feast!

Do keep safe, stay blessed and may you occasionally burst into colourful and flavourful surprises just like my Grilled Eggplant in tempered spices!

Unblogging it all… Ishita

Thank you for joining me on my daily food and travel journey on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!

Some recipes that Big Z likes:
Homemade Nutty Spreads – Almond, Cashew & Hazelnut
Happy Cinnamon Rolls that you can make at home
Stuffed Chilli Spring Rolls

Disclaimer: This isn’t a sponsored post, nor are there any affiliated links for any of the brands that may have been mentioned in this blogpost. The subject, story, opinions and views stated here are my own and all images are from my personal album. While you enjoy reading my posts with lot of visuals, please do not use any material from these posts.

Servings: 8
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
Print

Category=Sidedish; Cuisine=Indian

Ingredients

18 baby eggplants
6 green chillies, sliced longitudinally
3 dried whole red chillies
3 bay leaves
5 tbsp black mustard seeds
3 tbsp whole coriander seeds
2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp red chilli powder
3 tbsp cumin powder
3 tbsp coriander powder
½ cup mustard oil (stronger the better)
salt as per taste

Method

Make a slice in each eggplant longitudinally, keeping the stem intact.
Smear the eggplants with salt, turmeric and mustard oil.
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Brush the baking tray with mustard oil (or the foiled baking tray if you are using a foil). Place the eggplants in one layer in the tray. Add some chillies in between the eggplants and grill for 10 minutes.
Take out the tray and pour a generous amount of mustard oil on top of the eggplants. Sprinkle coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder over the eggplants. Put the tray back into the grill for another 30 minutes or until the eggplants are well cooked.
In the meantime, prepare the spice tempering. When the pan is hot, add the remaining mustard oil (leaving aside 1 tsp for a final sprinkle). When the oil is hot, add the whole spices. Start with the whole red chillies, bay leaves and green chillies. Then add the mustard seeds and coriander seeds. Stir in order not to burn the tempering as this will make your dish taste bitter.
Add the tempered spices over the grilled eggplants once they are done. Pour 1 tsp mustard oil over the eggplants one last time for a fresh burst of strong aroma of mustard oil.