Eggplant in Yogurt Sauce

It has been exactly one month since my last post. All this time I have been on such a low calorie and simple diet that there was nothing to write about. The only one time that I made something remotely interesting was when I had invited my husband's colleague and his family over. They usually eat non-veg when they are out but since it was Navratri they were on pure vegetarian diet... and vegetarian food was absolutely not my forte. So I called up my Ma to get some easy peasy veg recipes. She suggested green plantain curry and a paneer dish. I went to the Indian store to pick up some green plantains... Wholefoods had some yellow ones. While at the store I chanced upon these extremely cute little eggplants. I remembered Ushnish da (his blog) calling these "jhumko begoon" - a term that had stuck with me for days and I set out to make "Doi Begoon" (Eggplant in Yogurt Sauce) with the cutie pies!

What I needed:

• 1 tbs jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1 tbs ginger paste
• 2 tbs of yogurt 
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp turmeric plus some for coating the eggplants
• Oil (enough to deep fry the eggplants plus 1tbs for cooking)
• Salt to Taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 6-7 small eggplants - you can use bigger ones and cut those into 3/4 inch thick rounds
• Handful of cilantro, finely chopped.

How I made it:

• Made criss-cross slits on the eggplants on the eggplants which I rubbed with a little bit of turmeric and salt and set aside for about 15minutes
• Added oil to the kadai (wok) and added the eggplants two at a time and fried the eggplants till it turned a little soft inside
• Drained the excess oil by putting them on paper towel
• Added 1tbs of oil to a hot pan and tempered it with the cumin seeds once added the ginger paste once the seeds started sputtering
• To it added the paprika and the turmeric and cooked a bit
• Added the yogurt which I had whisked earlier with pinch of salt, 1/2tsp of sugar and about 3tbs of water
• Once the yogurts cooked, added the fried eggplants, covered and cooked for few minutes.
• Sprinkled the chopped cilantro and done!

Served this with hot rice.