Baingan Raitha

The name Baingan Raitha comes from Hindi and it made of 2 words – Baingan & Raitha
“Baingan” in Hindi, “Eggplant” in English and “Aubergine” in German… call it in what you may, it is one of my favorite vegetables.. And this particular dish is among my favorites .. .but the reason is not just the eggplant.
“Raitha” is a yoghurt based preparation. There are many types of raithas like pineapple , boondi, cucumber etc. They are best suited for a hot summer day to accompany hot rice and give a cooling taste in your mouth!
So basically this dish is a “Yogurt based preparation of Eggplant”. Quite a mouthful isn’t it? Hence short & sweet – Baingan Raitha 🙂

One base multiple recipes to enjoy!

This dish has what I call a “base” dish. This is the part before we add yoghurt to the dish. What is a base dish? This is a cooked dish which you then offers you multiple variations leading to multiple delicacies. A perfect dish for parents with small children craving variety in the food and also a sustainable recipe as you can store the base as it is and take as much as needed, and add different masalas OR ingredients to make rainbow of flavors for your tongue 🙂

Alternative Ingredients

Further you can also vary the key vegetable and replace it with others like “lady fingers” OR okra, green capsicum… 🙂

Storage Tips:

With added yogurt you can keep it refrigerated up to 3-4 days. Without yogurt, the base can be refrigerated for longer period (up to a week at leastr) OR also frozen(and can then last for longer periods) and heated when needed. When freezing make sure to do this in multiple small portions, so that you thaw only the amount needed. Once you thaw it do not refreeze it!

Hands down, for me this dish is best prepared by my mom… However since my bachelor days I have learnt it and my spouse liked it as well.. and since then we make it every now and then.
Well enough said…lets dig into the recipe itself!

Baingan Raitha – Yogurt based Eggplant recipe

Recipe by grobit

0.0 from 0 votes

One base multiple recipes to enjoy!

Course: MainCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy

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Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Calories

159.25

kcal

Ingredients

• Base

• 1 nos Eggplant

• 1 nos Chilly

• 2 tsp Turmeric Powder

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds

• 1 tsp Cumin seeds

• 2 tsp Salt(adjust as per taste)

• 2 tbsp Oil

• 1 tsp Asafoetida

• To make the raitha

• 2 cups Yogurt

Directions

• Preparation
• Dice the eggplants into small cubes
• Cooking the base
• Heat the 2 tbps oil in pan
• Once the oil is hot , add all the masalas except salt
• After about a minute, slit a chilly and add it to the mixture
• A minute later, you can add the eggplants and mix lightly
• Cover and cook for 15-20 min until the eggplant is brown and soft
• Add salt and simmer for 1-2 minutes
• The base is now ready. Now let it cool for around 5 min.
  Note: You can refrigerate / also freeze the base and then you can use it to make variations of the base using different masalas, gravies etc.
• Finishing the raitha
• For raitha, add the 2 cups of yogurt to the base and mix well
• Garnish with herb of your choice (cilantro or petersilie or chopped green onions )
• Serve with hot roti or hot rice !

Recipe Video

Notes

• To spice up the recipe add 2 chillies OR add some chili flakes to final raitha
• If you do not want to eat it immediately you can also refrigerate the base, heat it when needed and add yogurt before your consume
• Nutritional values are an indication based on ingredients. Actual nutrition may vary depending on certain factors

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