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Tamatar Wangun (Tamatar baingan) Eggplant cooked in tomato gravy: Kashmiri Style

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  I have always wanted to visit Jammu &Kashmir, one of the most beautiful states of India.  Jammu & Kashmir mostly consists ofHimalayanmountain ranges and shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south. Jammu and Kashmir has an international border with the People's Republic of China in the north and east while Line of Control separates it from Pakistani controlled territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan in the west and northwest respectively. Srinagar is summer capital and Jammu is its winter capital. Ladakh is also one of the parts of this state. Its natural beauty is breathtaking. I have only able to see through the pictures, however one day I hope I am able to visit this state.

Jammu and Kashmir is also famous for its Saffron, apples, barley, cherries, corn, millet, oranges, rice, peaches, pears, saffron, sorghum, and wheat, while manufactured exports include handicrafts, rugs, and shawls.
Just like any other Indian state it has its own cuisine, Kashmir also has both Kashmiri pandit cuisine as well as Kashmiri Muslim cuisine.  Pandits in rest of the part of India won’t eat meat, however Kashmiri pandit’s eat meat especially mutton (sheep/Goat/ lamb). They also eat veggies cooked without onion and garlic.  Then there is multicourse meal Wazwan (around 36 courses). Its preparation is considered an art, and almost all the dishes are meat-based (lamb, chicken, fish). It is usually made by a head chef with several chefs in training. You can see a Youtube Video by Bizzare food Andrew  Zimmern. Kashmiri Muslim people use garlic and onion in their cooking.
Some of the main ingredients of Kashmiri Pandit cuisine are Kashmiri chili powder, aniseed (saunf powder), saffron, asafoetida (hing), dry ginger powder, pure ghee or mustard oil and Yogurt and most of the preparations are cooked using the slow simmering technique; it often takes five to six hours for a single dish. I read from here that older generation of Kashmiri pandit won’t use onion, garlic, chicken, eggs etc. Here is a nice article about Kashimri pandit wedding recipes,
You will surprise with all these introductions, what the heck I am going to do. Yes I am going to make Kashmiri pandit style curry recipe with eggplant and tomato.  First I saw this recipe in a Malayalam magazine, Vanitha. When I looked through the recipe, it sounded really easy with only few ingredients that I needed and good with chapathi or any bread. As I had eggplant in refrigerator, I decided to give it a try. I also researched little bit about the recipe, most of them the articles that I found were about Kashmiri Chok Wangun (Spicy Sour Eggplant) or one with yogurt. However I did find these two using eggplant and tomato alone here and here . So my creation is turned out be fusion of all the three recipes.  At first I was little reluctant that how it would taste. Trust me they taste great, and go extremely well with any bread.  First you need to fry the eggplant then make gravy of tomato and spices and then cook it for few minutes. I found most unique use of spices like dry ginger powder in the spice mixtures. Usually in Kerala, it is used in sweet dishes like pradhaman.  Next my adventure will be to taste Kahwah as well as their Noon chai or pink tea.  So stay tuned for that.
Here comes the recipe. 


Tamatar Wangun (Tamatar baingan) Eggplant cooked in tomato gravy: Kashmiri Style
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 serving

Ingredients
780g/1.72 lb eggplant cut it into big pieces ( Baingan/ Kathrikai)
⅓ cup canola oil for frying
1 tablespoon olive oil ( If you want authentic version use mustard oil)
¼ teaspoon asafetoida ( Perum Kayam)
4 no of tomatoes (about 344g/0.758lb)
½ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder ( if you want more heat increase upto1 teaspoon)
½ teaspoon dry ginger powder ( Chukku)
½ teaspoon fennel powder ( Perum jeerakam/Sombu)
 ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
1teaspoon cumin seeds
 1 cup water
1 tablespoon finely chopped Coriander leaves/Cilantro leaves
Directions
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in skillet and add eggplant pieces without crowding from each other and fry both until it become golden brown color on both sides.  Remove to a plate and continue to fry the entire pieces with addition of oil in each step. When you flipping the other sides add oil as oil gets absorbed. It takes about 10 minutes for a single batch. Entire pieces will be fried in 3 batches.
In the same pan add olive oil and asafetodia and cumin seeds, when cumin seeds start crackle add tomato pieces and continue to cook until it becomes soft and mushy. Then add chili powder, fennel powder and ground ginger powder and salt and add water. Let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add fried eggplant pieces into the gravy and continue cook for another 5 minutes. Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves/cilantro if you wish. 
Serve with chapathi or any other bread of your choice.
Notes
If you want you can either deep fry egg plant pieces? Also you can try baking them at 400F for 30 minutes in well greased pan until it becomes golden brown in color.
If you are using small eggplants, you use entire one.
This recipe is adapted from Vanitha October 2011 1-15, Kashmiri Foodand Spice roots

I am linking this  delicious recipe   Hearth and Soul Blog Hop hosted here. 
 

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  2. Nik Sharma says

    This looks great!

    Reply

  3. Shanthi says

    Awesome and tempting 🙂

    Reply

  4. Maha Gadde says

    dat was d most fav of brinjal lovers n nice colour tempting to dat spice..;)

    Reply

  5. Asha Shivakumar says

    Oh, love Kashmiri cuisine. This eggplant dish looks so yummy.
    Hope you get to visit the beautiful place soon.

    Reply

  6. Savitha Ganesan says

    Egg plant looks so good. Totally different preparation looks so good.

    Reply

  7. Hema says

    Looks awesome, love that nice red color..

    Reply

  8. Kaveri Venkatesh says

    Looks very delicious, Swathi

    Reply

  9. Sona S says

    delicious curry, looks inviting.

    Reply

  10. Veena Theagarajan says

    tempting and tasty one.. I never tried before

    Reply

  11. Avika says

    Wow !! Loved reading so much history about cooing in Kashmir and the dish looks wonderful 🙂 Yum !! Just need some Chapathis to go along with it 🙂

    Reply

  12. G.Pavani says

    tempting n rich n mouthwatering gravy..

    Reply

  13. Arthy shama says

    Easy and delcious curry swathi, thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply

  14. Bhawna Bagri says

    wow swati its really easy and tasty....today I'm going to try this..thanks for sharing..

    Reply

  15. savita inamdar says

    Wooo.. U can create wonders with ur lovely hands Swati... K2K....gr8 going..

    Reply

  16. savita inamdar says

    Wooo.. U can create wonders with ur lovely hands Swati... K2K....gr8 going..

    Reply

  17. Sayantani says

    I can totally imagine the taste. that tangy tomatoes look wonderful.

    Reply

  18. dentistvschef says

    Wow, th color is georgeus
    i thought it similiar to italian style tomato braised eggplant..
    btw, can i add a pinch of kashmiri saffron to the dish???

    Reply

    • Swathi Iyer says

      Sure you can

      Reply

  19. Vidhya Viju Govind says

    i wish i was living close to u, wouldve popped in asking for a share...lol..lovely recipe 🙂

    Reply

  20. Vidhya Viju Govind says

    i wish i was your neighbour - i wouldve popped in asking for my share ..lol ...lovely recipe 🙂

    Reply

  21. Happys Cook says

    yummy and delicious... nice clicks....

    Reply

  22. divya says

    Wow ! super, mouth watering here.

    Reply

  23. Suja Manoj says

    Good dish Swathi,healthy and tasty,will try this.

    Reply

  24. Rani Acharyulu says

    Nice to know about Himachal cusine....bengan recipe looks delicious.

    Reply

  25. Niloufer Riyaz says

    mouthwatering dish!!

    Reply

  26. Priya Anandakumar says

    Delicious eggplant and beautiful color...

    Reply

  27. Reni says

    wow,lovely gravy ..looks delicious ! and that's a nice intro to Kashmiri cuisine...

    Reply

  28. Sherin Deepu says

    looks very tempting dear

    Reply

  29. Sona - quick picks/pick quicks says

    perfect side for rotis n chapathis..gud one dear. hey...do drop by my pick quicks blog too when u get the time.. lets stay connected beyond the kitchen as well. Hope you follow me there too..regards n take care...
    http://pickquicks.blogspot.com/

    Reply

  30. kumars kitchen says

    WOW....Curry looks so so tempting and melt in mouth...can't wait to try this yummy dish out,thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply

  31. Premalatha Aravindhan says

    wow my fav,cant wait to taste it with hot rotis...

    Reply

  32. Rafeeda AR says

    thanks for sharing this recipe... looks so simple yet delicious...

    Reply

  34. Mich PieceofCake says

    I enjoy egg plant and this looks like such a delicious recipe for this vegetable. Will try to cook it sometime.

    Reply

  35. Gajus kitchen says

    Good to know about kasmiri cuisine and the gravy looks delicious

    Reply

  36. Priya Kheroun Tessy says

    That was quite a bit of info Swathi especially about the pandits in Kashmir. Brinjal is my substitute for non-veg during vegetarian days. Thanks for sharing this great Kashmiri dish.

    Reply

  37. Vimitha Anand says

    Loving the bright red color. Nice side for chapathis

    Reply

  38. Rekha Vengalil says

    The gravy looks really delicious. This is one of my favorite veggie..:-)

    Reply

  39. Rebecca Subbiah says

    looks delicious and would love to visit there too

    Reply

  40. Nithya Naveen says

    Yummy brinjal gravy.. love to relish with chapati..

    Reply

  41. Rasi says

    sounds very nice.. i like the idea of fusion cooking :)..though am not a fan of brinjal, i am sure it would be a welcome change at home!

    Reply

  42. Mahi says

    Curry looks yummy with oil floating! 🙂

    Reply

  43. Gayathri Ramanan says

    kashmiri dish looks super yum and tempting...love to eat with hot chapathi..

    Reply

  44. Meena Kumar says

    Swathi, love the way u write details.Thanks to the internet we get so much info and something to see so it satisfies our immediate desire to visit the state.
    Love baingan in any form wonder why most people hate it. They shd try this dish I would say.

    Reply

  45. Pam says

    Looks fantastic Swathi and I hope you get to take that trip soon it sounds wonderful

    Reply

  46. Shama Nagarajan says

    delicious...

    Reply

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