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Badal Jaam Recipe | How To Make Awadhi Style Brinjal
+From the royal kitchens of Awadh comes this badal jaam recipe (also known as badin jaan), an elegant but easy appetizer of fried brinjal, spicy tomato sauce, and tangy garlic-flavoured yogurt sauce, cooked on dum.
Traditionally, in this Awadhi brinjal recipe, the sliced brinjals (eggplant, aubergine, baingan) are deep-fried and then topped with a spicy masala of onion and tomato and garnished with a mixture of yogurt and mint leaves / coriander leaves.
Our badal jaam recipe calls for shallow frying—not deep frying—slices of round brinjals for a healthier and lighter dish. The frying time will depend on how thick the slices are and how fresh or firm the brinjal is.
The mild flavour of brinjal (eggplant) is an excellent foil for the topping of spicy–tangy mixture of the onion and tomato masala and the contrasting coolness of the smooth creamy yogurt sauce. The badal jaam tomato masala is similar to a slow cooked arrabbiata-style spiced tomato topping.
The fried eggplant slices need to keep their shape and should hold the tomato sauce perfectly. When preparing badal jaam and adding the tomato sauce, do not cover the entire brinjal slice. Instead, leave about one-quarter of an inch around the edge of the brinjal slices uncovered.
This badal jaam dish is an ideal appetizer or snack for a party. Not only is it easy to make, but it’s also attractive—with its bright colours adding a visual pop—and delicious and yummy too. Plus, badal jaam can be kept warm and firm in the serving platter and does not need to be served piping hot, which is an added bonus.
Best badal jaam recipe tips:
An option in this badal jam recipe is to salt the eggplant slices and let them drain in a colander for about 45 minutes. This extracts the extra moisture and keeps the eggplant firm while cooking. Pat dry with paper towels before frying.
You can substitute the hung yogurt in the yogurt sauce with Greek yogurt, or even with sour cream for a different taste profile.
You can adjust the amount of garlic paste in the yogurt sauce according to your taste.
You can cook the onion tomato masala and fried and spiced brinjal ahead of time and warm them before serving. The badal jaam can be reheated in a microwave with no problem, with the eggplant softening just a little. Remember to keep the yogurt sauce separate and then add it cold before serving.
This easy badal jaam recipe is also great as a side dish in a larger Indian meal of mutton yakhni pulao, dal sultani, and kachumber or with any other Mughlai dish of your choice.
Learn how to make badal jaam with our quick step by step video. Badal Jaam is easy to make and great for entertaining. Find all ingredients and cooking method for this Awadhi brinjal recipe from Yummefy Recipes.
You may also like some of our other Awadhi recipes:
Veg Tahiri
Nargisi Kofta
Galouti Kebab
Yakhni Pulao
Homemade YogurtOr try all our Vegetarian Recipes right here!
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RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
oil, to shallow fry
1 eggplant (brinjal), about 400 grams, sliced into 3/8-inch rounds
Tomato Sauce:
5 1⁄2 tablespoons onion paste, (about 55 grams)
1 tablespoon ginger paste, (about 15 grams)
3 tablespoons garlic paste, (about 30 grams)
1 kilogram tomato, (about 10 medium tomatoes), ripe, blanched, peeled, and chopped
1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3⁄4 teaspoon red chilli powder, mild
Yogurt Sauce:
500 grams yogurt, (about 2¼ cups yogurt), hung in a muslin cloth to drain till reduced by half in volume
3 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1⁄2 teaspoons garlic paste
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1 teaspoon chaat masala
COOKING METHOD
- Fry eggplant (brinjal): Pour oil, enough to shallow fry eggplant (brinjal), into a frying pan over high heat. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, carefully place slices of eggplant (brinjal) in a single layer into the pan. Fry till golden brown, 1 to 1½ minutes on each side, then remove with a slotted spoon. Place on kitchen paper napkins to drain. You will need to fry in batches of 3 or 4 slices at a time as the eggplant (brinjal) needs to be fried in a single layer without overlapping. Set aside.
- Make tomato sauce: Pour 3 tablespoons of the oil used to shallow fry the eggplant (brinjal) into a deep pan or kadhai over high heat. Once the oil is hot, slide in onion paste and sauté, adjusting heat as needed, till golden, about 4 minutes. Add ginger paste, stir well, and toss in garlic paste, scraping the bottom of the pan while stirring. Pour in 1 to 2 teaspoons water if the ginger or garlic is catching the bottom of the pan. Sauté till brown, without burning the onion–garlic masala, about 1½ minutes. Tip in chopped tomato with any tomato juices that might have collected in the bowl. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add salt and red chilli powder. Continue to cook tomato mixture, stirring, till reduced to a thick sauce, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Make yogurt sauce: Tip drained, thickened yogurt into a bowl and add coriander leaves, lime juice, and 1½ teaspoons garlic paste. Whisk well till smooth and reserve.
- Place eggplant (brinjal) on dum: Place a large kadhai or other wide pan with a tight-fitting lid on low heat. Position fried eggplant (brinjal) in a single layer without overlapping and sprinkle generously with chaat masala. Ladle 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato sauce (or to taste) on each slice of the eggplant (brinjal), spreading it with a spoon but being careful to ensure that the tomato sauce stays on the eggplant slice. Cover with the lid and give dum for 6 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully transfer slices to a serving platter. OR if you prefer to make this in an oven, preheat oven to 180º Celsius. Place fried eggplant (brinjal) slices in a baking tray. Ladle 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato sauce (or to taste) on each slice of eggplant (brinjal), spreading it with a spoon but being careful to ensure that the tomato sauce stays on the eggplant slice. Cover tightly with foil and give dum by placing in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully transfer slices to a serving platter.
- Top each slice with a large dollop of the reserved yogurt sauce and serve immediately, with the remaining yogurt sauce on the side.
Serves: Serves 6 as part of a larger meal
Prep Time: 20 minutes plus 3 hours unattended for draining yogurt
Cook Time: 48 minutes
HIDE RECIPE - Fry eggplant (brinjal): Pour oil, enough to shallow fry eggplant (brinjal), into a frying pan over high heat. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, carefully place slices of eggplant (brinjal) in a single layer into the pan. Fry till golden brown, 1 to 1½ minutes on each side, then remove with a slotted spoon. Place on kitchen paper napkins to drain. You will need to fry in batches of 3 or 4 slices at a time as the eggplant (brinjal) needs to be fried in a single layer without overlapping. Set aside.
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Tags:badal jaam recipe, Badin Jaan, Awadhi Brinjal
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