Vegan Dahi Baingan

5 from 8 votes

In this north Indian dahi wale baingan recipe, butter-soft eggplants are dunked in an expertly spiced vegan yogurt sauce. It's a delicious Indian restaurant-style dish you can easily make at home!

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Main Course/Curry

Cuisine: Indian, Indian Vegan

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 134kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Wok or large skillet

Ingredients

1 pound eggplants (brinjals or aubergines. Try and use Indian, Japanese or Chinese varieties, but Italian eggplant will do at a pinch. Cut into 1½-inch-long by ½-inch-wide pieces and immerse in a bowl filled with water right after cutting to keep the eggplant from oxidizing and turning brown).
1 tbsp + 1 tsp avocado oil or any neutral oil (divided)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion (finely diced)
4 tablespoon cilantro (chopped, divided)
2 medium tomatoes (finely diced)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon amchur (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
1 cup vegan yogurt
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon kasoori methi (crushed in your palms before adding)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat, preferably in a wok or in a large skillet. When the oil is hot, add the immersed eggplant slices after squeezing out any excess water. Add ½ each of salt and ground black pepper and saute until the eggplant is nearly cooked and very soft and golden-brown, about five minutes over medium high to high heat. It is important you keep stirring the eggplant about and don't let anything stick to the pot. If it does lower the heat. Remove the cooked eggplant to a plate.
To the same wok or skillet add a teaspoon of oil. Add the cumin seeds and as soon as they turn a couple of shades darker add the onions and cilantro.
Saute until the onions are nicely browned. Add the tomatoes with the powdered spices--turmeric, cayenne, ground cumin, ground turmeric, and paprika and amchur, if using.
Stir it all in and let the tomatoes cook, stirring them occasionally, until very pulpy and a couple of shades darker. This should take 5-8 minutes.
Add the vegan yogurt and mix. Stir in the garam masala. Add 2 cups water to make a gravy. Stir in the crushed kasoori methi.
Bring the gravy to a boil, then add in the cooked eggplants and return to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook another five minutes.
Add salt as needed and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot.

Notes

Sauteing the eggplant is preferred for this dish because the flavor is great and you are not using a huge amount of oil. Also sauteing the eggplant in the same wok or skillet that the dish will be prepared in saves you the trouble of engaging another appliance and the accompanying cleanup. But if you do not want to use oil at all, or use less, you can certainly just coat the eggplant in a teaspoon of oil, or leave the oil out altogether, season with salt and pepper, and air-fry at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or more until tender.
To cook the eggplant in the oven, place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray, and bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 30 minutes.
If you use cashew yogurt you will find that soon after adding water the gravy gets quite thick. That's because cashew has a thickening effect on sauces. You can thin out the sauce further to your liking by adding even more water, but I like a thick gravy for the dahi baingan to scoop up with roti or naan.

Nutrition