Achar means pickle in Hindi, and an Achari sauce is prepared using spices that are used in making traditional Indian pickles. This sauce can be used to prepare any star ingredient including other vegetables, or proteins such as Paneer or Chicken. The recipe uses all whole spices; starting from freshly ground whole spices and lightly toasting them brings out robust flavors. However, any of those spices can be substituted for their powders. Turmeric and Red Chili Powder can also be added for extra flavor; I leave them out in my recipe. This recipe adds Lemon juice as the souring agent, instead of Dried Mango Powder (Amchur) that would be used in a traditional recipe.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp Cooking Oil
1.5 pounds Eggplants
1 cup Onions (finely chopped)
1 cup Tomatoes (crushed or grated)
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
3/4 tsp Salt (to taste)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro
Pickle Spices
1 tbsp Achari Spice Blend
OR
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Nigella Seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Fennel Seeds
8-10 Fenugreek Seeds
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
Preparation
Chop the Onions, crush/grate the Tomatoes.
Cut up the Baby Eggplants into quarters; discard the stem. TIP: Cut up Eggplant right before you’re ready to add them to the pan. If cutting earlier, soak them in water to prevent them from turning brown.
Cooking Achari Baingan
Step 1
Dry roast the Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Nigella Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds, and Coriander Seeds in a thick-bottomed pan on low heat. Keep moving the seeds in the pan as you toast them to ensure that they do not burn. When you can smell the aromas of the spices rising from the pan; about 1-2 minutes. At this point, turn off the heat and empty the spices into a plate. TIP: The spices do not need to turn brown; toast until the aromas are released. Toasting the spices on low heat makes it less likely that the spices get burned.
Step 2
When the spices have cooled down, grind them to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
Step 3
Heat Oil in a thick-bottomed nonstick pan. Add a tablespoon of Ginger-Garlic paste and cook until it turns light brown; about 1 minute.
Step 4
Add the Onions and cook until they turn light brown; about 6-8 minutes: TIP: Sprinkling Salt on the Onions speeds up the browning.
Step 5
Add the Tomatoes, the spice blend and Salt, mix well and cook until oil starts oozing out of the masala base; about 8-10 minutes.
Step 6
Add the Eggplants and mix well with the base. Turn up the heat to medium-high and and cook covered, stirring every few minutes until the Eggplants are cooked. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
Step 7
Add the Garam Masala, chopped Cilantro and Lemon juice and mix well. Achari Baingan is ready. TIP: Add lemon juice and Salt to taste. If it’s turned out a little too bitter for your taste, you can add some Sugar to balance the taste.
Curry on!
Related Recipes
Leave a Reply