Aakha Ringan Bateta nu Shak is a deliciously rich concoction of a tomato based curry, flavored delicately with garlic, peanuts and roasted gram flour. This curry is spiced with daily Indian ground spices with notes of cinnamon and clove powder.
There are so many versions of Ringan Bateta nu Shaak in Gujarat. Every city has a popular version of its own. This version is from my mom's side of the family. Aakha Ringan Bateta nu Shak is a popular curry popularly made in the Kathiyawad region of Gujarat.
Growing up, I was not a huge fan of eggplants, but I always loved potatoes. Mom made this curry specially when she was hosting guests. She used to make a simpler, pressure cooker version for us.
She would serve this with puris, vaghareli khichdi, rotli, dal, and rice, You can absolutely enjoy this ringan bateta nu shaak with pretty much anything and everything.
I have fond memories of enjoying this curry growing up. The smell of it would light me up, and make me hungry even before lunch time. I was that kid, who would always ask questions about food, its origination, heritage.
Is Ringan Bateta Vegan?
Yes, this curry is vegan. I preferably love to use peanut/ groundnut oil or sesame oil to make this curry.
Is this Curry Gluten-Free?
We do add asafetida in the tempering, to make it gluten-free you can use the gluten-free asafetida or skip it.
How to Make this Curry Step - By - Step?
This Curry is easy to make. Although it seems to be very time consuming with a lot of prep, it comes together very quickly. Serve it with hot rotlis, delicious puffed puris, Sadi or Masala Khichdi, Gujarati Kadhi, Gujarati Dal or Rice. You will love it with anything and everything, I promise.
- Prep the vegetables, peanuts and roasted besan.
- Wash and Rinse the eggplants and potatoes. Now make a cut in the eggplant from the center, but still, keep it as a whole. I suggest buying small Indian Aubergines/ Ravaiya. Add them to coldwater. Next, Cut the baby Potatoes into two halves. Add the potatoes to the water as well.
- Steam the potatoes and aubergines using a steamer basket until fork tender.
- While the potatoes and aubergines are steaming, add roasted peanuts to a mixer jar. Crush them into powder form.
- In a pan, roast the besan until it smells nutty, and keep it aside. If you want to skip this step, you can also use plain sev and crush it into powdered form.
- Pulse the tomatoes into puree and keep it aside.
- Now in a heavy bottom pan add oil. Let it heat up.
- In the meanwhile, pat dry the eggplants and the potatoes.
- Once the oil is hot add the steamed eggplants. fry them until they are slightly golden. Once done, keep them on the side.
- Now add the potatoes. Let them fry until golden. Keep them aside.
- Now remove about 3 tbsp's oil and keep it aside. You can reuse this oil to make/ toast parathas or bhakris.
- Turn the stove on low flame. Add a small cinnamon stick, bay leaf, dried red chilies, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and pinch of asafetida.
- Once they splutter, add minced garlic and tomato puree.
- Next add in the spices as listed in the ingredient list below. Let it cook and let the oil separate.
- Add the peanut powder and roasted gram flour. Mix it well and let it cook.
- Add hot water and bring a curry to simmer.
- Next, add in handful of chopped cilantro, and fried eggplants and potatoes. Mix everything in the masala.
- Cover and let. the curry simmer on medium low flame for about 7 mins.
- Garnish it with lot of chopped cilantro.
Aakha Ringan Bateta Nu Shaak
Ingredients
- 5-7 Small Eggplants
- 10-12 Baby Potatoes
- 5 Tbsp Crushed Peanuts (Roast the peanuts and pulse them in a grinder until powdered)
- 3 Tbsp Roasted Besan In a pan, add besan, roast it until you smell the nuttiness of the besan
- 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 4 Medium Tomatoes Cut the tomatoes, add them to the blender. Pulse it until pureed.
- 1/2 Cup Oil To fry Eggplants and Potatoes
- 2 Dried Red Chilies
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Small Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
- 2 Tbsp White Sesame Seeds
- Pinch of Asafetida
- 1/4 Tsp Turmeric
- 2 Tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Garam Masala
- 2 Tbsp Jaggery Powder any sweetner of your choice
- 1 Tsp Cumin Coriander Powder (Dhanajeeru)
- 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon and Clove Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 1+1/2 Cup Hot Water
- 1/2 Cup Cilantro Finely Chopped to add in the curry and for garnishing.
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables, peanuts and roasted besan.
- Wash and Rinse the eggplants and potatoes. Now make a cut in the eggplant from the center, but still keep it as a whole. I suggest to buy small Indian Aubergines/ Ravaiya. Add them to Cold water. Next Cut the baby Potatoes into two halves. Add the potatoes to the water as well.
- Steam the potatoes and aubergines using a steamer basket until fork tender.
- Add roasted peanuts to a mixer jar. Crush them into powder form. In a pan, roast the besan until it smells nutty and keep it aside. If you want to skip this step, you can also use plain sev and crush it into powdered form.
- Pulse the tomatoes into puree and keep it aside
- Now in a heavy bottom pan add oil. Let it heat up.. Once the oil is hot add the eggplants. fry them until they are slightly golden. Once done, keep them on the side.
- Now add the potatoes. Let them fry until golden. Keep them aside.
- Now remove about 3 tbsp's oil and keep it aside. You can reuse this oil to make/ toast parathas or bhakris.
- Turn the stove on low flame. Add a small cinnamon stick, bay leaf, dried red chilies, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and pinch of asafetida.
- Once they splutter, add minced garlic and tomato puree. Next add in the spices as listed in the ingredient list above. Let it cook until the oil separates
- Add the peanut powder and roasted gram flour. Mix it well and let it cook.Add hot water and bring a curry to simmer.
- Next, add in handful of chopped cilantro, and fried eggplants and potatoes. Mix everything in the masala. Cover and let the curry simmer on medium low flame for about 7 m-10 mins. Garnish it with lot of chopped cilantro.
Notes
- To make a simple Pressure cooker/ Instant Pot version, skip frying the potatoes and eggplants. Directly, start by tempering and cooking the spices and add eggplants and potatoes in the end. Once the curry comes to a light simmer, close the lid, pressure cook it for 3 whistles. For Instant Pot Pressure Cook on high for 2 mins.
- While Frying if the Oil splatters everywhere, use a splatter guard, if not just add a little bit of salt in the oil. The oil won't splutter.
- Adjust the thickness of the curry depending on what you are serving it with. Let the curry have a thicker consistency if serving with any Indian Breads. If serving with rice, let the curry be a little runnier.
- Add hot water in the curry, as you don't want to make the process of cooking slower and change the temperature of the pot you are cooking the curry in. The spices tastes better if the temperature of cooking them is not changed
Nutrition
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B
Cooking the aubergines/potatoes like this meant they weren’t cooked unfortunately - would it work better to roast them maybe?
Aayushi Patel
Roasting absolutely works, but aubergines can get overcooked. If direct frying didn't work fo you, steaming the potatoes and aubergines until fork tender will be better. This way you will be able to control that aubergines retain their shape
Mark
I had to improvise a bit on some ingredients to work with what I had, but I made this last night and it was one of the best dinners I've ever made! Just wanted to tell you how much I loved the dish. I've never thought of adding ground nuts or toasted chickpea flour to a curry before. It added so much depth and richness! Can't wait to make it again.
Aayushi Patel
So happy you made this recipe Mark!!!