I don't what it is about Punjabi recipes that is so alluring. Both TH and I, though born South Indians, have a huge affinity towards North Indian food. His favourite meal of all times would be garlic naan and palak paneer (which he orders in every Indian restaurant we every go to!) and I love my khadis, and khichdis and paneer butter masala too.
This is another recipe I'd been meaning to try forever. I had bookmarked a lot of variations from different sources but ended up making it my way. The ingredients list is basically the same across all baingan bharta recipes I saw online but I largely adjusted the amount of spices to suit our taste. Please be mindful of that when you try our your version.
Baingan Bharta RecipeServes: 4Preparation time: 15mins grilling eggplant + 45mins for chopping and cookingWhat I Used:1 eggplant, grilled on stove top/oven2 medium tomatoes, chopped2 medium onions, chopped fine3 green chillies (adjust to taste, I used Indian green chillies)1 teaspoon minced ginger½ teaspoon minced garlic (optional)1 teaspoon of Kashmiri chilli powder (for the deep red colour. If using ordinary red chilli powder, please be mindful of the extra heat)1 tablespoon coriander powder / malli podi1 teaspoon garam masala¼ teaspoon turmeric powder1 teaspoon cumin seeds1 tablespoon oil1 lime wedgeFresh coriander leaves for garnishSaltHow I Made It:1. Grill the eggplant, cool, peel, mash and set aside.2. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they sizzle, add the chopped onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic with a pinch of salt.3. When the onions turn pink (don't brown it too much), add the garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric and chilli powder. Fry for 10 seconds and then add the chopped tomatoes. Mix well and cook covered for about 10 mins, stirring once or twice in between.4. Once the tomatoes are cooked soft, add the mashed grilled eggplant and mix well. Adjust salt and let it simmer for 5-7 mins, stirring occasionally.5. Remove from fire. Squeeze some lime juice and mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis/phulkas/jeera rice.
This has become our favourite side dish with phulkas. If it didn't take this long for the eggplant to grill + make the baingan bharta, we would have this for dinner every other day.
Debs
Hello! Thank you so much for all your delicious recipes! I am fairly new to Indian cooking but not to cooking in general. You mention that the onions should be cooked till pink. Does that mean I should be using red onions? I've noticed that other Indian recipes call specifically for red onions. Are red onions better in Indian dishes? I've typically only used red onions when the onions are raw. I'm curious to experiment and hear your opinions!
nags
yes red onions are usually better in indian cooking since they hold less moisture and most of our dishes require them to be fried first.
Bubbletoesniche
hi there.. gosh i tried your recipe from *scratch a.k.a. roast* ...its freaking YUMmmmmY! i've added yoghurt..just for kicks..so that my husband won't guess that it's an off-take on the bhartha..but lady! you got me trying authentic baingan bhartha here..and let me tell you, it's a far cry from my i-can-only-make-maggi-tonight-honey. 🙂 thank you!
Nags
Haha you are hilarious! Thanks for trying the baingan bharta recipe 🙂
My Experiments with Cooking
Pretty bowl and prettier curry! I learnt making this from a kashmiri 🙂
Varsha Vipins
I love that bowl..actually when I was in Pune..the restaurants there used to serve Bhaingan Bharta as some gravy stuffed in a split egg plant..But later I saw so many recipes similar to yours in blogs..whatever I am in for anything with grilled eggplant..looks yum..:)