Baingan Bhartha is one of the North Indian recipe. Baingan means Eggplant, Bharta means anything that is mashed. Eggplant is grilled over direct fire or charcoal and the dish is infused with smoky flavor. You can also do them in outdoor grill or in oven. Broiling gives a good smoky flavor. Serve this dish with chapathi or Paratha.
Ingredients
1 Long Eggplant
1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp of Chopped Onion
1 Green Chilly
2 Tbsp of Tomato Puree
1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
1/2 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
1 Tsp of Ginger Onion Garlic Paste
1/2 Tsp of Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp of Cumin Powder
Salt to taste
2- 3 Tsp of Oil/ ghee
2 Tbsp of Chopped Cilantro/ Coriander Leaves
Method
Roasting the Eggplant
Grease the eggplant with little oil, make slits all over the surface. You can do roasting in 2 ways
In Stove : One is by placing the eggplant straight on the burner, allowing the skin to get charred and blackened on all sides. Inside will be soft and mushy.
In Oven : Place it in oven in broil mode - high for 10 -12 mins, until eggplant skin turns charred and imparts smoky flavor. Once it done, remove it from the oven. Discard the skin and now scrap the inner flesh from each half, scraping right down to the charred skin and mash it and keep this aside.By seeing below pics, you can understand " how to remove inner flush from eggplant".
Cooking the Bharta
- Heat a pan with oil/ ghee, when it is hot , add cumin seeds, after they sizzle, add chopped onion, chopped green chilly and salt, saute it for 2 mins until onion are soft and transluent.
- Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder and cumin powder, saute this for a min.
- Add ginger onion garlic paste to it, fry this for another 1 min.
- Add tomato puree, cook until oil seperates from masala.
- Add mashed brinjal / eggplant to the masala, cook until eggplant are well combined with the masala. Once it done. Switch off the flame.
Tips
- Serve with Indian flatbread/ naan / chapathi
- You can add garam masala, if you want. I didn't add because it masks the smoky flavor of the eggplant.
- You can also do the same recipe without onion and garlic, instead add ginger.
- Adding butter/ ghee gives a nice flavor to this dish.
Health Benefits of Eggplant
- Eggplants provide 2 g of fiber per cup. Fiber helps with digestion and colon health.
- Eggplants also are high in a chlorogenic acid, a powerful antioxidant offering antimicrobial and antiviral activities along with the ability to help lower bad cholesterol levels.
