Baingan bharta - Minced roasted eggplant
Cooking time: 10 min. / 25 min.Difficulty: easy
I fell in love with this vegetarian dish from Punjab instantly. Especially in its smoky flavor. Which is the most important point of the recipe. You simply roast it directly on open fire till it is black from all sides. And thats the magic.
Process
Put eggplant directly into open fire - e.g. on directly on charcoal when making BBQ or on fire on your gas stove. You can put it into the oven too, but then you miss the best smoked aroma so typical for this dish. Roast from each side about 2 minutes until completely black. Yes, completely black, looks like burnt. But no worries, it is just the skin, which you remove with your hands in cold water. Then chop very fine.
Heat up 1-2 tbs oil in a wok, stir fry onion till glassy about 30 secs, then add garlic and green chili. In 1 minute add tomatos and saute 10 minutes till soft. Add chili powder, mix well and add eggplant. Salt to taste and saute 5 more minutes.
Stir in cilantro just before serving or just use as a garnish.
Serve with chapati.
Ingredients
For 4 portions:
- 2 large eggplants
- 2 red onions finaly chopped
- 6-8 garlic cloves crushed
- 1-2 green chilies finely chopped
- 2 large tomatos finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- salt
- fresh cilantro to garnish finely chopped
- oil
Authentic tools needed:
- kadai pan
- rice cooker