Baingan Bharta (Roasted Eggplant Mash)

Baingan Bharta or Roasted Eggplant Mash is a popular North Indian dish where eggplants are first roasted over flame & then cooked with ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes and other Indian spices. This eggplant recipe is a great vegetarian / vegan option to serve as side dish with dal, curries or can be eaten as it is with some hot chapatis or parathas.

The vegetable “Baingan” (as called in Hindi) is known by many other names like Brinjal, Aubergine or Eggplant. This eggplant recipe is completely gluten free and vegan.

For this recipe, traditionally baingan (eggplant) were roasted in a tandoor to incorporate the smoke of charcoal which imparted a rustic smoky aroma and taste to the dish but since we generally don’t have tandoors at home, we would be roasting eggplants directly on flame. You can even try roasting them in oven or air fryers.

Eggplants comes in variety of shapes (round, elongated, oval etc) and sizes.  The colour of the vegetable varies from white, green to dark purple with fleshy insides. Brinjal is packed with goodness of dietary fibre, phytonutrients and Vitamin K. The variety we would be using for this recipe would be large one with dark purple covering.

More Vegetarian Indian recipes you might like :

• Shahi Paneer
• Paneer Bhurji (Scrambled Paneer)
• Dal Palak (Spinach Lentil)
• Panchmel Dal (Five Lentil Curry)

List of Ingredients:

• Large Baingan (Brinjal) – 1
• Mustard Oil- 2 tbsp
• Ginger paste- 1 tsp
• Garlic Paste-1 tsp
• Chopped Green Chillies-2
• Finely chopped Onions- 2
• Finely chopped Tomatoes-3
• Salt- To taste
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala- 3/4 tsp
• Turmeric (Haldi)- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander Powder (Dhaniya)- 2 tsp
• Mango powder (Amchoor)- 1 tsp
• Ghee (Clarified butter)- 2 to 3 tsp (optional)
• Chopped Coriander – For Garnishing

Substitutions:

1.  This recipe tastes best when cooked in mustard oil. However you can cook it in sesame oil, olive oil or any oil of your choice.

2. For spiciness, fresh green chillies and red chilli powder are used. You can even use some crushed black pepper & adjust the spiciness as per your taste.

Steps To Prepare:

Step 1:
Wash the brinjal under running water. Wipe it with a kitchen towel. Slit it into 4 pieces. Take care not to slit till the base.

Rub some mustard oil over it. Switch on the flame and start rotating the oiled brinjal over it.

Step 2:
On Medium-low flame keep rotating the brinjal till its peel starts burning off from here and there.

Step 3:
Dip the grilled brinjal in a bowl of water and peel it. Dipping in water helps in fastening the peeling process.

Step 4:
Chop the peeled brinjal into square pieces.

Step 5:
Take a heavy bottomed pan or kadhai and heat mustard oil in it. Add ginger, garlic paste and chopped green chillies. Stir well for few seconds.

Add finely chopped onions and stir fry it till it becomes golden in colour.

Step 6:
Add finely chopped tomatoes and let it cook till they are soft and mushy.

Step 7:
Add chopped brinjal pieces and half a cup of water. Cover it with a lid and let it cook on slow flame for approx 10 minutes till you are able to mash the brinjal with spoon.

Step 8:
Add all the spices and mix it well such that all the spices are completely blended with brinjal mash.

Step 9:
Add ghee to it. Keep stirring the bharta till it becomes glossy on the top and slight oil separates from it.

Garnish with some chopped coriander, green chillies or a lemon wedge. Enjoy with fresh hot chapatis!!

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