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Baingan Bharta (Eggplant)
October 9th, 2009 filed under Dry Vegetables, Subji (Vegetables)
Baingan Bharta is mashed eggplant cooked with spiced tomato very flavorful dish. Traditionally bharta is made with charcoal roasted eggplant but I have adopted it to the modern kitchen. This is a very popular dish in Punjab usually served with roti.
Recipe will serve 2 to 3.
Ingredients:
- 1 Eggplant (should be big and fat)
- 2 medium size tomatoes
- 1/2 cup green chopped red bell pepper (capsicum)
- 1 green chili
- 1/4 inch piece of ginger
- 3 tablespoons oil
- Pinch of asafetida
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili
- 1 teaspoon sat adjust to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro to garnish
Method:
- Cook the whole eggplant (put it on a microwave safe dish) in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes until it is tender. If you are using an oven, preheat the oven at 400 degrees F and bake it for about 45 minutes turning the sides every fifteen minutes. Be sure to first put the eggplant in an oven safe shallow bowl or a cookie sheet.
- Let it cool and peel off the skin then chop the eggplant in small pieces and keep aside.
- Blend the tomatoes, ginger and green chili.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium high and stir fry the bell pepper for about a minute. Take out the bell pepper from pan and keep aside.
- Use the same saucepan with remaining oil heat the oil little more. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away it is ready. Add asafetida and cumin seed.
- After cumin seeds crack, add tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili, and salt and let it cook for a few minutes until tomato puree has started leaving the oil.
- Add eggplant let it cook on medium heat keep stirring the eggplant and mashing the eggplant as it cooks.
- Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add bell pepper, fresh cilantro, and garam masala to the eggplant and mix it gently.
- Bharta is ready serve hot with rotis, parathas, or naan. Enjoy!
just made this…..easy, tasty, and nutritious…thanks so much : )
we ended up using onions instead of bell peppers because we didn’t have them…worked well.
[...] This was probably the least successful of my dishes. I should start by saying that there was nothing wrong with the recipe, or the resulting dish. It tasted good and had a great texture, but it wasn’t quite the seasoning blend I was looking for. Baingan Bharta is another of my usual favourite Northern Indian dishes and I often get it when I go to restaurants. This recipe, however, didn’t taste quite like those dishes. I think I’ll try a different bharta recipe next time, but I want to stress that this is still a really good recipe. (It just wasn’t precisely what I was looking for. I know, I’m a jerk) Modified from this recipe [...]
Hi Manjula Aunty,
I wanted to do Baingan barta, but did not have the big eggplant, only had the Indian brinjal. Still went ahead and followed your recipe (without peeling off the skin of the brinjal) and it tasted awesome.
Thank you.
-Mani Ram
I made this tonight for my husband who loves eggplant. It was wonderful! Thank you SO much for this recipe.
I tried this recipe and it turned out marvelously! Excited to try your other recipes (naan is next!)
Can I use green bell peppers instead of red?
Hi Ankitha,
Sounds good to me.
[...] she posted this eggplant recipe in October, I knew I was going to make it pretty soon afterward. And I did and it was easy and [...]
Hi Manjula aunty,
I tried the baingan barta today. It was easy to make and delicious. Thanks for this wonderful recipe and I am sure I will make it again.