Baingan bharta is a traditional North Indian dish of spiced, roasted and mashed eggplant. Awhile back, I was working at a bank with some really great ladies. They ordered some Indian food, naan, grill fired chicken, and baingan bharta. It all was fabulous. I can make naan and grill a mean chicken but I was nervous to try to make the baingan bharta. Here is my attempt.
Ingredients:
2 eggplants, roughly a pound
4 Roma tomatoes
1/2 Yellow onion, diced
4 T Olive oil
4 Whole garlic cloves
4 minced garlic cloves
2 t Cumin
1 t Chili powder, add more for spicier
2 t Paprika
2 t Coriander seeds, roughly crushed
Salt and Pepper to taste
You will also need a large sauce pan, a 9x13" baking dish and a stick blender
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Peel and rough chop the eggplant, place in the baking dish with the whole peeled garlic cloves. Add 3 T of olive oil and toss to coat. Add all of the spices, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
Place into the oven for 15 minutes. Flip the pieces and back into the oven for 15 more minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Mean while, take the tomatoes and over high heat of a gas stove (or grill) char the skins then plunge into cold water to remove the skins.
Chop the skinned tomatoes. In the sauce pan, add the last tablespoon of olive oil, diced onion and minced garlic, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until onions are soft, then add the chopped tomatoes.
After the eggplant come out of the oven, add it to the sauce pan of onion and tomato.
With the stick blender (or potato masher) mash the mix to a chunky salsa texture, finer if you wish.
Continue to simmer over medium/low heat till flavors are well blender, about 15-20 minutes. Serve with naan or pita bread.
I was trying to make gluten free flat bread to serve with it but the recipe failed miserably, I need to do some more research.
