What is Baingan Bharta?
It is one of the most popular North Indian dishes. Roasted eggplant is mashed and mixed with a herb and spice mixture. A little lemon juice and the smokiness of eggplant makes a lot of difference and elevates it to another level. You can make eggplant by baking in the oven too, but the amazing flavour which comes from the roasting on an open flame is just mind blowing.
Mostly I make two types of Bharta/Eggplant Mash; one is Bihari Baingan Bharta, and the other is Punjabi Baingan Ka Bharta. Bihari Bharta is simple and less spicy, but Punjabi Bharta is a powerhouse of flavour. It is spicy, tangy, smoky, and delicious. It goes well with all types of Indian bread, and I love to eat this like a spread on toasted bread.
How to Make Baingan Bharta-
The first step of making a Punjabi Bharta is to roast the eggplant. The first step is to clean the eggplant properly with water and dry it with a paper towel. Using a brush, apply oil on the outer skin of eggplant. Make a few dents in the eggplant with a knife and place garlic cloves in these indents. Make sure they don't fall apart, and roast it on the open flame till it looks charred and done.
Roasted garlic brings out the best flavour of eggplant mash, and for this recipe, we should be using quite a lot of garlic. Once the eggplant looks charred and done, remove it from the flame and let it cool. Take a few vine ripe tomatoes, and wash and dry them. After pricking them with a fork, brush it with oil too. Roast them over the open flame till they look charred. Cool them by keeping on the kitchen counter.
After it cools down, remove the charred skin of both the eggplant and tomato. Mash it with the help of a masher and later mix it with a fried onion, garlic, green chilli, ginger, and a few Indian spices. The sprinkling of lime/lemon juice elevates the taste. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and relish with any bread.
New Recipes
Roasted Eggplant Mash/Baingan ka Bharta
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Eggplant
- 2 Medium Vine ripe tomatoes
- 5 Big Cloves Garlic
- ½ Cup Chopped Onion
- 1 Tsp Green chillies chopped
- 1.5 Tbsp Oil of your choice.I used mustard oil.
- 1 Tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 Tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 Tsp Dry Mango Powder
- Salt according to the taste
- ¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Cilantro
- 1 Tbsp Fresh lime /lemon juice.
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Ginger
- 1 Tsp Turmeric powder
- ¼ Cup Fresh Green Peas
Instructions
How to roast eggplant and tomatoes
- Make a few dents in eggplant and place garlic cloves into those dents .
- Brush the eggplant and tomatoes with oil and roast them on open flame till they look charred up.
- Once they look nicely roasted ,remove from the flame and place them on the kitchen counter.
Making of Roasted Eggplant Mash/Baingan Ka Bharta
- Take a wok /pan.Add oil to it and heat it over medium flame.
- Add Chopped onion to it .Saute it for 2-3 minutes or till it looks translucent .
- Add chopped ginger to it and saute for one minute again.
- Add chopped green chillies ,coriander powder,Dry mango powder,turmeric powder and kashmiri red chilli powder to it .Saute it for another one minute.
- Add mashed eggplant and tomatoes with all the roasted garlic cloves.Mix it with all the spices.Mash it till it looks lump free .
- Add Green Peas to it and mix it well. I used frozen peas soo used just after thawing if you are using fresh peas boil it till they are little soft.Add salt ,according to your taste.
- Add fresh cilantro leaves and lemon juice to it .Mix it well .
- Goes well with all types of Indian Bread.
- Enjoy.
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