Baingan Bharta / Indian Style Smoked Eggplant Mash

                                                                         

I have found, for reasons I have yet to understand, that baingan ( eggplant) evokes strong emotions in most people...either they love it or they detest it with a vengeance.  I guess we come in the former category for, in my family, baingan has always been a well loved vegetable. Even when they were small, I  never had any problem making my kids eat baingan. They loved all the different recipes of baingan but the most favourite by far was baingan bharta!

Baingan Bharta is at heart a rustic North Indian recipe that has now found wide acceptance. The best baingan bharta I have had was not in any classy restaurant but in my native village where the baingan was placed in a bed of wood stove embers and turned from time to time till it's skin was burnt and it was tender. The smoky flavour that infused the dish was beyond amazing. Epic baingan bharta!!

It is hard to replicate that in a normal kitchen! But, here is what I do.... roast the baingan  on the gas stove flame till it softens..... peel off the charred skin.... stir fry the mashed baingan pulp with very few, minimal ingredients, to retain the essence of the dish. Fairly easy, right? And it tastes pretty awesome too!!

Ingredients: 

250 gm or 1 large baingan ( eggplant, brinjal, aubergine)
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 tea spoon garlic, finely chopped
1 tea spoon ginger, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder
Salt to taste
2 table spoon oil
1/4 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method:  Finely chop onion,ginger, garlic, green chilly( if using),tomatoes and coriander leaves.

                                                                          

Smear a little oil on the eggplant and place directly on the gas flame.  Keep turning gently so that all sides get roasted. When the eggplant is evenly roasted and  has softened, remove from the flame and place in a dish. Cover and leave aside. The steam generated in the closed dish will soften the eggplant further.

                                                                         

Using a knife, cut off the eggplant stem and peel the skin of the roasted eggplant.  Mash the eggplant  to a smooth pulp.

                                                                             

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and add ginger and garlic. Stir. Add onions and green chilly. Saute till onions turn translucent. Do not brown the onions!  Add tomato, salt and red chilly powder. Continue to stir till mixture leaves oil. Add the mashed eggplant. Mix it in well and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Close flame and add plenty of chopped coriander leaves. The coriander leaves are not just a garnish here. They are an integral part of the dish.

The key to making good baingan bharta is choosing the right eggplant. Select an eggplant that is light, which indicates that it has few seeds. An excess of  seeds spoils the texture of the dish, which should be soft and creamy. Also, choose a fresh looking eggplant. An aged/ withered eggplant will not roast properly as all it's natural water content would have dried up. Make sure there are no scars on the eggplant and it is free of holes which points to worms in the eggplant.