Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Baingan ka bharta-another recipe of the eggplant king!

As Ceedy said eggplant indeed seems the king of all vegetables. Everyone seems in love with it and oh, calling it a versatile vegetable won't be an underrating as not only it has so many names but gives us such varied recipes.
Today, we embark on to make 'baingan ka bharta' which is an Indian name for a recipe of eggplant. Trust me, it tastes yum and takes a short time to get ready. So, here we go-
Making time: 40-60 minutes
Makes: 3 servings
Shelf life: Best served hot and fresh. Can be refrigerated for 12 to 24 hours.

Ingredients-
~2 large brinjals or a big one(supposing you are a bachelor, or maybe living alone). Note here that for this recipe you should get seedless oval brinjal(s). While buying take care to opt for the ones with shiny,unblemished skin.
~1 large onion-finely chopped
~2 ripe tomatoes
~1/2 tsp ginger-finely chopped
~ 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
~2 green chillies-finely chopped
~1 tsp coriander leaves-finely chopped
~ Red chilli powder (to taste)
~1/4-1/2 tsp. Turmeric
~salt to taste
~1/2 tsp mustard seeds
~3 tsp. refined/mustard oil (as per preference)
~1 and a half tsp curry powder/garam masala
~chopped coriander for garnishing.
~Peas are an optional ingredient. You can use them to enhance the taste or you may not use them.
Method
Roasting the brinjals-First of all, do make sure to check to see that the brinjal has no germ holes, etc. Wash them and wipe dry. Roast them directly on an open flame. This would take some 7-10 minutes as you have to rotate them over the flame every thirty seconds, making sure that they are roasted even. Cook till they are soft all over and gain a blackish brown texture. Keep them aside and let them cool for a few minutes.
The Masala preparation-While the brinjals are cooling, you can heat refined/mustard oil in a pan/kadhai. Add cumin and mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add finely chopped ginger, onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, red chilli powder, salt, tumeric, curry powder, peas and mashed tomatoes and fry them over low heat stirring frequently until they gain a light golden brown tint and the mixture leaves oil. Make sure to continuously stir the mixture.

The final take-The brinjals must have reached room temperature during this time and now, you can either put them under running water or scrape out them. Both of the methods will cause their burnt skin to peel off. Transfer the contents to a plate and do remember to check the contents for any sort of worms or signs of such infestation. If infested, wait until you get brinjals next time :). If not, mash the contents which would result in pulp and add the pulp to the above prepared masala. Stirfry for 2 to 3 minutes, add one tea cup of water, cover the vessel and let the mixture cook over low heat for another 25-40 minutes (this also depends on the quantity you are preparing, less quantity would require less time) or till the mixture leaves sides of pan. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with fluffy chapatis, paranthas or warm bread rolls.
Tips
~To check for any infestations at the very starting, you can draw two vertical and two horizontal cuts on the brinjal. Make sure you don't dig too deep or the brinjal would slice into four halves. Check for the worms and if the color in even.
~Also, while mashing the brinjals one can think of using mixers but that leaves the pulp very smooth which isn't a preferred option for this recipe.
Happy Cooking! Till next time, splurge on!

24 comments:

  1. hey babes..i quite like baingan ka bharta ...n i must say i have never tried making it in mustard oil...shud give it a shot next time am sure it will taste different...

    thanks a ton....

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  2. WOW....post on Baingan is Bang On Target :)

    BTW - hope you all know - Eggplant is high in fibre content....so it helps the system

    Also another thing is for this we need a stove with gas - sometimes there are electric ranges here - in that case I think one can roast it in the oven.

    Thanks - now I will send you and vrij pics again :)

    Well

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  3. Baingan-The Best from now onwards.

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  4. @ Mia...

    Oh well, same here!

    And yea right, people prefer different oils, so thats not an issue!

    @ Ceedy...

    or do you mean Ba(I)ng :P on target !

    I am not sure if oven will help it that way, but maybe you can try and let us know!

    Thanks!

    @ Hobo...

    :) haha! maybe!

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  5. Veg? And that too Baigan n all that?
    Bleh bleh!

    Kuch chicken shicken banao yaar. :D

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  6. @ sutta...

    ever heard of "PATIENCE" ?

    btw baingan isnt that bad.. try smday!

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  7. oi tainu ye banana bhi aaa hai! sai hai!

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  8. @ gunj..

    yaas swthrt! :) U cn try too!

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  9. I love baigan ka bharta and litti


    seems like baigan raja playing over here...i've seen this kid serial way back in doordarshan :P

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  10. and if u add one boiled potato in the recipe...it enhances the taste more than anything..
    but mind potato to baigan ka ration shud always be less than one...other wise it will be aloo chokha :P

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  11. @ Daydreamer...

    Well, if you noticed we had an eggplant week. Potato to the recipe? hmm, never made it that ways but would try for sure...

    Thanks for the tip!

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  12. slurrp... very yummy pic..

    yea even i make baingan ka bharta this way :).

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  13. hey
    Thanks for this great recipe! I have tried making this before, but it turned out to be disgusting:( Do you scrape the seeds out of the eggplant, or do you keep them in? My fiance' loves bharta...will try this again this weekend.

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  14. @ Geet...

    great!

    @Carolinagal...

    No grl, we dnt scrape the seeds out, only the burnt skin of eggplant...

    Let us know!

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  15. oh my goddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

    u dont know how much i like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    and u r makin me feel worse... ghar par nahi ho, dabba aata ho... toh aur kya and i dont cook at home!! !:(((((

    plzzzzzzzzz koi bhej do yaar... courier kar do!!
    restaurant mai it sucks... i have had it once!!!

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  16. @ ankur...


    aww! Hey try making it for once... cm on buck up...everything is for d first time :P

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  17. @ d sinner


    yaar.. i know cooking, but the problem is that i really cant cook this.. coz this is my favorate dish along with Lehsun ki chatni!! :D
    (garlic paste they call it in english and that screws the test even before eatin :P )

    :((((

    but when i go to mumbai, my mausaji makes it for me. he knows i love it, even my phoopaji makes it for me... :D
    hehe...

    they know my love for it!! :D

    but i hope now really someone cooks it over and sends it across!! :D

    btw..

    mausaji : - mammas sisters husband
    phoophaji: -dads sisters husband

    hehe


    Cheers!!!

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  18. Hey
    Thanks for the reply.

    Another question..

    Can you substitute the mustard oil for either vegetable oil or peanut oil?

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  19. @ ankur...

    heylo... why all those translations...hum hindustani hein and humein hindi achi tarah se aati he !!!

    hmm, about wrapping up the dish... itni door bhejte bhejte toh kharab ho jayegi! Kuch aur sochna padega...

    @Carolingal...

    Well yes! It would be better if you cook it in the oil you use, for people like me who use mustard oil if given anything cooked in other oils, I just can't eat! :)

    Happy cooking!

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  20. Neha... my favouritest dish is THIS!

    i lov u..for putting here the recipe..

    butu knw what,my mom does?! insteadof roasting it on flam like you did, she just puts it into cooker and 'sitti bajao' :D

    it is soft and pulpy then also :)

    I will definitely try this ok?! and let u knw ;)

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  21. @ Veens...

    Hey grl, thnx for sharing that!

    I'll ask my mom to try it that ways (If I do and something goes wrong the blame wud be on me:P)

    and let us know!

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  22. Made it today and enjoyed it....Burpppp!!!!

    Thanks

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