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Curry, Diabetic friendly, Dinner, Easy Indian Cooking, gluten free, Glutenfree, Indian, Vegan, Vegetables, vegetarian

Recipe for Baingan Bharta – Punjabi roasted eggplant curry

April 18, 2015

Punjabi menu – Baingan Bharta, Dhabewali Dal, Parathas

For someone who hated brinjals all through my childhood, my present love for Baingan Bharta is something that surprises me no end. I don’t recall when I tried making this first or whether I ate it at a restaurant that led to this love. Whenever I’m ordering vegetables, I make sure there are big brinjals in the list so one of the dishes in the weekly menu is always baingan bharta. It is surprising that I have not shared my recipe for the same on the blog in the last 9+ years.

Baingan Bharta is a popular Punjabi dish that pairs superbly with plain rotis /parathas and the large eggplants are often charred in a tandoor in the highway side dhabas to prepare this dish. The curry is prepared with a mix of onions and tomatoes fried with ginger, garlic and other spices, the end result being a thick puree like dish and not the typical watery or creamy curry base.

While a lot of recipes will say it is okay to roast the brinjal / eggplant in the oven, I am of the firm belief that nothing compares to the smoky aroma that roasting it on a direct flame (or even better, on charcoals) imparts to the dish. With a light coat of oil all over the brinjal with its stem intact (which you can use to rotate the brinjal from side to side), place on the flame, and keep rotating it until it is charred and black on all sides. When a knife or skewer inserted in, goes through smoothly, it is ready. A fellow food blogger, Nikhil Merchant has this excellent tip of making tiny slits in the raw brinjal, inserting a clove of garlic into each slit and then roasting this on the flame. The roasted garlic when mashed along with the eggplant gives a big boost of flavour to the dish.

For kitchens without an open flame cooking system, the oven + grill is the next best option. Slit lengthwise, coat with oil and place cut side down on a baking tray. Keep the tray under the grill / broiler for 15-20 minutes. Another tip to avoid messing up your cooking stove with the skin and juices of the eggplant is to wrap the eggplant in 2-3 layers of heavy duty foil and then place it on the flame, rotating once in a while until the whole vegetable is soft.

Baingan Bharta

Recipe for Baingan Bharta | Punjabi style roasted eggplant curry

Serves 3-4

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: less than 20 minutes

Print Recipe
Recipe for Baingan Bharta - Punjabi roasted eggplant curry Yum
A Punjabi style roasted eggplant curry to be had with parathas or rotis
Recipe for Baingan Bharta - Punjabi roasted eggplant curry
Servings
Ingredients
  • 500 gms eggplant Globe (2 medium sized)
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • pinch Asafoetida
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 3 cloves Garlic , crushed, finely chopped (large)
  • 1 tsp ginger Finely grated
  • 2 onions Medium , finely chopped
  • 2 Tomatoes (large) , finely chopped
  • 2 Green chillies , slit lengthwise
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tbsp Dhania jeera - powder
  • 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
Servings
Ingredients
  • 500 gms eggplant Globe (2 medium sized)
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • pinch Asafoetida
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 3 cloves Garlic , crushed, finely chopped (large)
  • 1 tsp ginger Finely grated
  • 2 onions Medium , finely chopped
  • 2 Tomatoes (large) , finely chopped
  • 2 Green chillies , slit lengthwise
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tbsp Dhania jeera - powder
  • 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
Recipe for Baingan Bharta - Punjabi roasted eggplant curry
Instructions
  1. Directly roast the eggplants on the flame until completely charred from all sides.
  2. This needs to be monitored to ensure that eggplants are rotated over to all sides and get uniformly charred. A knife can be passed through the eggplant at the end of 7-8 minutes, to check if it is cooked inside. In this case, knife will pass through smoothly, in case eggplant is uncooked inside, you will feel the resistance.
  3. Remove the eggplants onto a plate and cover with a large bowl and keep aside.
  4. In 5 minutes, the eggplant will be cool enough to handle, and you can peel off the skins by merely tugging at them. Mash all the flesh, discard the stems and keep aside.
  5. In a heavy bottomed kadai, heat the oil.
  6. Add the asafoetida, cumin seeds. Once cumin seeds splutter, add the ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
  7. Add the finely chopped onions, toss well, sprinkle a pinch of salt. Cover and cook until onions are soft, around 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes with the remaining salt, and dry spices, cover and cook until tomatoes are completely soft and mushy. Stir this well.
  8. To this, add the mashed eggplant flesh, around 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer.
  9. Sprinkle garam masala powder at this stage and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from flame.
  10. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with chapatis.
Recipe Notes

The recipe for Punjabi Baingan Bharta is part of the endeavor to create a collection of recipes of Traditional Indian Cuisines in collaboration with a few bloggers who share the same passion of cooking. Find more Traditional Recipes from Punjab by #TheKichenDivas all April. Follow our Pinterest board where all these recipes can be easily accessed and bookmarked.

Also check:

Meethe Chawal from Fun Food Frolic.

Lahsuni Dal Tadka (with Pumpkin) from Archana's Kitchen.

by Nandita Iyer 
12 Comments

About Nandita Iyer

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Comments

  1. Anonymous says: April 28, 2015 at 3:21 pm

    Your blog is impressive, thanks to the quality of your recipes & other content. We would be glad if you would participate on Contestchef so that your quality recipes can contest with other such bloggers/ recipe creators and win accolades from various players in the global food industry.Contestchef is a global forum for food/ recipe bloggers to showcase their skills to the world. This is a one of a kind concept and backed by food conglomerates around the world. Severalrecipe creators/bloggers are already contesting on Contestchef.Click to join ContestchefSincerely,NandyContestchef

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says: April 29, 2015 at 11:28 am

    very good post thanks a lot Chowringhee

    Reply
  3. Chowringhee says: April 30, 2015 at 6:09 am

    Your blog is impressive, thanks to the quality of your recipes & other content Chowringhee

    Reply
  4. Chowringhee says: April 30, 2015 at 6:36 am

    Thanks! Your Blog is Rocking 😉 Your blog is impressive, thanks to the quality of your recipes & other content Chowringhee

    Reply
  5. Chowringhee says: April 30, 2015 at 7:03 am

    I am so glad I found your site! Your blog is absolutely gorgeous – the food and the photography. Chowringhee

    Reply
  6. nandita says: April 30, 2015 at 9:35 am

    Sent from Outlook

    Reply
  7. nandita says: April 30, 2015 at 9:36 am

    Hello!!YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO STOP SPAMMING MY COMMENTS AND FIND OTHER CREATIVE WAYS OF MARKETING WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE. Thank you. Sent from Outlook

    Reply
  8. Kristina Ketelsen says: July 27, 2016 at 2:43 am

    I’m a little unclear towards the end. After adding water and eggplant, how long do I cook it for? No info there. Thank you.

    Reply
  9. nandita says: July 29, 2016 at 6:35 am

    @kristina let me look into it, thanks for pointing out. Just simmer for 2 minutes until everything comes together, as the eggplant is already cooked in the roasting process. Hope this helps!

    Reply
  10. Kristina Ketelsen says: August 2, 2016 at 12:50 am

    Thank you, Nandita. It turned out really well!

    Reply
  11. Isabelle says: September 28, 2017 at 2:13 am

    This recipe is just what I was looking for! What would you suggest if I wanted to add salmon to this dish, how to go about it?

    Reply
    • Nandita Iyer says: March 1, 2018 at 12:19 pm

      Im a vegetarian, i would not know how that would work best 🙂

      Reply

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