Indian Mashed Stir-fried Aubergine (almost Baigan ka Bharta)

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mashed_auberginepIndia – Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant is one of the biggest cookery books I own and I’ve ever seen. Its impressive almost 800 small print pages are filled with an impressive number of recipes collected by the author from different regions during twenty years. Contrary to other Indian cookery books I have and appreciate, this one is the only one where I know I will find a recipe for practically every vegetable known in India.

Last week I bought several beautiful aubergines, making first Baba ganouj, then Japanese miso-glazed aubergine… and then I needed spice, so obviously I turned to Pushpesh Pant’s collection. This is how I found baigan ka bharta, a dish I couldn’t compare to anything I have ever had or seen in an Indian restaurant. Its combination of buttery, spicy, slightly tangy and incredibly dynamic flavours make it one of the most fantastic vegetable dishes I have ever made. I call it “almost Baigan ka Bharta” because I have changed the ratio of ingredients (especially ghee), left the aubergines rather chunky (not completely mashed) and seriously simplified the roasting process, so I encourage everyone to check the extraordinary India – Cookbook.

TIPS: Do not replace the ghee (clarified butter) with anything else. The buttery taste plays a huge role in the final taste. At worst, you can combine neutral vegetable oil with normal unsalted butter instead. (Apart from Indian grocery shops and internet, ghee can be found in organic shops, at least in Europe).

The author doesn’t say anything about tomato skin removal and I didn’t do this. The taste was amazing, so if you have good quality aromatic tomatoes, don’t remove the skin.

The aubergines should be mashed, but I preferred to leave them slightly chunky and loved it this way. Both versions can be treated as a side-sidh or as a thick dip/spread too.

Preparation: about 1 hour

Ingredients (serves 2 as a side dish):

2 medium aubergines

2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)

1 flat teaspoon cumin seeds

1 small onion, chopped

1 big garlic clove (chopped)

about 1 cm grated or finely chopped fresh ginger

1 hot green chilli pepper, sliced or chopped

1/5 flat teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon medium hot chilli powder (I have used Kashmiri chilli powder)

1 medium tomato, diced

salt

chopped coriander leaves

Roast the aubergines over flame, grill or under the oven broiler until the skin is black.

Let them cool down. Remove the flesh and chop it roughly, mashing a bit (or mash it completely if you prefer).

Heat the ghee in a frying pan at medium heat and fry the cumin until it starts popping.

Add the onion and sitr-fry until soft.

Then add the garlic, the chilli and the ginger and stir-fry for about 20 seconds.

Add the aubergine, the chilli powder and the turmeric and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

At the end add the tomato and let them until they heat up.

Add salt to taste, sprinkle with coriander seeds and serve. (I liked it a lot only slightly warm).

Published by Sissi

8 Replies to “Indian Mashed Stir-fried Aubergine (almost Baigan ka Bharta)”

  1. I adore aubergine, and this recipe looks like it would be very much to my taste. It really turns so creamy. I can see how the ingredients would come together to make a wonderful side dish or a dip as you kindly mentioned. The cookbook sounds amazing, I would have some difficulty storing such a large and heavy book as my two book drawers are already full (the rest of my cookbooks had to be removed and stored downstairs). Now I shall go and check out this book, I’m curious about it, thank you for the referral.

    1. Thank you so much, Eva. This is a huge cookbook with so many different recipes, I feel I could cook with it Indian meals every day! It’s a rather old-fashioned design cookbook though (photographs not of every dish and not beside the recipe), but it’s really fascinating.

  2. This sounds delicious, I absolutely love aubergines. I would really love to have that book as well, I have to look for it!

    1. Thanks a lot, Adina. If you like Indian cuisine, I can only recommend this huge collection of recipes.

  3. An 800 page cookbook does sound like a master class effort – I must investigate. I like how all the spices support the aubergine here… it sounds scrumptious and I imagine it full of life and flavour ~ dynamic seems like the perfect descriptor. Thank you also for the reminder to seek out ghee – I’m overdue. ps: I never remove tomato skin even when I’m suppose to :d (it never seems to be a problem).

    1. Hi Kelly. It’s impressive, isn’t it? This dish was so good, I juts had to share it (the original recipe was a bit more complicated at the beginning, so maybe even more delicious!). There are some other dishes where I don’t remove tomato skin and I love it this way too. Thank you so much for the compliments!

  4. Wow, 800 pages is a very impressive number! I love eggplants and they are in season right now! This dish sounds very aromatic just like all Indian food!

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