Bhaingan Bhartha (Spicy Eggplant Curry)
This is a popular Indian dish and often encountered in restaurant menus. Here is a simple-to-execute recipe that I have followed when I prepared this with the Turkish Orange Eggplant, but should work equally well with other kinds of eggplant.
The ingredients are: 1 pound of eggplant, ½ a large onion (white or red), 2 medium size tomatoes, 6 teaspoons of Canola oil, 2 teaspoons of garam masala, 1-2 teaspoons of salt.
The eggplant is washed, wiped and placed in a baking dish ( glass or metal) and sprayed with a little bit of canola oil ( photo 1). The eggplant is then “broiled” for 20 minutes in an oven until it begins to shrivel (Photo 2). I used the GE Advantage Microwave /Convection oven; any oven with a “broil” setting should serve our purpose. Upon cooling, the skin of the eggplant is discarded and the fleshy part is then mashed well ( photos 3, 4 and 5). Have the onions and tomatoes chopped up while the eggplant is broiling ( photo 6). The canola oil is then heated in a pan and when the oil just starts to vaporize, toss in the chopped onions and sautee them for about 5 minutes until they start turning slightly brown (photo 7). Then add the chopped tomatoes and continue sautéing for about 15 minutes with the stove at the “medium-low” setting till the tomato softens and blends with the onions ( photo 8). Then add the garam masala, and let it sit on the stove for another 5 minutes at the “low” stove setting. Then add the mashed eggplant to the sautéed mixture of onion and tomato( photo 9), add the salt, and mix it up in the pan while it is still on the stove. Keep the mixture covered for about 5 minutes on the stove at a “low” stove setting, and then adjust salt levels to taste .The mixture is now ready to be served (photo 10). Enjoy with rice, chapathi, roti, naan or even Lavash bread!
If you enjoyed this dish, I encourage you to make a contribution to the LA Foodbank at http://www.lafoodbank.org
