Baigan Bhartha – Char Roasted Eggplant Puree
Baigan Bhartha is a classic Punjabi style dish, that captures the essence of summer. Plump and fresh eggplants are roasted over coals or an open flame until the skin is charred. This is then peeled mashed and treated with a few simple spices. The result is eggplant in a magical smoky seductive goodness.
My Baigan Bhartha Story
This is a simple summer dish that I make frequently when the bounty of eggplants are overflowing in our garden. It is usually also when the tomatoes are a plenty. If I am lucky I get squash blossoms and black eyed Susans to brighten my day.
Just as grateful as I am for the heady bounty of summer eggplants and tomatoes. The small expanse of the yard as I walked through was a riot of bright yellows, squash blossoms and these pretty black-eyed Susans that are hardy and a consistent harbinger of summer at its peak. I was initially drawing a blank at the name, I guess, I needed that espresso shot in this morning’s coffee.
The household has been sick, everyone taking their own turns.
To smooth out the weekend, I made a whole bunch of comfort meals, one of them includes this baigan bharta, or fire charred, spicy pureed eggplant.
What is Baigan Bharta?
The name Baigan Bhartha comes from the words Baigan, which means eggplant in Hindi, and bhartha which refers to mash. Any shredded or pureed dish is a bhartha, like the chicken bhartha on the site.
The most common version like the one that I have shared here is attributed to the Northern state of Punjab, but other regions of India have their own tested and tried versions. So Vangiachi Bharit is from the state of Maharashtra and uses crushed peanuts. Begun poda is found in West Bengal and is mashed with green chilies, mustard oil and finely chopped raw onions.
There are no set rules to these recipes, so I vary them from time to time, in summer, I tend to add more tomatoes so the dish tends to be darker in color, however one of my favorites.
About the Charring and How to char without an open flame?
Eggplants are charred over and open flame in India. I use my grill. We have switched to using all electric and induction in the house. I think with the solar panels and the general awareness that fossil fuels are not a good idea, it is a responsible thing to do.
So here is how I get the smoky flavor that is so essential to this dish. I bake the eggplant in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. I then cook this under the broiler for 15 minutes. This is a little smoky so, I recommend have all your exhaust fans on. The advantage of cooking this way is that it is complete hands off and you are able to infuse the same smoky flavors into the dish.
Allow the eggplant to cool a little, and the skin can be peeled off very easily.
How to enjoy your Baigan Bhartha?
If you want, you can serve this at room temperature as a spicy dip. This is naturally not the traditional way to enjoy the Baigan Bhartha. Traditionally, it is a vegan entrée that can be enjoy with any bread such as a naan or paratha. Pair with dal or choley for a more wholesome and balanced meal.
A smokey lightly seasoned eggplant puree, well made baigan bhartha is delicious and delightful.
Ingredients
- 2 medium sized eggplants
- 3 tablespoons oil
- ¾ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 small red onion finely diced.
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tomatoes very finely chopped.
- 2 green chilies, minced.
- 2 to 3 tablespoons minced cilantro
Instructions
- Place the eggplant on a corner of the grill if you are grilling. If neither of these are options then place the eggplant in a 350-degree oven and bake until soft and then broil until the outer skin is charred. Back to the open flame eggplant, cook until it is soft, and the outer skin is completely charred. Set aside to cool.
- Heat the oil on medium heat for about 1 minute and add in the cumin seeds and when they begin to sizzle, add in the red onion and sauté lightly until the onion softens and wilts and finally gently turns pale golden in corners.
- Add in the minced ginger and garlic and sauté lightly until the paste is somewhat dry and begins to turn fragrant.
- Add in the tomatoes and the chilies and begin to cook this mixture to allow the tomatoes to turn into a thick fairly dry sauce, you should begin to see the oil leaching again from the edges.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, peel and discard the charred skin from the eggplant and mash lightly.
- Add into the tomato spice mixture and mix well.
- Stir in the cilantro and mix well.
- Enjoy with your choice of bread or rice.
Vangiachi Bharit - Roasted Eggplant mashed with Peanuts
[…] as food memoir. What caught my eye was something called Bharit, a western Indian riff on the Eggplant Bharta, tossed with coconut and chunky peanuts. Now the recipe that I share in this post is not quite […]