Smoked Eggplant with Fragrant Spices
Submitted by taans
Baingan bharta-style smoked eggplant: fire-charred eggplant simmered with onion, tomato, garam masala, and green chiles. A smoky, spicy Indian classic to scoop with naan.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
40 minREADY
1 hrsThis smoked eggplant dish is the bones of baingan bharta, the iconic Punjabi preparation where whole eggplants get charred directly over open flame until the skin blackens and the flesh collapses into smoky silk.
That flame-roasting step is everything. Gas burner or wood fire, it doesn’t matter, the char infuses the flesh with a deep smokiness no oven can replicate. Once peeled and chopped, the eggplant joins a fragrant masala of deeply browned onion, garlic, cumin and coriander seeds, turmeric, cayenne, serrano chiles, and tomatoes cooked down until the oil separates, a classic Indian signal that the masala is done.
Finished with garam masala, lemon juice, and a generous handful of fresh cilantro, it’s a vegetable dish that eats like a full meal when scooped up with warm naan, roti, or basmati rice.
Chef Tips
- Char the eggplant completely, all sides blackened and the flesh collapsed. Timid charring means timid flavor.
- Peel under running water with wet hands, the charred skin slips off easily and any bits you miss taste acrid.
- Cook the onions hard, the “reddish brown” instruction is not a suggestion. Under-cooked onions leave the dish tasting raw.
- Wait for the oil to separate, both after the tomatoes and again after the eggplant goes in. This is the visual cue Indian cooks use to know a masala is properly developed.
Variations
- Add ½ cup green peas in the last 5 minutes for baingan bharta matar.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons of full-fat yogurt at the end for a creamier, milder version.
- Drizzle with mustard oil at the finish for a more pungent Bengali-style edge.
Ingredients
Directions
Place the eggplants directly over the gas burner, or grill over a wood fire.
Cook on all sides until the skin is black and charred and the flesh feels soft when pierced with a fork.
Grind the coriander and cumin seeds, and mix with the turmeric, salt and red pepper on a small plate.
Set near the stove.
Peel the eggplants, being sure to remove all the black, charred skin, and wipe them clean with wet hands. Squeeze out all the water.
Chop the eggplants coarsely and set aside. Heat the oil in a heavy, shallow pan.
Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it turns almost reddish brown, 10 or 12 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook until the mixture turns reddish brown, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir in the spices and green chiles and cook, stirring for about l0 seconds.
Add the tomatoes and let the mixture simmer until the tomatoes form a sauce and oil separates from the sauce.
Stir in the eggplant and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the oil again separates from the sauce.
Taste for salt, stir in the garam masala, lemon juice and cilantro.
Serve hot or cold with Indian bread as a side dish.
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