Baingan Bharta

Baingan Bharta is a very popular north Indian dish which is so simple to prepare. Eggplant/aubergine is studded with garlic and roasted on an open flame, and then stir-fried with aromatics for the most delicious smoky flavor. It can be cooked in several ways, directly on a gas stove without oil, on a grill, or broiled or baked in an oven after brushing with oil. I prefer to cook it on the stove flame but now since we shifted to the new house we don’t have gas stove top so thought of trying it in air fryer.

The main and important part of the procedure to prepare this dish is evenly roasting the eggplant​. As I said earlier, you can do it by roasting the brinjal directly on fire, but here we will learn how to make and achieve the same flavor in air-fryer. Do try this smoky flavor Baingan Bharta and let me know how it turned out.

Preparation Time: 5mins  ∏  Cooking Time: 25-30mins  ∏  Servings: 2-3

Level: Intermediate(Medium)      ∏  Measurement: 1 Cup ≡ 250 ml ≡ 250gm

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant (brinjal or aubergine)
• 1 medium sized onion (finely chopped)
• 1 large size tomato chopped
• 1/4 cup green peas
• 5-6 garlic cloves + plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon ginger (finely chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste (optional)
• 1 -2 green chilly (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro​ leaves
• 2 teaspoon mustard oil
• A pinch of Asafoetida (Heeng)
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• Salt to taste

How to make Baingan Bharta:

Step1: Wash the egg plant under running water. Pat it dry, using a sharp knife make slits in form of “X” all over the egg plant. 

Step2: Now insert the garlic cloves inside the cuts so garlic is fully inserted into the brinjal, this will give a very nice flavor to the roasted eggplant. Then using brush apply oil all over the egg plant.

Step3: Place the eggplant directly in the air-fryer and set it at 380Deg F for 20mins. In the meanwhile you may chop onion tomato etc.

 Step4: Keep turning it from time to time with a pair of tongs, until you can pierce the thickest part easily with a knife. Roast till it’s completely cooked and tender .

Step5: After around 20 mins the skin will look crinkly and crisp. Then carefully remove it in bowl and let it cool then peel off the skin with a small knife or with your fingers.

Step6: Then, chop it finely (or you can also mash it with a fork), Discard the stalk. Set aside.

Step7: Heat mustard oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add pinch of asafoetida along with finely chopped ginger-garlic and sauce it for 30sec till the raw smell goes off. Then add the onion and saute till it becomes translucent, no need to brown them.

Step8: Then add the ginger-garlic paste(optional), salt and the green chilly and cook for 1 minute. Now add the green peas, mix everything well and let it cook for 3-4mins.

 Step9: Reduce the flame to low and add dry spices turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder and saute it for 1min. Then add chopped tomatoes and saute till the tomato becomes mushy.

Step10: Add the chopped/mashed eggplant (baingan). Using potato mashed crush all the big chunk of brinjal and mix it well with the onion tomato mixture.

Step11: Adjust salt as per taste , Cover and cook for another 3-4 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Step12: Finally add chopped cilantro leaves and mix well. 

Step13: Serve it with roti or paratha. Enjoy!

Tips: 

• Check for the worms to avoid this happening, when you make a slit on the brinjal for putting garlic clove check inside the brinjal for any darl colors
• Its best to use a large baingan/eggplant/aubergine for this recipe. The small variety doesn’t have the same flavour
• To roast in the oven, make slits in the baingan, stuff the slits with garlic and rub a little oil all over. Roast in a 200C oven for 45-50 minutes. Then follow instructions from Step 6 in the .
• Don’t let the onion get brown, it tastes good with the lightly cooked onion.
• Prefer using mustard oil.