Indian Bharwa Baingan (Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant)
Bharwa Baingan is a north indian style stuffed eggplant dish made with spice stuffed baby eggplants cooked in a saucy onion tomato masala.
Equipment
- Pot or Kadai With lid
Ingredients
For The Spice mix
- 1.5 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon red chili powder adjust to taste
- 1.5 teaspoon chaat masala
- 1 teaspoon amchoor dry mango powder
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds coarsely powdered
- 1.5 tablespoon dry roasted besan gram flour
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) crushed between palms
- ½ teaspoon salt
For The Eggplants
- 400 g small/baby eggplant/baigan about 6-8
- 5 tablespoon mustard oil
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 garlic minced
- 1 large tomato sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix all the spice powder and roasted besan.
- Wash and pat dry the eggplant. To prepare them, you can start by trimming the end of stems since the ends are quite tough. Keep a short stem.
- Using a sharp knife, make cross slits in each eggplant to make a cavity with four parts. The eggplant should still be whole. The care not to slice the eggplant.
- Using a small spoon, filling 2 teaspoons of the spice mix in the cavity of each eggplant. Reserve the leftover spice mix to use while cooking the sauce.
- Warm up the mustard oil in a kadai or pot with lid. Once a little smoky, temper with fenugreek seeds.
- Add the onions to oil and saute or 2-3 minutes till they appear a little soft and start turning light brown, Add the cumin & garlic along with tomatoes. Mix and saute for about 45 seconds. You dont have to cook down the tomatoes and onions.
- Layer the stuffed eggplants. Sprinkle the leftover masala and ½ teaspoon salt. Mix gently and cover the pot.
- Let cook covered for 20 minutes, stir occasionally to make sure that the masala is not sticking to bottom. You can add 2-4 tablespoon of water if you feel that the masala is dryish and eggplants won't cook .Cook till the eggplants have changed color and the skins are soft but they are not mushy.
- Towards the end, bump the heat to high, and bhuno(saute) the eggplants for 1-2 minutes turning around gently.
- Served garnished with chopped cilantro.
Notes
- Selecting Eggplants :- Choose eggplants with smooth, soft skins without any spots. The skin should not be too dark else the eggplants will have lot of seeds.
- Make sure that the eggplants are dry before you start stuffing them.
- Kind of Oil :-Mustard oil gives authentic taste to most punjabi/north indian dishes. However you can substitute with any neutral cooking oil like avocado or grapeseed oil.
- Oil Quantity:-Dont skimp on oil. Certain vegetables like eggplant, potatoes and okra taste better when they are cooked in little extra oil.
- Variation :-You can make this recipe with slender Japanese eggplants if you are not able to find the baby ones. Make a slit lengthwise in the japanese eggplant and stuff with dry masala. Rest of the recipe remains same.
- Additions :-You can add some potatoes or whole pearl/ sambar onions while the eggplant cooks.
- Cooking Pot:-Avoid cooking this recipe in cast iron or iron kadai or any pot made with reactive material. Enamaled cast iron is fine.
- Cooking Temperature:- Avoid cooking eggplants on too high or too low heat. We want them to cook in their own juices. Once the eggplants appear a bit sweaty, cover the pot/kadai and cook on constant low- medium heat.
Nutrition
Calories: 220kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 3gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gSodium: 622mgPotassium: 278mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 995IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 2mg
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