Baingan Bharta
Brinjal blackened whole on the flame until it collapses, peeled and mashed rough, cooked down with onion and tomato in sharp mustard oil. Smoke does most of the work.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1 large purple brinjal (about 500 g), the round bharta variety
- 3 tbsp Cold Pressed Black Mustard Oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 large onion (about 130 g), chopped fine
- 1 tbsp garlic, chopped fine
- 1 tbsp ginger, chopped fine
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes (about 200 g), chopped fine
- 1 tsp Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- ½ cup green peas, boiled, optional
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 tsp Gir Cow's A2 Ghee, to finish, optional
Quantities are scaled up. Taste as you go and adjust the salt and spice.
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A cold evening in Punjab and the fat purple brinjal is sitting straight on the gas flame, turned every three or four minutes with tongs. The skin blisters, splits and goes black, the whole thing sinks and softens, and the kitchen fills with a smell like a bonfire. It goes into a bowl of water for a minute and the burnt skin comes away in strips with almost no effort. The flesh is mashed rough with a fork, juices and all, and that is where the flavour already is.
Wooden cold pressed black mustard oil is the traditional fat and it earns its place. Pressed slowly in a wooden ghaani, it keeps a real pungency. Take it to a light smoke and then drop the flame at once, which softens the raw bite and leaves a deep warmth that stands up against char. Our Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder goes in with the tomato for colour and body. A teaspoon of Gir Cow's A2 Ghee stirred in at the very end rounds off the smoke.
The one thing that decides bharta is the roasting. The brinjal must collapse completely, so a knife slides into the thickest part with no resistance anywhere. Fifteen to eighteen minutes on the flame, not ten. Pull it off early and the bharta tastes raw and faintly bitter, and no amount of masala will cover it.
How to make it
- Wash and dry the brinjal. Rub a little oil over the skin. Make four small slits down the sides and press a garlic clove into two of them if you like.
- Sit the brinjal directly on a medium gas flame. Turn it every 3 or 4 minutes with tongs. It takes 15 to 18 minutes in all. The skin will blacken, blister and split, and the brinjal will sink and go soft. Push a knife into the thickest part. It must go through like butter.
- Drop the hot brinjal into a bowl of water for a minute, or cover it and let it steam for 10 minutes. The skin then peels off in strips with almost no effort. Chop off the stalk, mash the flesh roughly with a fork and keep any juices.
- Heat the mustard oil in a kadhai on medium-high till it is very hot and a light smoke rises. Lower the flame to medium and add the cumin seeds. They should crackle at once.
- Add the onion and fry for 6 to 7 minutes till golden. Add the garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry 1 minute more, till the raw smell lifts.
- Add the tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder and salt. Cook on medium for 8 to 10 minutes, mashing the tomato with the back of the spoon, till the mixture pulls together and the oil separates at the edges.
- Stir in the mashed brinjal and the peas. Cook on medium-low for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often and pressing the brinjal into the masala. It will darken, dry a little and start to leave the sides of the pan.
- Add the garam masala and half the coriander. Cook 2 minutes more, switch off, and stir in the ghee if using. Serve hot with roti or paratha, with sliced onion and a green chilli.
Tips
- Storage: keeps 3 days in the fridge in an airtight box. The smoky taste actually deepens overnight. Reheat in a pan, not the microwave, so it dries rather than sweats.
- No gas flame? Roast the brinjal in a 200°C oven for 40 to 45 minutes, turning once, till it collapses. Then hold it over a small flame for 2 minutes, or drop one piece of glowing charcoal into a steel katori in the pan, add a drop of ghee and cover for 3 minutes for the smoke.
- Pick a brinjal that feels light for its size with a shiny, unbroken skin. Light means fewer seeds, and seeds are what make bharta bitter.
- Do not mash the brinjal into a paste. Rough, uneven pieces are what give bharta its texture. A mixie will ruin it.
- If mustard oil is too sharp for your family, use half mustard oil and half Cold Pressed Groundnut Oil. You keep the character and lose some of the bite.
