Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)
Baingan Bharta (Indian Eggplant Curry)
Eggplant Curry with Toasted Almonds
Thai-Style, Spicy Eggplant-Mushroom Sauce


Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

"This is a really easy and tasty Indian dish that is sure to stir up
your taste buds. Delicious baingan bharta is ready to eat with pita
bread, Indian naan, or rice."

Submitted by: Yakuta
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ready In:1 hour

1 large eggplant
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the
preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in cumin seeds and
onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan,
and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and jalapeno
pepper, and season with salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes over high
heat. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5
minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Source: <http://vegetarian.allrecipes.com/az/BingnBhrtggplntCrry.asp>



Baingan Bharta (Indian Eggplant Curry)

5 firm medium eggplants (about 4 pounds/ 1.8 kg, 5-6)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion (about 1 1/4 pounds / 570 g), chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (2 peppers will make the dish very
hot)
1 inch / 2.5 cm fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 cloves garlic, minced (4 to 5)
1 Tablespoon garam masala (add up to 2 Tablespoons if you like strong
spice)
1 teaspoon salt
1 can tomato sauce (6 ounces / 170 g)
1 can chopped tomatoes in juice (14 ounces / 400 g)
Cilantro leaves for garnish

Roast the eggplants over a flame, a gas burner or directly on an
electric element, turning frequently, until they are thoroughly charred
and soft throughout. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the
skin and pooled juices, split lengthwise, remove any particularly large
clusters of seeds and chop.
As the eggplants are cooling, heat the oil in the bottom of a large pot
over a medium flame and add the onion. Stir frequently; if the onion
starts to color, reduce the heat. When they are very limp and glassy
looking (about 10 minutes later), add the jalapeno, ginger and garlic.
Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to
color and takes a pinkish tinge (another 5 minutes). Add the garam
masala and stir to coat vegetables. When very aromatic, add the salt,
tomato sauce, tomatoes and their juices, the chopped eggplant and 1/4
cup water.

Cook, covered, over a low flame for one hour, checking the bottom of
the pot now and again to make sure it isn't burning. If mixture gets
too pasty, add a splash of water. Taste and adjust seasoning.


NOTES
Source: "Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 336 Calories; 28g Fat (70.2%
calories from fat); 4g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 3616mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 Vegetable; 5 1/2 Fat.

Several years ago an Indian woman from Bombay invited me to her
apartment and treated me to a two-hour lesson in her style of
vegetarian home cooking. Exotic spices did play an important role in
her kitchen, but then so did more prosaic ingredients such as frozen
chopped spinach and Hunt's tomato sauce. She kept atta, the fine-milled
whole wheat flour, to make fresh roti flatbreads in her tava griddle
for dinner every evening. But she substituted tofu for paneer, the
fresh white cheese that can make so many Indian vegetables so
fattening.

And this woman was absolutely maniacal about the proper way to cook
onions. Despite her avowal of low-fat cookery, she started every dish
with a healthy pour of vegetable oil and sauteed chopped onions for 10
minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or however long it took to get them to
the right stage before continuing the dish. The onions, she explained,
needed enough oil to sizzle, not steam, and to cook through without
browning. Sometimes she wanted the onions to be yellowish and glossy.
Sometimes she took them further to the stage she called "pink," which
meant they were just starting to color but not to brown.

Of all the dishes she taught me, the one that has become a part of my
own repertoire is Baingan Bharta. This classic Indian Eggplant Curry
starts with those pink onions, then adds plenty of smoky roasted
eggplant, spice, hot pepper, ginger and garlic.

If you have a gas range, you can roast the eggplants over the flame.
But even if you have an electric range, roast the eggplants right on
the element. You will get that smoky undertone you can't get from
baking the eggplants.

The other important step is to give the final mixture a full hour to
simmer and meld its flavors. If you are Indian, you likely will have a
pressure cooker to get the job done in 20 minutes. Otherwise, you have
to wait.

And the only ingredient you'll need to search out in a good ethnic or
farmers market is garam masala --- the mixture of toasted and ground
cumin, cardamom, black pepper and sundry sweet spices. You'll soon find
yourself reaching for it instead of curry powder in your cooking.

Source:
<http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/1015/Baingan-Bharta-Indian-Eggplant-Curry/>



Eggplant Curry with Toasted Almonds

Recipe courtesy: Rachael Ray
Show: 30 Minute Meals
Episode: Curry in a Hurry

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice, cooked to directions on package
2 Tablespoons (2 turns around the pan in a slow, steady stream)
extra-virgin olive oil
1 large, firm eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large, yellow skinned onion, peeled and chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, cracked away from skin with a whack between flat of
knife and heel of hand
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup (a couple of heaping tablespoons) mango chutney
1 rounded tablespoon mild curry paste or 2 tablespoons (a generous palm
full) curry powder
Coarse salt
1 cup vegetable broth or stock
A handful (about 2 tablespoons) cilantro leaves, finely chopped,
optional
Garnishes:
Toasted sliced or slivered almonds
Thinly sliced scallions or chopped fresh chives

Prepare rice. While rice is simmering, start curry.
Heat a deep, heavy bottomed nonstick skillet over medium to medium high
heat. When the pan is hot, add oil, eggplant, onion, and bell pepper.
Cover pan and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and
add garlic; cook 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, chutney, curry, salt, and
broth. Stir to combine and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes over low heat for
flavors to combine. Remove curry from heat and stir in cilantro. Ladle
eggplant curry into shallow bowls. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop rice
balls into the center of bowls. Garnish your the and rice with lots of
toasted sliced almonds and scallions or chives.

Tidbits:

Curry paste is available on the International Foods aisle of markets.
The paste is deep red in color and will keep several months in the
refrigerator.

Vegetable stocks and broths are available in the soup aisle of market
and are now widely available in paper containers with re-sealable
spouts. If you use broths often in cooking, these paper containers are
terrific to keep on-hand in your refrigerator.

If you want to purchase just enough almonds to top this one recipe,
check out the baking aisle of your market and look for either slivered
or sliced almonds in a small 3-ounce pouch. Major Grey's mango chutney
is available under many different brand names and can be found on both
Condiment and International Foods aisles of market.

Source:
<http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_20022,00.html>





Thai-Style, Spicy Eggplant-Mushroom Sauce

1/2 pound mushrooms
1 medium shallot
2 medium garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon. Hunan style red chili paste
(originally was 1 Tablespoon Tai Hot Sauce - Hunan chili paste is MUCH
hotter though.)
1 1/2 cup rice milk (We use Rice Dream Vanilla Lite. Any milk sub will
do.)
1 pound eggplant
1 medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped asparagus stems (steam the tips and serve on the side)
(originally this was peas)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (optional - we used a few, not 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 cup veggie stock
2 to 3 drops toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons tapioca flour (see note)

Mince garlic and shallot; quarter mushrooms, dice eggplant into 1-inch
cubes and slice red bell pepper into long strips.

In a large frying pan, on medium head add stock and mushrooms. Simmer
for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and brown. Remove mushrooms
and set aside. In remaining stock add shallot and garlic, sautee for
1-2 minutes. Add chili paste and milk. Bring mixture to a boil then
reduce heat and simmer on low for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add sugar,
plum sauce and sesame oil (only a few drops! It's amazing the flavor
it adds). Add eggplant, asparagus stems and red bell pepper. Bring
mixture back up to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes stirring
occasionally until eggplant and asparagus are tender. In the last 5
minutes add mushrooms and fresh basil leaves.

Serve over grilled polenta (recipe follows) or rice and the steamed
asparagus tips.

Note: When I made this recipe I felt that the sauce was too thin. The
original recipe called for coconut milk and olive oil as the sauce's
base. How I remedied this problem was as follows: I removed all the
vegetables from the pan using a slotted spoon and turned the heat down
to the lowest setting. I placed them in the serving bowl and set aside.
In a measuring cup I added 1/3 cup cold water and 2 heaping teaspoons
of tapioca flour (not pearls). Once this was thoroughly mixed I poured
it into the sauce while stirring with the slotted spoon. In less than a
minute the sauce had thickened very nicely. I then poured the sauce
into the bowl over the vegetables and served. It was pleasantly spicy
(go light on the red chili paste if you dislike REALLY hot foods) and
filling.

Note2: if you wanted to be more authentic you could try adding some
coconut extract...

Source: The San Mateo Times

Source: <http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/general/thai-eggplant-curry>

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