Eggplant season is here and I am all over it. Biting into that sweet flesh dotted with soft seeds, I always admire how this delicious vegetable absorbs any kind of goodness thrown to it in good measure.Be it the flavored oils or the profusely strong-tasting spices,squirts of citrus or a mellow yogurt dressing, it takes all. Robust yet so simple and earthly to relish, I have been regularly making eggplant pakoras and bharta, roasting it, open fire grilling it and what not.
I totally disliked it as a kid and the same was true for most members of our family. Except for pakoras, I rarely touched it. In the real way, I embraced it as an edible item during those couple of years when I turned a pure vegetarian.
I always like September for the overlap it brings - the summer bounty is still in the markets but the autumn produce can be spotted on the stands. I am still getting to slice fresh strawberries for my daughter's breakfast and at the same time I hand over crunchy apples to her as a snack. It is so fascinating how seasons change and that change is first thing evident in the farmer's markets. I went for grocery shopping the labor day weekend and was surprised how pears and apples have popped overnight on the stands.Can you believe I spotted a few pumpkins and parsnips already! Gosh, where did summer go.
For us, especially on the days when like to keep it meat free, a simple meal comprises of lentils, a dry vegetable curry and rice. We sit down to eat together, mostly eat with our fingers, squeezing out that juicy flesh off the peel, smashing the potatoes and mixing it in with ghee smothered dal-rice. Yum! If not with rice, you could roll this up inside whole wheat flatbreads if you like. Go make some before the season goes away.
Baingan Aloo
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mustard oil or any cooking oil
- ¼ teaspoon methi dana fenugreek seed
- ½ teaspoon jeera cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida hing
- 2 medium potatoes (~180g) peeled & cut (I use yellow potatoes)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder divided
- 1 large italian eggplant (~300g)
- 2 medium tomatoes heaping ½ cup, I use Roma tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (hot) or use cayenne, adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon amchur dry mango powder, or use fresh lime juice to taste)
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi dry fenugreek leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- chopped cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- In a cooking pan or wok, heat up the oil. If you are using mustard oil you will need to heat it up for up to 1-2 minutes to do away the raw smell. Just take care that is not smoking.
- Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to low and add the fenugreek and cumin seeds.Let crackle. Immediately add the garlic and hing. Let cook for 5-7seconds taking care they do not burn. Add 1-2 tablespoon water if needed. (You do not want the garlic to turn bitter as it changes the taste of the recipe, take the pot off the heat if you feel that its too hot)
- Add the potatoes next and let their outer surface crisp up for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle a little salt and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder as they brown. Next, add 1 -2tablespoon water, cover and let cook on medium low heat till the potatoes are 50% tender.
- Meanwhile, wash the eggplant and cut it up roughly the same size as the potatoes.
- Add the eggplant along with tomatoes, rest of the turmeric powder and red chili powder. Also add the salt. Mix well so that everything is covered in spices.
- Cover and let cook till both eggplant and potatoes are tender. On medium low heat this should take 7-10 minutes.(This time will depend on the variety and size of the vegetables)
- Take off the lid and sprinkle the amchur, garam masala and kasuri methi. On high heat, gently toss everything for another 1-2 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro & serve.
Rosa Mayland
Beautiful pictures (especially the one with the eggplant and potatoes) and scrumptious dish!
Cheers,
Rosa
Joyti
I fall into the "don't like eggplant" - generally speaking - category. The rest of family - especially my dad - loves it. Your stir-fry does look really delicious though! The photographs are stunning!!!
Sadhna Grover
Awesome photos, nice recipe.
prettypolymath
I also hated eggplant when I was a kid. The texture always thew me off. However, I've been on an eggplant kick lately and this sounds soo good! Looks delicious 🙂
Lail | With A Spin
Absolutely love the potato and eggplant photo. Lovely curry.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried
A simple and delicious recipe!
Ahu Shahrabani
I'm with you - I also hated them as a kid - along with brussels sprouts and beets - all three things I adore now! This looks so hearty and delicious.
Aruna Panangipally
A perennial favourite in our home.
noodlesforthoughts
Loved the photograph of the baingan..and love the look of your blog...So elegant! About baingans, i had never really loved them ever...except baingans fried like bhajiya wrapped in rice flours... or stuffed small sized baingans... and bhartas too actually come to think of it ..:) Great post, may be a dash of peanut ground powder would add some texture too in your recipe..just a suggestion..
Crystal | Apples & Sparkle
I love this time of year too! Such a great time for cooking with beautiful produce. This dish looks absolutely delicious! : )
Carol at Wild Goose Tea
Dry Mango powder? I have never heard of that. I am going on the hunt. I am a big eggplants and potato eater-----but most particularly love eggplant. Wonderfully seasoned. I pinned it.
Rose Winebrenner
I just bought a container of hing at an Indian store in Hong Kong. So you're saying to add the hing powder in the beginning... it smells atrocious btw. And you do not do any special prep to the eggplant besides cutting it up the same size as the potatoes, though in the picture said eggplant looks juicy and succulent. I'll try this recipe tomorrow, as i have all of the ingredients except the fenugreek leaves. Great photos! And awesome sounding recipe. I'm salivating.
Tanvi
Yes, you are right- hing smells stinky.If you got little crystals instead of powdered,use your mortar & pestle to make a powder.Be careful when using.A little goes a looong way. Add it at the beginning when tempering the oil, you will never smell it at the end of the recipe. Skip the fenugreek leaves if you do not have.
I just cut the eggplant as it is, probably it looks juicy because as such is was good quality and it soaked up the oil.
Hope this helps. Thank you
Rose Winebrenner
I have now prepared your recipe 4 times. It is absolutely scrumptious. After I ran out of eggplant I substituted it with okra, preparing the dish another 3 times. It is also very tasty! And now I love the hing spice as well. I think that this spice combination is divine and I will continue to use it, experimenting with various vegetables. Thanks for introducing me to a fantastic recipe.
Tanvi
YaY to hing! Thank you so much. Hing is an acquired taste for anyone, we use it a LOT in indian cooking and I am so happy that you are liking it. I am not sure if your are into lentils but if you cook them,try adding a pinch or so of of hing to them while boiling & tempering. I have a few recipes for lentils (dal) on the blog.Hing is said to aid against bloating caused by beans, lentils and help in digestion of heavy foods as well.
Thanks again.