This recipe for bharwa baingan, or vegetarian stuffed eggplant, is a dish made with Indian baby eggplants cooked stovetop in an aromatic blend of spices, onions and tomatoes. The masala is saucy and so delicious with indian flatbreads like paratha or roti. I am teaching Punjabi (North Indian style) way of making bharwa baingan in this post.
Baingan is love and though I wasnt a big fan of this vegetable growing up, I happily look forward to cooking one of my eggplant recipes every week. If you love baby eggplant recipes, do check out my easy recipe of achari baigan (without stuffing).
Stuffed vegetables are hugely popular in indian cuisine. Vegetables like green bell peppers, okra and tomatoes are stuffed to create amazing vegetarian indian dishes. My kids love bharwa bhindi, however since I love everything eggplant, my pick is usually bharwa baingan to be scooped with paratha!
Vegetarian Indian food is a diverse and every region in India has its own way of making stuffed eggplants- stuffing them with peanuts, cashews, coconut, bengal gram lentils, tamarind chillies etc. In most recipes, first a masala is cooked, the baby eggplants are stuffed with then cooked till done. The north indian preparation is a little different.
About Bharwa Baigan
Bharwa means stuffed and baingan is the hindi term for brinjal or aubgerines or eggplants. For this recipe, most common variety to use is indian baby eggplant or chote (small) baigan. Baby eggplants have a very thin and soft skin and they are almost seedless and quite fleshy. Their taste is milder as compared to the large Italian eggplants that we use for making bharta.
This punjabi style bharwa baingan is how mom makes it every time. It is a saucy tangy preparation with a thickish masala coating the eggplants. These bharwa baingan are much easier than the west indian or south indian preparations since we dont precook the stuffing.
Once cooked, the eggplant absorb the flavors of the spices and become super delicious. You will love the deep rich flavors of this sabzi with flatbreads & green chutney or dal-chawal. These stuffed baingan are vegan and nut free as well.
- Easy to make- You dont have to prepare any stuffed masala. Just mix a few powdered spices to make the spice mix and stuff the eggplants.
- Perfect Make Ahead Dish- These actually taste better if you make them a few hours ahead before serving since the eggplants absorb the flavors. These bharwa baigan can be made and kept for 2-3 days. The taste won't change.
- Rich & Delicious- I feel this is a great dish to include in your vegetarian party menu. Stuffed baingan look impressive and they are rich and delicious for dinner menus.
How to Make Bharwa Baingan Masala
- Start by mixing the spice powders in a small bowl. The spice mix is what gives this dish its flavor. Here are the spices I use
- Coriander Powder
- Hot Red Chili Powder
- Chaat Masala
- Fennel Powder - Gives an amazing flavor, please dont skip.
- Amchoor- Dry Mango Powder
- Garam Masala Powder
- Dry Roasted Besan (Gram Flour)
- Kasuri Methi - Dried Fenugreek Leaves
- Salt
- Turmeric Powder
- Wash and pat dry the baby eggplants. I leave the stems but you can trim if you wish. Using a sharp knife, make cross slits in each eggplant to make a cavity with four parts. The eggplant should still be whole.
- Slightly open the eggplant and spoon the sukha(dry) masala that we prepared into the cavity. You will have a little bit leftover masala, reserve it to use later.
- In a pot or kadai, warm up mustard oil, temper with fenugreek seeds and add sliced onions. Saute onions for a little bit and then add cumin seeds and minced garlic.
- Add thinly sliced tomatoes and layer the eggplants in a single layer over the onions. Sprinkle the levier masala and salt and cover.
- Cook for 20 minutes or so till the baigan are soft and tender but not mushy or falling apart.
- Finish with chopped cilantro. Serve.
Few Tips
- 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 (lambe baigan in India) 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.
More Eggplant Recipes
Indian Bharwa Baingan (Vegetarian Stuffed Eggplant)
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.
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