Baingan bharta (smoky mashed eggplant curry)
Eggplant charred under the broiler until smoky and silky, then mashed into a spiced tomato and onion masala and served with rice and yogurt.
- 70 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.38 a serving
- 440 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 eggplant, large
- 1½ cups basmati rice
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 serrano pepper, minced (optional)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water
- 1¾ tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
Each serving has about 440 calories, 14 g protein, 78 g carbs and 9 g fat, and costs about $2.38 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No basmati rice? Jasmine rice or long-grain white rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No plain Greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Turn on the with a rack 6 inches below it. Poke the eggplants a few times with a fork, set them on a foil-lined and broil, turning every 8 minutes, until blackened and collapsed, 25 to 30 minutes.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 28 min
Dolly’s tip: Burnt skin is the goal. That char is where the smoky flavor comes from.Meanwhile, the rice and bring it with the water and ½ teaspoon salt in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn to low and cook 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Let the eggplants cool for 10 minutes, then off the skin and the soft flesh.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: A few specks of black skin left behind are fine. They add smokiness.Heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the cumin for 20 seconds, then the onion, and cook until , 6 to 7 minutes.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Add the garlic, ginger and serrano for 1 minute, then the turmeric, coriander and paprika for 30 seconds.
Medium heat
Add the tomatoes and 1¼ teaspoons salt and cook until soft and jammy, about 5 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Add the eggplant and mash it into the masala with your spoon.
Medium heat
Cook, stirring, until thick and well blended, 8 to 10 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Stir in the garam masala and cilantro.
Medium heat
Fluff the rice and serve the bharta over it with a spoonful of yogurt.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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