Baingan Bharta Recipe - Punjabi Baingan Ka Bharta - Tickling Palates (2024)

Baingan bharta recipe with step by step photos. The Punjabi Baingan Ka Bharta is a fuss free and simple side dish to make at home.

The eggplant also known as aubergines are roasted directly over fire till it is charred, mashed well and then cooked along with commonly used Indian spice powders.

Baingan bharta makes a simple and heartening meal either for dinner or to pack in a lunch box to office or school.

Each household have their own version of making this lip smacking side dish.

Here I’m sharing my way of doing it which happens to have a dominant garlic flavor.

We, at home love both garlic and eggplant, so this one is much loved by us all.

Several years ago when my mom started to make this after learning it from a cookbook, she did not find any big eggplants at that time in the markets.

Back then we did not have any big veggie super markets and eggplants are not commonly sold, in fact we always had to make do with some big regular brinjals.

She used the variety “Vellore Kathirikkai” to make this baingan bharta and roasting every single one of them was such a pain and time consuming as well.

I love adding peas while making baingan bharta, either fresh or frozen ones, though its not a must.

When I made them last month, I also added grated broccoli, as I had lots of them and had to finish it off before it got spoiled and it turned out great.

No one at home could detect it and its a great way to sneak in more veggies to the kids especially.

Baingan Bharta with step by step photos:

1. Wash and wipe the eggplant. Make deep cuts or slits all around it using a sharp knife. Insert a pod of garlic in each slit. (This step is optional but the garlic imparts a wonderful flavor).

2. Smear few drops of oil all around the eggplant. Poke a skewer or a sharp knife into the eggplant to hold and roast it directly over direct flame turning it around so that the skin gets charred and the insides of the eggplant gets cooked well.

You can also roast it in an oven.Remove the skewer and let the eggplant cool down completely. You can also immerse it water.

3. Peel off the charred outer skin and mash the eggplant along with the garlic using a fork or a potato masher. Keep aside.

4. Heat a pan with oil. Season with cumin seeds and let it crackle.Add onions and cook over medium flame till it becomes translucent.

5. Add tomato, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and mix well and cook for 1 minute.

6.Sprinkle a handful of water, mix, close with a lid and cook for 2- 3 mins over low flame for the raw smell of the powders to go away and the oil begins to separate.

7. Add mashed eggplant, garam masala powder, salt, mix well and cook for another 2 mins.

8. Add chopped coriander leaves, mix well and take off stove.Baingan Bharta is ready.Serve hot with any type of Indian Breads.

Note while making Baingan Bharta:

1. If you do not like inserting the garlic pods while roasting, you can skip the step and instead add 2 to 3 minced garlic along with the onion. You can also add minced ginger too along with this.

2. If you are going to add peas, either fresh or frozen or any other grated veggies like broccoli, then add it at step no.7 which is before adding the mashed eggplant, so that it could get cooked well.

3. You can also use a mix of oil and ghee to cook.

4. If you are not comfortable about roasting over naked flame, then you can just, slit the eggplant into slices, steam them and then mash, though the taste will not be the same.

Some other Punjabi hot favorites are Bhindi Masala, Paneer Tawa Masala, Paneer Butter Masala (without onion and garlic) served with Homemade Naan (without yeast on stove top).

Baingan Bharta Recipe details below:

Recipe