Baingan Bharta Recipe (2024)

I used Japanese eggplants and like to include the peel.This is faster and delicious. Saute after each addition: To the oil, add onion, add garlic, add fresh green chili, add raw eggplant chopped into inch chunks. Saute the eggplant long enough to soften it slightly, then add tomatoes coarsely ground in mini food processor as well as salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp garam masala... simmer 10-20 minutes to meld flavors.

If you're in a rush or feeling lazy, microwave the eggplant. Many 'authentic' chefs do this and it still tastes great!

When summer the eggplant is overabundant, I roast it and freeze it for winter use. So I'm always on the lookout for roasted eggplant recipes--and this one is fantastic! The first time I made it I found it a bit flat, so I read up on baingan bharta and tried it again with these small tweeks: 1 T minced ginger in with the garlic & chiles, and I toasted my garam masala. Those two additional steps seemed to add a lot of depth to this already tasty dish.

Excellent recipe. The use of garlic is a personal preference.
Another suggestion: mash the pulp WITH the garam masala and turmeric and salt, (can freeze batches at this point). Add to the onions and tomatoes along with a handful of peas. Add the stems of the cilantro. I prefer to have a "dry" dish with a bread, perhaps a plain chappati; rice (for most of us Punjabis) is for "gravy" dishes. Choose "male" eggplants when in season.

For an extra special kick try this. Take a piece of charcoal, while holding with tongs heat it on flame till it amber. Transfer it to an aluminium foil and place the foil in the middle of the cooked dish. Pour some ghee (clarified butter) or lacking that butter. Cover the dish right away. This will effectively give a strong tandoor flavor to the dish and is a substitute for not having a real tandoor in most kitchen.

This was great. I am a terrible, inept cook but I couldn't mess this one up. It turned out delicious and really hit the spot for Indian food tonight.

In lieu of steps one and two, or when good eggplants are not available, use the jarred roasted eggplant. The Sera Turkish brand works out.

The flavor was a tiny bit flat to my palate. Next time I'll add a bit of minced ginger, which should make it completely wonderful. Served with plain yogurt on the side.

Added 6 ounces of baby spinach, yum.

This was actually quite good, but I altered a bit, out of concern that the dish might be bland, as some have commented. We used 3 eggplants and like heat, so we used the jalapeño with seeds and added two chopped dried red chilis, in addition to a 1/2 tsp ground pepper, 1 tsp ground cumin, and doubled the turmeric. Like others have said, the eggplant is no where near completely roasted through when it comes out of the oven, so it must be cooked longer than the 3-5 minutes advised.

Disappointing. Needs more spice. There's no heat, and tomatoes overpower. Will try other versions.

Replaced garam masala with baharat - still tasty!

Add cinnamon? Cumin? More ginger? Coriander? Fennel seeds? More richness and spices are needed, plenty hot. Added ground pork 2/3 lbs approximately, peas, chopped roasted peppers, ginger but not enough, used the seeds in the jalapeño as well as the thin slices, 3/4 of 28 oz. can of tomatoes. (Already roasted eggplant weighed 1.4 lbs without the skins)

Followed this to a tee, but somehow I didn’t feel like there was any depth of flavor. It could be that my garlic was just unusually strong. To compensate, I added some honey, black pepper, and a bit of pomegranate molasses. It turned out great, but before the modifications, it was a big pile of very uninteresting slop.

This is one of our alltime faves, a sort of Indian-spiced rattatouille to which we substitute or add all kinds of vegetables. I regularly add a can or two of chickpeas, but I have also used okra, bell peppers, cauliflower, or tofu. I roast the veggies or tofu at 500 degrees in the oven while preparing the base; I increase the ginger and garlic; and I double the tomatoes, usually using cherry varieties. SUPERB. We serve with rice, roti, or naan. It it the perfect vegan supper--the leftovers rock.

Not as quickly done in the oven rather than grill. I wound up using a toaster oven which heats up much faster than a standard kitchen oven/range. I used Italian eggplants, which are smaller than globe variety. They didn't peal easily so like Fein and others I just cut them into chunks with skin on which was fine.

Not sure what went wrong, but found this quite bland. Did it mostly as directed except omitted the turmeric because I don't like it, and added coriander, ginger, and cumin, as well as extra garlic. Even with that, wasn't very flavorful.

Roast the eggplant according to Martha Rose Shulman's recipe here on NYT. I use a grill and have found that if I roast it for 5 min with the cut side up, then flip, the eggplant does not stick to the foil. This results in a smoky, soft eggplant. Perfect to use in the recipe. For a large, room temp eggplant, I roast 20-30 min. It should be wrinkled, indicating that it is soft inside.

We found this a bit too tangy and acidic, likely due to the tomatoes. I also added more salt, turmeric, and garam masala to taste at the end after following the recipe exactly and deciding it needed more flavor. Overall, not bad, but the tomato overshadowed the eggplant, and we wished it tasted more like our favorite restaurant’s version.

I added brown lentils to the dish and so very glad I did have it an extra depth. Will absolutely make again

Absolutely delicious, easy, quick. Made this as written…it is a convenient way to cook eggplants. Yum!

I roast the eggplant according to Martha Schulman's recipe. Have learned to brush both the foil and the cut side of the eggplant w oil and then I roast with the cut side UP for 5 minutes. Then turn over and roast for approx 30 min at 400. Starting cut side up decreases the sticking. The eggplant should look deflated and wrinkly. Ginger adds a very nice taste to the dish as does 1/2 tsp ground cumin and 1tsp gr. coriander. Delish!!!

Very tasty easy recipe. Over rice as a main veggie meal or a side.

I added some peas in the end just for some crunch! Won’t need to be ordering this fromMy favorite Indian spot anymore. Delish!

Baigan bharta is my go-to dish at Indian restaurants so I was excited to try this. Of all the recipes I’ve tried, I’d say this is the closest. Broiled the eggplant until it was good and mushy, over 30 min, but it did not get as smoky as I wanted. Next time I’ll cook until really charred. Substituted Penzeys Balti Seasoning for garam masala cause that is all I had. Excellent dish!