It has been raining incessantly for the last few days and I love rains ❤ I was born during this season of bounty – the monsoon.
I recall my childhood when such rains meant steaming hot ‘khichuri’ (one pot meal of rice and lentils), dollop of clarified butter and poppadums to go with it. Life has moved on since those days…….I am at work the whole day and I do not prefer to eat anything pertaining to rice, for dinner.
Evolution will be the key word here 😀 😉 Me and my choice of food, both have evolved.
Presenting here a plate/platter full of lip- smacking food – Baingan ka Bharta – Roasted seasoned Eggplant, Boondi ki Kadhi – Chickpea flour fritters in Yogurt curry served with hot chapati (wheat flour flat cake).
Baingan Bharta is made in traditional Bengali style, that is without a tadka. In Bihar, this is called Baingan ka Chokha.
Baingan = Eggplant
Bharta = mashed
The dish has resemblance with Baba Ghanoush, a well known Arabic preparation.
Baingan Bharta or as we say in Bangla, Beguner bhorta is a vegetarian dish made from eggplant, which is roasted over charcoal or direct fire, to infuse the dish with smoky flavor. In my case, it is direct fire.
Now there is an interesting piece of news about eggplant and Baingan Bharta. In September 2011, volunteers from Greenpeace organaization and New Delhi’s Le Meridien, a five star hotel, got together to protest against genetically modified crops especially Brinjals and cooked 342 kilograms of organic Baingan Bharta. This set a world record for the largest amount for the dish produced in one occasion of preparation.
Here’s what I did…………
INGREDIENTS
1 nos – eggplant (approx 250 grams)
1 tbsp – finely chopped onion
3 -4 pods – garlic
1 nos – green chili, finely chopped
1 bunch – fresh coriander / cilantro, finely chopped
1 nos – medium sized tomato, finely chopped
2 tsp – mustard oil
salt to taste
METHOD
Wipe the eggplant /brinjal. Make 3 -4 incisions and push the garlic pods in. Rub some mustard oil on the eggplant /brinjal and keep it on direct fire.
Keep changing the sides of the eggplant/ brinjal over the fire for it to roast evenly.
Once done, take off the fire and place it on a plate. Gently start peeling away the skin.
Mash the eggplant /brinjal. Add all the ingredients and mix it well.
Serve with hot chapati or paranthas.
Happy cooking !! 🙂
Cheers !! 😀
acbistro 
That is an interesting fact about the amount cooked of baingan bharta Andy.
I love the chokha style bharta! Will give it a go soon. Simple and ecstatic.
❤️
It is and love it, myself 🙂
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If I could only get my hubby to even TRY egg plant.
ha ha ha……. 😀 And if I could get my hubby to even TRY beef and pork. I love them, he wont even think about eating.
Guys are funny that way, aren’t they? I saw your other post today with the chick peas in the recipe. He won’t touch those either. I tried to slip some to him in the form of humus I made. He saw the can for the chick peas in the trash and freaked after having tasted it. That was the end of that! Weird because he claims to be a foodie but yet he won’t try certain things. He’s a good cook with things he likes, though. Excellent griller!
Ahhhh…i have many similar stories to share. We both are sailing in the same boat 🙂
And so, we both shall sail on, then!
Yessssss 😉
Good morning, Andy! I’ve nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award! Congratulations! Visit my site to learn what to do next!
Thank you dear 🙂 Feel honored to be nominated. Will surely check it out .