Ripe eggplant is pan-roasted slowly with a unique blend of whole spices, onion, tomato, and ground spices to yield a silky eggplant curry called Baingan Burtha

Indian Cooking 401 – This lesson will focus on how to make an elegant vegetable curry that your guests won’t stop talking about 

Objectives:

• You will use a whole spice called “kalonji” or “nigella seeds”, which makes all the difference in this dish — Baingan Burtha is simply not the same without kalonji

• You’ll learn a more difficult vegetarian dish. Vegetable curries can range from very simple to very complex, and you’ve come a long way from the Basic Indian Roasted Vegetables from Indian Cooking 101 

• At the 401 level you are becoming a real pro and will have to visit an Indian grocer or specialty store to buy spices (such as black cumin seeds and nigella seeds) that you won’t be able to find easily at your local supermarket

Baingan burtha (also called baingan bartha) is basically mashed eggplant. I first tried it in a small Indian restaurant in a strip mall in Toronto more than 10 years ago. At first, I wondered if I should bother ordering it at all, when there were so many other dishes to choose from, but the waiter said it was his favorite thing to eat when on his break, so I ordered it and was completely transformed. I loved the silkiness of the eggplant and onion cooked with spices and cilantro and then mashed together. I could picture eating it either hot or cold, like an antipasto, and it would taste equally good. After that, I ordered it any chance I could and always looked for it on restaurant menus. A couple of years later, my dad’s close friend Abid suggested his wife Nusret teach me how to make some of her best Pakistani dishes — I immediately asked if she could teach me how to make her homemade Baingan Burtha. Oh. My. Goodness. My recipe collection took a major turn that day because it was incredible. Ever since I learned how to make this recipe, I’ve never turned back. Nothing compares to it, and it works every single time. And now the recipe is yours, too!

Map of Pakistan (Source: geology.com)

Baingan burtha is a common dish in Pakistan and India, and traditionally begins with eggplant being roasted over charcoal to give it a smoky flavor and aroma. It’s then mashed with spices, herbs and oil. The recipe below is perfectly convenient for the modern home cook: you will slowly pan-roast pieces of fresh eggplant with kalonji or nigella seeds, browned onions, mustard seeds, and turmeric. The end result is a thoroughly smoky, buttery baingan burtha. You can make this dish in one large non-stick skillet — the key is patiently stirring it during the 40 minute cooking time to ensure it doesn’t burn or get stuck on the bottom. Eggplant has a high water content, so what might seem like a lot of fresh eggplant will get cooked down and reduce to half the volume. In so doing, it can quickly burn or get stuck to the bottom of your skillet. I always find it tastes best the next day, so I usually make it the day before I want to serve it and then reheat it slowly on the stove just before putting it on the table. It’s a side dish that I love to serve alongside crunchy okra, mattar paneer, and lamb kebabs.

Nusret’s Baingan Bhurtha

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon kalonji (nigella seeds)
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 2 medium chopped onion
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 medium-sized eggplants cut into medium-sized pieces

Preparation

1.  In a large non-stick skillet, without turning on the heat, add red chilli flakes, cumin seeds, kalonji, and mustard seeds, and chopped onion. Add canola oil and turn on the heat to a medium-high flame for 10-15 minutes until the tips of the onion begin to brown a little.
2. While your onion mixture is cooking, in a small bowl, combine the cumin powder, turmeric, paprika, and coriander powder and mix well.
3. After 10-15 minutes and your onions look ready, add the tomato, small bowl of ground spices, and salt. Mix well and continue cooking as the tomatoes begin to slowly cook down.
4. Add the eggplant and gently fold it so the pieces are coated evenly with the tomato-onion mixture.
5. Keep heating and stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium — this, along with a non-stick pan and occasional stirring is key to preventing the eggplant from burning.
6. Cover and set timer for 40 minutes. Keep checking from time to time, stirring to lift anything that has begun to stick to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat a tiny bit more if you think it’s too high.
7. After 20 minutes, when you occasionally stir it, gently mash a few pieces of eggplant with the back of a wooden spoon to help it along.
8. After 40 minutes the eggplant should look like a fine mash, with a few whole pieces of eggplant here and there. It should look silky and glisten. Use a potato masher to smoothen it out a bit more.
9. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with fresh cilantro before serving.

Starting from top left to right: coriander powder, cumin powder, paprika, turmeric, black mustard seeds, kalonji (nigella seeds), cumin seeds, canola oil, red chilli flakes, tomatoes, onions, eggplant

Before you turn on the heat, in a large, non-stick skillet, add your whole spices (red chilli flakes, cumin seeds, kalonji (nigella seeds), and black mustard seeds

Add chopped onion and canola oil to the skillet and set your burner to medium-high heat

While your onion-whole spice mixture is cooking, in a small bowl combine the ground spices

After about 10-15 minutes on medium high, add tomatoes, the ground spices, and salt and mix well

Add the eggplant and gently fold so the pieces are coated with the onion-tomato-spice mixture

After 20 minutes your baingan burtha should look like this

After 40 minutes it should look like this!

For a smoother, silkier texture, use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to do the final trick

Baingan burtha is a perfect side dish for an Indian meal, or eaten simply with naan, chapatti, or basmati rice