Baingan bharta (smoky eggplant and ginger caviar)
Baingan Bharta is a traditional dish from northern India made from smoky eggplant and ginger, born from Mughal cuisine. Originally a simple rural dish, it was later adopted by royal courts, who enriched it with complex spices.Now enjoyed worldwide thanks to the Indian diaspora, it's often served as "eggplant caviar" in fine dining restaurants. More than a simple recipe, Baingan Bharta symbolizes Indian cuisine's ability to turn modest ingredients into extraordinary creations through the masterful use of spices, embodying the perfect balance between rural tradition and urban refinement.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C or gas mark 6-7, unless cooking directly over the flame.
- Pierce the eggplants in several places with the tip of a knife or a fork, place them in the preheated oven for 30 min, or if you prefer to cook them directly over the flame, turn them over using tongs, as is done in India to give the dish a smoky flavor.
- Let the eggplants cool, remove the skin and set the flesh aside. Peel and chop the red onion and dice the tomatoes.
- In a pan, heat the oil and brown the onion, then add the salt.
- Add the tomatoes and mix well for 2 min, then add the eggplant flesh, the tomato paste, the paprika and the ginger, then let cook 5 more min.
- Remove from heat, garnish with fresh cilantro and serve.