This tasty north Indian, restaurant-style dish, Baingan Bharta, features creamy, fire-roasted and mashed eggplants in a spicy tomato onion sauce. Serve it with vegan naan and dal.
We Indians love eggplants, and it shows in the variety of delicious dishes we make with it, from this delicious baingan bharta recipe to others I've shared with you, including baingan masala, baghare baingan and dahi baingan.
Baingan bharta is an irresistible, spicy Indian dish of fire-roasted eggplant mashed and cooked with garlic, tomatoes and onions. It is both an Indian-restaurant and home-cooking favorite, and it's delicious and versatile enough to enhance nearly any meal.
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this baingan bharta recipe
- It's healthy. Tomatoes, onions, eggplants, garlic and spices with just a little oil. What's not to love?
- It's easy to make. Especially if you have some of my tomato onion masala sauce ready, you can bring this dish together in minutes. And you don't need any highly specialized spices or ingredients for this easy baingan bharta --not even garam masala.
- It tastes amazing. The smoky, creamy, sweet eggplant with the spicy tomato onion sauce is a gorgeous combination.
- It's versatile. You can eat it with almost any meal, although my favorite way is to eat it with roti or vegan naan.
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants. It is important that you use only the large, bulbous Italian eggplant here, not the skinny or small Japanese, Chinese or Indian eggplants.
- 8-10 garlic cloves. Use more if you love garlic. I can't have enough of it.
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Use any unflavored vegetable oil or, if you have it, use mustard oil for an authentic touch. When cooking with mustard oil it's important to always bring it up to smoking point first.
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds. Cumin adds a wonderful, earthy flavor into the mix.
- 2 medium onions. Red onions work best here, or use shallots. If yellow onions are all you have use those.
- ¼ cup cilantro (fresh coriander leaves). You need lots of cilantro in this baingan bharta recipe for tons of fresh flavor.
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 green chili pepper. Use a serrano or jalapeno pepper. The green chilies add great flavor but if you're very sensitive to heat you can leave them out as there is also some cayenne pepper in this recipe.
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne (or any red chilli powder). Use more or less depending on how much heat you like in the bharta.
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- Salt to taste
How to make Baingan Bharta
- Cut the eggplant down the middle into half, lengthwise. Make three slits with the knife in each half (on the white side) and insert a clove of garlic in each. Place the eggplant, cut side down, on a foil-lined baking pan or rimmed baking sheet. Roast in a preheated 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until the skin is charred and a knife in the thickest part of the eggplant goes cleanly through. For a more authentic flavor, you can roast the eggplant over an open flame. Be careful and do this with tongs as the eggplant will leak juices. Turn the eggplant around on the open flame with tongs until the skin is all charred and a knife inserted in the center goes cleanly through.
- Once the eggplant has cooled, scoop out the flesh. You can blitz it at this point if you want it to melt into the tomato onion sauce, or just chop it up into little bits.
- Heat the oil and add in cumin seeds or jeera.
- Next add the onions. A baingan ka bharta needs lots of onions, so use a large or medium onion and chop it fine. You want it to melt into the sauce when the dish is done. I like tossing in a handful of cilantro with the onions because it adds even more flavor.
- Chop the tomatoes fine and add them to the skillet.
- Season with cayenne, turmeric and coriander powder. You can add finely chopped green chili peppers, like jalapeno or serrano, if you want more heat, but they're optional.
- Finally add the roasted eggplant, mix it in, and check if you need more salt. Let the eggplant cook in the sauce for just a few minutes so it absorbs all those great flavors.
- Turn off the heat, garnish with more cilantro, and serve.
Serving suggestions
- Serve with a delicious dal tadka.
- Scoop up with vegan naan, roti or aloo kulcha.
Advance meal prep suggestions
- Make my Tomato Onion Masala Sauce in advance and refrigerate or freeze it. You can also roast the eggplant up to a day ahead.
- To make the baingan bharta heat oil, add the cumin, and then add the tomato onion sauce to the saucepan. Heat it through, add the chopped eggplant, and mix. Garnish with cilantro.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerator: Place leftovers in an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to three days.
- Freezer: Baingan bharta freezes nicely. Place in an airtight container after it has cooled and freeze for up to three months.
- Reheating: Reheat frozen or refrigerated baingan bharta in the microwave, about 3-5 minutes for frozen and 1-2 minutes if refrigerated. Stir a couple of times in between to ensure everything is evenly heated. If doing this on the stovetop thaw the eggplant bharta first, then reheat in a skillet or wok.
More delicious Indian eggplant recipes
Baingan Bharta
Equipment
- Wok or skillet
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants (use Italian eggplants)
- 8-10 garlic cloves (crushed and left whole. Halve if very large)
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
- ¼ cup cilantro (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoon grated ginger
- 4 tomatoes (finely diced)
- 1 green chili pepper (like serrano or jalapeno, finely minced. Optional)
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cayenne (use more or less depending on how much heat you like)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Roasting the eggplants on a grill or stovetop: Make slits all over the eggplant skin and insert the crushed garlic inside each until it's firmly embedded. Using a pair of tongs, carefully roast the eggplant on each side until the skin is charred and a knife inserted in the thickest part goes cleanly through.Roasting the eggplants in the oven: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut each eggplant into half lengthwise. Make slits in the flesh portion of each half and insert a garlic clove in each. Place cut side down on a foil-lined pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the thickest part of the eggplant goes cleanly through.
- When the eggplants are cool enough to handle, peel off the charred skin if you roasted them over an open fire, or, if you baked them, scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Chop roughly. You can also mash the eggplant or blitz it, but I prefer chopping for the best flavor. Set the eggplant aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the cumin. Let the cumin darken slightly and then add the chopped onion, green chillies, if using, and half the cilantro. Season with some salt. Saute or stir fry over medium heat until the onions soften and start to brown.
- Add the ginger, coriander powder, cayenne and turmeric. Mix well to toast the spices, for about a minute. Then add in the chopped tomatoes. Mix, and let them cook another five minutes or so until pulpy. You don't want to cook them for too long.
- Add the chopped or mashed eggplant and mix thoroughly until it disappears into the sauce. Add salt as necessary.
- Turn off the heat after five minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Recipe notes
- If you already have a jar of my Tomato Onion Masala Sauce handy, you can reduce the time needed to make this dish by half. Roast the eggplant and scoop out the flesh. Chop it up. Next, heat the oil, add the cumin, and then add the tomato onion sauce to the saucepan. Heat it through, add the chopped eggplant, and mix. Garnish with cilantro, and you're done.
- I usually serve eggplant bharta with basmati rice and a simple dal like the green tomato dal you see in the photo. The dal is a south Indian dish, but it complements the north Indian bharta perfectly. Any dal will do just as well.
- Baingan Bharta is perfect with a garlic naan or a roti or aloo kulcha.
- Place leftovers in an airtight container and place in the fridge for up to three days. Baingan bharta freezes nicely. Place in an airtight container after it has cooled and freeze for up to three months. Reheat frozen or refrigerated eggplant bharta in the microwave, about 3-5 minutes for frozen and 1-2 minutes if refrigerated. Stir a couple of times in between to ensure everything is evenly heated. If doing this on the stovetop thaw the bharta first, then reheat in a skillet or wok.
destinyskitchen
I'm glad you're posting so many eggplant recipes! It's too often overlooked & I appreciate having more options for enjoying it. :o) Thank you.
Usha
Your baingan bharta looks delicious..and your whole wheat naan is absolutely intriguing and interesting..will try this for sure:)
Mandira
wow, such a delicious combination. The picture looks great too 🙂
Madhuram
Wow, wow, wow, look at that Naan! Golden brown and all puffed up. I made Naan once with all purpose flour, it had an unplesant smell and little sourness too. So never experimented after that. But will try your version one of these days.
Jen
Oh, this looks amazing. I loooooove this dish, and have been looking for a great recipe. Hooray!
notyet100
COMBO LOOKS SO GOOD,..EVEN I FEEL LIK EATING SOMETHIN LIKE THIS WHN IT RAINS HERE..
Divya Vikram
Perfectly rised naan..and delicious side..
jayasree
Great combo... Naan and bharta. Your naan has come out so.. well. Perfect.
Sukanya
The Baingan Bharta looks so colorful and yummy....
Pearlsofeast
Vaishali, u are eggplant freak! The naan looks great and ur bharta is so tempting.
Cham
He he don't feel guilty about baigan i am big fan of that beauty 🙂 The naan fuffed like puri! Beautiful combo 🙂
Priya
I want to come and poke that puffed naan 😀 bharta is the only eggplant dish that I eat (sometimes!), I am from the eggplant haters club, please don't banish me!
Vaishali
Mihl, Sireesha, Thanks!
Divya, Thanks! The naan puffs up so long as you roll it evenly and don't make it too thin. Also make sure the oven is thoroughly preheated. Hope that helps!
Divya
Nice! How did you get that naan to puff up like that!
Sireesha
Baingan Bharta is my all time favorite.....It looks mouthwatering and inviting with naan.
Mihl
I am so glad I found your blog, because you cook all of my favourite foods!