Vegan Smoky Eggplant Bhartha
This smoky, charred and creamy Bhartha is made from eggplant which is roasted on open fire and cooked down with onions ,tomatoes and spices.
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 1 large Eggplant
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- Pinch Asafetida
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 Tomato chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tsp Cumin- Coriander powder optional
- 1/4 teaspoon Garam masala optional
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili powder
- Salt to taste
- Cilantro to garnish
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Rub the eggplant with little bit of oil, make slits in them so while roasting them steam gets to escape, and grill them over an open gas flame or outdoor grill until the skin is charred and eggplant is cooked through. Keep turning the sides of the eggplant using tongs until it is charred from all sides.
- Set the eggplant aside to cool while you chop the onions and tomatoes.
- Once it has completed cooling off, peel the charred skin off the eggplant. I remove the seeds also as I am not a fan of the seeds. You can either leave the seeds or remove them. Roughly mash the eggplant with the back of your fork.
- Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and asafetida. Followed by grated garlic, chilies and onions. Sauté for a minute or until onions are translucent. Add in the tomatoes and cook down.
- Add the salt and spices and give it a stir
- Add the mashed eggplant.
- Stir, cover, and cook on a low heat for about few minutes.
- Transfer to a serving plate, drizzle with lime juice, and garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve warm with phulka rotis or chapatis.
Notes
- Make sure to make slits in the eggplant for the steam to escape.
- Eggplant needs to be roasted on all sides. Don't leave eggplant out of sight.
- You can avoid all the spices and still make it just with green chili.
- Alternatively, you can roast the eggplant covered in foil in an oven at 400 F for 15 minutes.
- You can also use fresh green garlic or green onions in the recipe. Use white part while sautéing and green to garnish.