Roasted Eggplant Pâté or  Baingan Bartha, recipe transforms eggplant into a delicious dip like texture. In Indian cuisine it is typically eaten with flatbread (Roti) but it is delicious with plain old white sliced bread as well (that’s the way I enjoy it). It is a fairly simple recipe although the total preparation time is long, most of it is to roast the eggplant. You can roast the eggplant in advance and refrigerate the flesh ahed of time. I like to pop the eggplant in the oven and when it is close to getting done I heat the pan and get the onion-tomato base ready

Ingredients

1 tbsp Olive Oil for cooking
1 tsp Olive Oil for Roasting the Eggplant
1 large Eggplant
1 cup Boiled Peas
1 cup Diced Onions
1 cup Diced Tomatoes
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Finely Chopped Green Chillies (optional)
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder or Paprika
1/2 tsp Salt (to taste)

Number of Servings (approximate): 4

Preparation

Wash the eggplant and dry it with a paper towel and coat it with oil using a brush or with your fingers, just be sure to coat the skin completely with oil. Place the eggplant on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, and pop it into the oven at 450 F.

Roast the eggplant in the oven for about 60-75 minutes until the outside skin becomes crispy.

You can also roast it on a grill.

 

Let the eggplant cool for a few minutes so it is safer to handle. Using a knife make a lengthwise slit in the eggplant.

Scoop out the flesh from the eggplant into a bowl.

Mash the flesh with a spoon or a fork. You can also use a potato masher.

Cooking

Heat the oil and add the onions and minced garlic.

Cook the onions on medium heat until they start to turn translucent and soften.

Add the tomatoes, green chillies and Kashmiri Red Chili powder.

Mix well and cook for about 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes are mushed up.

While the tomatoes are cooking boil the peas on the stove or in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes and drain in a colander.

Add the eggplant flesh and mix well.

Add the boiled peas and mix well. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes until the peas are fully done.

Roasted eggplant pairs well with any kind of bread – sliced, dinner rolls, roti, naan or tortillas.

Enjoy and curry on!