Indian baingan bartha

I've never been superb at Indian cooking -- it requires a certain degree of skill, training, and long cooking times that I've never been able to achieve. But that doesn't stop me from trying, and this time the result was a tasty spread of Indian classics: chana masala (tomato chickpeas), rasaam soup (tamarind sweet-and-sour), and of course baingan bharta (smoky eggplant stew).

We (as in me and co-chef Josh) ended up using this recipe for the baingan bharta. It turned out well -- my only rookie mistake was not cooking the eggplant enough before it went into the pan, with the result that the dish was more chunky and less creamy than it should be. 

We started by roasting the eggplants over the flame on my gas stove, then stuck them in the oven for a while, and finally peeled off the skin and mashed the flesh.

Coarsely mashed eggplant.

Other tasty ingredients ready to go.

Next we sauteed onions, garlic, ginger, and spices in oil, then added tomatoes and let the mixture cook down. 

Flavorful components break down in oil or butter: a typical step in Indian dishes.

Then we added the eggplant to the mix, cooked it down for a while and towards the end of the process, added green peas (not in the recipe, but a yummy addition).

Yours truly adds the eggplant to the mixture.

Co-chef Josh gives the goop a stir.

Simmering in the pan.
Note that photos are blurry because my kitchen is SO INSANELY DARK ALL THE TIME. Apologies.

Chana masala cooking alongside.

Lycopene goodness, again, as usual. Do I ever cook anything without  tomatoes?

At the end of the cooking process, we added chopped cilantro and lots of salt. Without the salt, it tasted pretty bland -- so don't skimp on the sodium!

The end result up close.

The oilier, the tastier!

Don't forget the flatbread and rice!

Naturally, the perfect addition to an eggplant-ful meal is eggplant relish, a spicy-sweet-sticky paste that is delicious with rice or bread and yogurt. Lime pickle is also a delicious condiment on the side.

Om-nomming our meal: a candid rather than posed portrait.