Some Cooking with the Eggplant

Like the tomato, to which it is related botanically, the eggplant (Solanum melongena) is a fruit, not a vegetable, though we consider it and cook it as the latter.

Unlike the tomato, however, a food that typically adds flavors to other cooked foods, the eggplant is marvelous in how it takes on flavors. It is one of cooking’s great canvases. It is mild in flavor and has been constructed by nature to be little more than a sponge. It is set up to do its job from the get-go.

Few “brown” foods taste—or feel, with its pillowy texture—as delicious as a piece of well-tanned eggplant.

The recipe here is a classic Indian treatment of eggplant, the fruit (OK, “vegetable”) taking up the many aromas and savory notes that mark the Indian pantry.

Mashed Curried Eggplant (Baigan Bharta)
Adapted by Bill St John from “Indian for Everyone,” by Anupy Singla (Surrey Books, 2014). For the garlic and ginger as listed, you may substitute 6 heaping tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste, readily available at Indian and some Asian grocers. Makes 5 cups.

Ingredients
1 large globe-shaped purple-black “American” eggplant
2 purple “Asian” eggplants, each 10-12 inches long
1 large yellow onion, unpeeled to begin
2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil or ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
8 cloves garlic, peeled and grated
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and diced (whole peeled canned OK)
2 medium Pueblo chiles, charred, peeled, veined and seeded, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red chile powder
1 teaspoon salt
Naan

Directions
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and heat oven to 400 degrees. Prick the eggplants in several places with sharp tines of a fork or the point of a knife (to allow steam to escape and prevent bursting). Place the eggplants and the whole onion on the baking sheet and cook for 40 minutes, or until the larger eggplant begins to markedly “deflate.”

Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle, 15-20 minutes. Slit the eggplants longways and scrape out the flesh from the skin with a wooden spatula or spoon. Coarsely chop the eggplant flesh and reserve. Peel the onion and dice it.

In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, warm the oil or ghee and in it cook the cumin seeds for 40 seconds, until they sizzle and become aromatic. Add the coriander and turmeric, stirring, and heat for 30 seconds. Add the diced onions, stir well, cover the pan, lower the heat a bit, and cook the onions for 10-15 minutes, until they soften even more and begin to brown.

Uncover the pot, raise the heat to medium-high, and stir in the grated garlic and ginger (or 6 heaping tablespoons ginger-garlic paste) and cook for 2 minutes, blending well. Add the tomatoes and chopped chiles, stir to blend, and cook for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot so nothing sticks.

Add the reserved eggplant flesh, the red chile powder, and the salt, blend well, and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring, again so nothing sticks.

Remove the pot from the heat and let cool a bit. Using a potato masher, mash the eggplant mixture well, retaining some chunks in a texture to your liking.

Serve warm or at room temperature with warmed or toasted naan.