Baingan masala. Eggplant curry. Brinjal bhaji. Aubergine curry. It goes by many names. Doesn’t matter what you call it. It’s sure to satisfy. I worked hard coming up with this one. Took me forever. They make it at my local Indian restaurant. But they wouldn’t give me any tips. Not a single one. So I kept tinkering. And I finally got it.
Baingan masala not baingan bhaji
That was my problem. My local restaurant calls it baingan bhaji. But it’s not. I looked at recipe after recipe. Couldn’t find anything close. Every recipe was mush. Like cream of eggplant. Not right. Tasty. But not what I was looking for. The version I was after had pieces of eggplant. And skin. Texture. And taste that just was not like any recipe I tried. It’s tough to figure things out when you have barely any clues. I ordered it again. And again. Poke at it. Test a theory. Then another. Slow going. My friends thought I was a bit mad. I am a bit mad actually. They weren’t surprised. Not really. But finally I figured it out. And now I can make it any time I want. I’m tempted to go back to that restaurant and tell them I don’t need them anymore.
Eggplant matters when you make eggplant curry
That should not be a surprise. It’s eggplant curry. Or aubergine curry if that’s what you call it. Either way the eggplant you choose is important. For Indian eggplant curry you need to use Indian eggplant. Those big Italian eggplants are just not right. Good for parm. Not so good for eggplant curry. I get them at my local Indian grocer. The sign above them says brinjal. But they are also known as ratna. They are small. Like a big egg. Purple. Usually beat up. In a box in the back. Shopping at Indian grocers is a whole experience where I live. I’m picky about this because you get a good mix of eggplant to skin. And the skin matters in this recipe.
Roasted works for eggplant curry
Eggplant is a sponge for oil And it’s really good when it soaks up a bunch of oil. But deep frying is a pain. Stinks up the whole house. I do deep fry. Because sometimes you just have to. But for this dish you don’t. So I don’t. You can if you want to. Free country. If you don’t mind your house smelling like a deep fryer have at it. I roast the eggplant for this curry. It works. Just coat the cut up eggplant with vegetable oil. And roast. Easy. And it doesn’t smell. The one problem is the skin gets tough. But there’s a trick. Pull the eggplant from the oven. And put it into a tupperware. Seal the tupperware. And let it sit on the counter. The eggplant steams a bit in the tupperware. The skin softens up. It softens up some more in the curry. So you get a mix of textures. The creamy eggplant. Up against an ever so slightly toothy skin. It works.
This is Indian restaurant style cooking
To get the restaurant flavours you can’t just talk the talk. You need to walk the walk. So you need to cook the same way they do in restaurants. That means using curry base. And restaurant style spice mix. And high heat. Lots of prep. Everything ready to go. Then it’s about technique. And timing. It’s not hard. I’ve written a whole primer on Indian restaurant technique. Read that and you’ll be good to go. Ready to tackle any Indian restaurant style recipe. There are lots of recipes out there that say “restaurant style”. A lot of them aren’t even close. You need to walk the walk. And wear old clothes. This is messy stuff. Splatter. Turmeric. Clothing destruction cooking. But it’s fun. And it works. Eggplant curry. Baingan masala. Brinjal bhaji. Whatever you want to call it, it was a tough one for me to figure out. But now I know. And so do you. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.
