Grilled eggplant with fenugreek (Methi-Vangyachh bhareet)

Baingan bharta dish, made from roasted eggplant on coal pieces, tastes superb. You get a half-burnt taste which is really unique. Try it next time you go for a barbeque, grill the eggplant, mash it and mix it in already cooked onion-tomato mixture.

Ingredients:

• 1 Eggplant
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1 finely chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup fresh fenugreek leaves (do not chop fenugreek, it will make the bhartaa bitter. You can use 1 handsful of crushed kasuri methi if you cant get fresh fenugreek)
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp green chilli paste
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 4-5 curry leaves
• oil for tempering
• chopped coriander for garnishing
• salt for taste
  

Effort: 45 mins

Serves: 2 persons

- Grill the eggplant in the oven at 150C for 30 mins
- Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start crackling, add aestofotida, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste and green chilli paste
- Stir fry for a minute, add onions and cook till onions are golden brown
- Add tomatoes and garam masala. Cook till the tomatoes are soft. If you are using fresh fenugreek, add them with tomatoes. If you use dried fenugreek, you can add those after the tomatoes are cooked
- Peel the grilled eggplant and mash it using a potato masher
- Add mashed eggplant to the onion tomato mix. Cook for a few minutes. Remember not to add salt at this stage because eggplant tends to become watery because of the salt
- Turn off the gas and then add salt and mix well
- Garnish with coriander and serve hot with bhakris (bhakri is a Maharastrian bread, staple diet in Maharashtra. Unfortunately, I dunno how to make bhakris, but I plan to learn from my granny next time I visit India!)

Thanks to my cousin who introduced me to the cooking blog - "One Hot Stove", which is hosting the Maharashtrian cuisine for the RCI contest