Entree/ Side dish/ Vegetables

Aloo Bainsan (Eggplant and Potato)

My first Indian dish.

Normally I have an endless flow of ideas for recipes to blog. This time though, I found myself staring at white and graffiti eggplants (I bought because they were so darn cute), one potato and a Serrano pepper and thinking what could I possibly make with this. So I did what I do best and I googled the ingredients. One of the first recipes that caught my attention was a Eggplant and Potato Curry recipe from Food & Wine magazine and my first thought was that I could do better than that. So I dug a little deeper and found this wonderful video from Manjula’s Kitchen (Indian vegetarian recipes).

Don’t you just love YouTube. I use it for anything I don’t know how to make and watching Manjula do this recipe I just knew it was going to be good. (One of these days I’m going to YouTube knee replacement surgery and see exactly what was done to my knee.)

I’m fairly new to Indian cooking as I’ve made naan and that is the extend of my experience. I do love to eat it when we go to Chicago and have had a wonderful meal at the Clay Pit in Austin as well.  I probably have most of the spices I need for any of her recipes so I thought, let’s try a vegetarian recipe for tonight’s dinner.

 

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Garlic and Oregano Naan delicious and easy to make. Would go great with the Aloo Bainsan above.

I used a white and graffiti eggplant but a regular large eggplant can be used.

Cubed potatoes cubed and fried.

Grated ginger and sliced green chili pepper.

Spices ready to go in pan.

Sliced and cubed eggplant.

Sliced cherry tomatoes and cilantro.

Eggplant gets fried just like the potatoes.

Aloo Bainsan (Eggplant and Potato)

(adapted from Manjula's Kitchen)

Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant I used white eggplant and graffiti eggplant
  • 2 medium tomatoes cut in 1/2" cubes
  • 1 large russet potato cut in 1" chunks
  • 1/2 onion sliced thin strips
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp. oil
  • pinch of asafetida substitute onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin seed
  • 1 chopped green chili adjust to taste
  • 1 tsp. grated ginger root
  • 1 1/2 tsp. coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp. turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp. paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 Tbsp. water
  • Oil to fry

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
  2. Frying pan should have at least 1 1/2 inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one piece of potato in the oil. The potato should sizzle right away. If vegetables are fried in low heat they will be very oily.
  3. Fry the potatoes till they are cooked through, turn the potatoes few times while frying. Take out potatoes with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and place on a paper towel.
  4. Test the oil again with a piece of eggplant. Fry the eggplant pieces same way.
  5. In a small bowl, mix the shredded ginger, green pepper, coriander powder, paprika, turmeric, and 2 tablespoons of water to make a paste.
  6. Heat the 1-tablespoon of oil in a pan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready.
  7. Add cumin seeds and asafetida after seeds crack add the spice mixture and stir-fry for a minute until you see the oil start to separate from the spice mixture.
  8. Add chopped tomatoes stir-fry for a minute.
  9. Add fried potatoes and eggplant mix it gently, let it simmer for three to four minute on medium low heat.
  10. Vegetables should be not very dry if needed add three to four spoons of water.
  11. Turn off the heat and add chopped cilantro mix it well.
  12. Left over makes great sandwiches.
  13. *I added the sliced onions when I fried the eggplant.

No Comments

Leave a Reply

Recipe Rating




You Might Also Like