{"id":2004,"date":"2010-09-09T21:28:54","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T03:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/driftlessappetite.com\/?p=2004"},"modified":"2010-09-09T21:28:54","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T03:28:54","slug":"baigan-bharta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/driftlessappetite.com\/?p=2004","title":{"rendered":"Baigan Bharta"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>

I bought this eggplant at the market because it looked like a person’s head.\u00a0 I named it\u00a0Jimmy.\u00a0 Well, I think you can see where this is “headed”.\u00a0 It’s been getting a little colder the past few days so I wanted to make a dish with a lot of spices and some heat.\u00a0 I decided to make baigan bharta, a dish from the Punjab<\/a> region (northwest) of India.\u00a0 The word baigan<\/em> means eggplant and the bharta<\/em> means coal roasted.\u00a0 I didn’t want to have to grill outside so I chose the next best thing, our\u00a0gas stove.\u00a0 An added bonus, grilling or roasting intensifies the taste of the eggplant.\u00a0 I think Jimmy enjoyed being roasted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jimmy gets a tan.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The little mark that makes it look like he’s smiling was not planned at all.\u00a0 I just turned it over and there it was.\u00a0 Haha, I just realized that I’m beginning to sound like a cannibal even though this is a vegetarian dish.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This eggplant was pretty big so I had to finish roasting it in the oven.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0wrapped\u00a0\u00a0it with \u00a0foil and baked it\u00a0at 400 degrees F until soft.\u00a0(If you don’t want to bake\u00a0then you can just set it aside, peel, and finish cooking with the\u00a0rest of the ingredients listed below.)\u00a0 Let it cool then peel.\u00a0 The skin should come off easily.\u00a0 Slice into small chunks and set aside.<\/p>\n

RECIPE<\/strong><\/p>\n