Baingan Ka Bharta/Eggplant Grilled & Cooked in Onions& Tomatos

 Friends-Buy the biggest eggplant which weighs around a ton ;) I learnt this from my mother-in -law,when I first started to go veggie shopping with her:) Her golden rule of thumb-When buying an eggplant for  especially Bharta,"make sure it is heavy,you will get all flesh and less seeds." & when buying capsicums/bell peppers,"make sure you pick the lightest of the lot to avoid too much of seeds inside."  I got more tips from her than I ever did from my mom in this department,and honestly they have all come very handy and I am sure you will remember these next time you are picking up an eggplant & bell peppers :)

I picked every eggplant and mentally weighed it and then put it down  (people around me probably thought I was out of my mind or something )  finally I settled on this medium sized  one which weighed around a pound & compared to the others in the lot it looked around the same in size but weighed  comparitively more :)

Set the broiler on 500 d fahrenhiet and after poking the eggplant,cover it in a foil and keep it on the top rack right unedr the broiler for 20-25 minutes. Pull the top tray with your mitts on and insert a knife through the foil inside the eggplant if it goes through as smooth as a butter it is done. Let it cool. remove the skin or scoop the flesh with a round spoon and start the bharta preparation.

Ingredients you will need:

Onion: 2 medium sized very finely chopped
Tomato: 2 large sized chopped
Ginger: 1 tbsp
Garlic: 1 tbsp
Salt: to taste
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Corrinader powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1/4 tsp
Cilantro: 1 tbsp chopped for garnish
Green chilli: 2 whole( just for flavor)
Olive oil: 3 tbsp

Method:

Take a kadai and heat the oil.when hot slide the chopped onion and saute them till they turn a  rich deep brown. You can sprinkle a little water in between if the onion start to stick at the bottom. Now when you have the desired color add the ginger,garlic and salt and cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomatos and the rest of the dry spices  except the garam masala and cook till it gets a nice rich color and you see the oil appear at the edges. Now add the scooped eggplant and take a potato masher or with the back of a spoon,mash the eggplant  intermittently till everything looks smooth and well blended ,now add the green chilli and cover and cook for 5 minutes. 

Uncover the bharta ,sprinkle the chopped cilantro and the garam masala and squeeze some lemon jiuce and serve with roti's.