Baingan Sabzi (Pakistani / Indian Stewed Eggplant)

A creamy entree of stewed eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and bright lemon


Baingan Sabzi (Stewed Eggplant)
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients List:

3 skinny egg plants (or 1 large regular egg plant is fine too), cut into 3 inch quarters (If you’re not a fan of eggplant (this dish may convert you, it did for me!), but you can pick other vegetables instead

1 tbsp salt 

5 cups of water

2 medium white onions, thick cut (1/8 inch”)

6 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 serrano peppers, kept whole

Masala mix - 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp ground fennel, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 2 tsp salt

3 roma tomatoes, diced into chunks

Plain yogurt to preference

Hardware:

Flexible spatula

12” wide sautee pan or pot

Large mixing bowl or pot

Heavyish plate

Instructions:

Add eggplant and 1 tbsp of salt to 5 cups of water to large mixing bowl or pot, soak for 15 minutes. Put a plate on top to ensure the eggplant is completely submerged
Heat pan to medium heat, add 6 tbsp vegetable oil
Add cumin seeds and stir for 20 seconds
Add onions, sautee for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning
Stir in serrano peppers and masala mix
Add eggplant (drained), stir well until masala incorporated into eggplant
Add 1/2 cup of water
Add tomatoes on top, but don’t stir at all
Let simmer for 10 minutes with lid on, give a very gentle stir every 5 minutes. Goal is to make sure the ingredients don’t get mashed up.
Take off lid, turn up heat,  gently stir every 2-3 minutes to promote evaporation of the liquid. Keep doing this until the liquid is pretty much cooked out and has thickened into a sauce
Serve with plain yogurt on the side or drizzled on top of your baingan. Discard the serano pepper.