Bengun ka Bhurta

I am starting my blog with bengun ka bhurta (mashed eggplant/brinjal) because thats what I cooked today. With extremely busy days with my DS, I did a real quick job of making it but my DH liked it a lot. I was always afraid to order bengun ka bhurta in restaurants. Once Ravali packed bengun ka bhurta from Milan restaurant in Charlottesville and I loved it.  tried to duplicate their recipe and the result is pretty cool!

Ingredients:

1 big eggplant (brinjal)
1 big onion (finely chopped)
1 big tomato (finely chopped)
3-4 green chillies (finely cut)
1/2 mashed boiled potato (optional)
handful of frozen green peas
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
salt (as per taste)
red chilli powder (as per taste)
1-2 tbsp roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
chopped cilantro or coriander leaves

Bake the eggplant in oven at 375 F for about 45 minutes. Once baked peel off the skin. Mash it and keep aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil and add cumin seeds. Add finely chopped onion and finely cut green chillies. Fry it until onion turns light brown. Add garlic paste and fry it for 30 more seconds. Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt. Add chopped tomatoes and peas. Once tomatoes are soft add mashed potato and mashed eggplant and stir it well. Add amchur powder and crushed peanuts (this gives it a good texture, you can replace crushed peanuts with crushed almonds too) and cook at low flame for 5-8 minutes. Finally add chopped cilantro.

Yummy bengun ka bhurta is ready. Red tomatoes and green peas make bengun ka bhurta look very colorful.