But when I tell you Aloo Baingan was CELEBRATED in my house growing up, I mean it was CELEBRATED with unwavering, pure foodie love! When it was Aloo Baingan day, everyone would congregate together over the dastarkhwaan in my grandmothers room with excitement and enjoy plates after plates of this seemingly innocent dish. It was a big deal, everyone would have been waiting excitedly from the morning time for this meal and they had to enjoy it together. I grew up in a joint family - 3 of my chachus and chachis and all their children all lived alongside my family PLUS my grandparents, until I was about 13. Yup, it was cramped! So when I say we congregated, I mean there were about 10-15 VERY HAPPY people going to town with the Aloo Baingan. A lot of people didn’t get it. Like, it’s just an aubergine. So what? I don’t know guys, but honestly, I feel the magic too. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of my childhood I have attached to this dish. Maybe it’s genuinely just a really delicious dish. I think it’s both. Now there is no joint family living arrangement at my Mum’s, but whenever someone has cooked Aloo Baingan, there will definitely be a few plates travelling down the road to share with everyone else. It’s a lovely sentiment, in ode to everyone’s collective love for this simple but comforting meal.
How to make Aloo Baingan
I find the entire method for this curry so easy and quick - it’s the perfect recipe to try out if you’re a beginner! Start off by heating some oil in a pan or pot, then adding some sliced onions and optionally some curry leaves. Only add these if you like them or have them in your food often! Fry those onions up for just 2-3 minutes, until they loosen up and become limp. No need to get them golden brown, like a lot of my other recipes usually call for. Then add in the tomatoes and fry this together with the onions till the tomatoes also lose their shape and become jammy. Proceed to add in the ginger, garlic and all the spices. Cook this down until the mixture concentrates/thickens and the oil begins to rise to the top. Add in the aubergines, potatoes and half a cup of water. Cover with a lid and simmer everything until the potatoes are tender, checking every 5 minutes. This cook time will take around 20-25 minutes (potentially more if you like your aubergine to be super soft), but again - please keep checking. If you feel like you need to add water in to prevent the curry from sticking to the bottom, add in ¼ cup at a time. Once the potatoes and aubergines are cooked through and tender, take out 2-3 pieces of potatoes, mash them with a fork and then return them to the mixture. Stir in gently to mix through. This is a fabulous tip I picked up from Shayma over at The Spice Spoon and I love how it enhances the masala of the curry. Your Aloo Baingan is ready! Serve garnished with fresh coriander.
🥔 What Potatoes Go Best in Aloo Baingan?
Baby potatoes taste SPECTACULAR in curries. Feel free to use this tip for other recipes too, it’s legit. I love using baby potatoes whenever I can - I definitely recommend you use them in this recipe. If you don’t have them, that’s absolutely OK too. It’s not a deal-breaker, but honestly I will ask you to give it a try at least once.
⭐ Aubergine (Eggplant) tips
In this recipe, I have used one large aubergine. The reason for this, quite frankly, was because that’s all I was able to find that day. The small variety of aubergine is better suited to curries - if you’d like to use those then about 4-5 will suffice for this recipe.
I prefer to keep the skin of the aubergine on because then you can actually differentiate between the aubergine and the potatoes. When the skin is taken off I feel like you can’t tell apart the potato from the aubergine. If you want to take this recipe up a whole notch, I’ll let you in on a secret. You can shallow pan-fry the aubergines before adding them in - it adds some really indulgent depth to this recipe. I do it in my Baingan Gosht recipe here! You can even roast them on an open flame and then remove the insides if you want to go CRAZY GOOD here. I haven’t done this myself in the recipe because I wanted to make this easy and simple. But honestly guys, if you want to be extra, TRY IT! How firm or mushy you want to keep the aubergine is entirely up to you. If you prefer an aubergine that holds it shape more, then may not need to add much water. If you want the aubergine to integrate more into the masala, you are free to add an additional ¼-1/2 cup or so of water and cook the curry for 10 minutes longer. I prefer my Aloo Baingan with the aubergine pretty mushy, so I always allow the extra cook time. If you’re a regular reader or follower on Instagram, you’ll know I always advocate for the use of fresh ingredients. Fresh garlic, fresh ginger, fresh tomatoes - they all make such a world of a difference in elevating the flavour profile of your dish
🥔🍽️ How to Serve Aloo Baingan
In my house, Aloo Baingan was always served with white rice and a zesty salad with lots of raw onion. It also goes well with some pickle too. Aloo Baingan is considered an ‘afternoon’ meal, of course not a hard and fast rule but as a general, unsaid thing in my Mum’s house. Same with my husband’s house too, actually. I hope you enjoy this Aloo Baingan recipe in the same way my family used to and still does today 🙂 Enjoy!
If you enjoy Aloo Baingan, you may also enjoy:
Aloo Palak | Baingan Gosht | Mixed Sabzi | Aloo Gobi
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