Baingan Bharta (Mashed Eggplant)

           When I get these big eggplants or brinjals, I mostly do this or a raitha with it. The dish gets its flavor from roasting the eggplant directly on stove top or by grilling it. I made it a little more nutritious by adding some green chana (chickpeas) to it and also a little richer by adding some cashew paste. Once you are done with roasting the eggplant and removing the charred skin, the next steps are very pretty simple, it tastes great with that smoked flavor..

Need To Have

• Eggplant - 1 huge one
• Cooked Green Chana - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 big chopped
• Garlic - 4 cloves grated
• Ginger - 1 tablespoon grated
• Tomato Puree - 1/2 cup
• Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Roasted Cumin Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Leaves - to garnish

Method
          Roast the eggplant directly on stove top, turning it from side to side, or cut it into half, apply some oil and bake it in the oven. Once the outer skin becomes charred and the eggplant feels soft, remove and let it cool. Now comes the messy part, remove the charred skin and mash the eggplant either with the hand or in a blender, but do not make it into a paste. Make a paste with the cashews. Heat oil, add the cumin seeds, once the spluttering stops, add the onion, garlic and ginger, saute till the raw smell disappears, add the tomato puree (not a paste), followed by salt, turmeric, chilli and coriander powders, saute for about 5 mins. Then, add the cashew paste, saute for few more mins and add the eggplant, green chana, cook for couple of mins more, then add the cumin and garam masala powders, mix everything together. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rotis, this goes well with akki rotis too.

Sending this to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                   to Sumee's Culinary Bites for the Bon Vivant event,
                   to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event,
                   to Spicy Treats for the Show Me The Hits - Fiber Rich Foods event,
                   to Zesty Palette for Vidhya's Love Lock Series - Legumes event,
                   to Zesty South Indian Kitchen for the Hearth And Soul Blog Hop event,
                   to Food Corner for the Midweek Fiesta event,
                   to Srav's Cooking Concepts for Vegan Diets - Only Plant Based event and
                   to Sara's Corner for the Women's Day Celebration event.

Note
You can also cook the eggplant in the microwave oven, putting some slits and wrapping in a wet tissue, but it will not have the smoked flavor.
Can also use Italian eggplants for this and also fresh green chana.