Aloo Baingan | Eggplant Potato Curry

Aloo Baingan or potato-eggplant curry is our absolute favorite and my go-to recipe whenever there’s eggplant in the fridge(Potatoes are always stocked up at our house, lol.). This is a semi-dry type of curry, in which eggplant and potatoes are sautéed and simmered in an onion-tomato-spices base until the vegetables are soft. It’s mildy-spicy, and flavorful and tastes fab with chapatis or plain rice.

To make this recipe quicker, I have used the pressure cooker. But you could use a regular cooking pot alternately, in which case you would have to cook the curry longer(15-20 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 3-4 adult servings

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
1 medium potato
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3-4 green cardamom
½-inch cinnamon
2-3 cloves
1 small red onion, chopped
1 green/red chili(for heat), chopped
1 ½ tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste
2 small tomatoes, chopped
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 ½ teaspoons of Kashmiri red chili powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
¼ teaspoon garam masala
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Cut the eggplant and potato into roughly 1-inch cubes and soak them in water until used.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add cloves, cardamom and cinnamon into the oil and sauté until aromatic.

3. Add the chopped onions along and chili and sauté until onion translucent.
4. Add and sauté the ginger-garlic paste for 30 seconds on low-medium heat.
5. Add tomatoes and cook them with a pinch of salt until soft.

6. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and sauté for 20 seconds.
7. Drain the water and transfer the chopped cubes of eggplant and potato into the pressure cooker, add salt to taste, give it a good mix, pour just about 20-30 ml of water and pressure cook until 2 whistles on medium heat.
8. Once the pressure releases, add garam masala and cook the curry for 2 minutes more.

9. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rotis/chapatis/paratha. Enjoy!

Note:

• Add salt and spices according to your taste and preference.
• Add water carefully, as the curry would become runny.
• Drizzle a bit of lime juice before serving if you like more tanginess.