“Food is our common ground, a universal experience”
James Beard
My hate hate relationship with the eggplant goes back to childhood, yet never say never may be cliched but true, and it was love at first bite recently. It took one spoonful of this ‘Baingan ka Bhurta‘ 2 months ago to radically change my opinion, and I am glad I didn’t need to wait any longer. 
Some time back, I ‘met‘ a very talented Croatian food blogger, Tamara @ Bite My Cake over Povitica / Croatian Sweet Walnut Bread , one of my most cherished bakes to date! When this lovely lady from beautiful Croatia invited me to her Eat Global table, I offered her this simple vegetarian stir fry, a savoury dish native to India.
From childhood my culinary likes and dislike were very strong. While fruits were a relatively easy YES, veggies fell into HATES and LOVES. I intensely disliked that purple egg plant, the aubergine, or the humble ‘baingan’ as it is called in India. In my years of food blogging, I often read ‘excited eggplant food posts‘ and wondered HOW on earth anyone could love that purple monster! To each his own and my happy non brinjal life carried on.
Then one day my Mums help came by to cook for me as she was away. I had folk over and bought every vegetable under the sun {bittergourd, spinach, eggplant, beans, lady fingers, potatoes, pumpkin}. ‘Sushma‘ is an express cook and I love her different takes on the way food appears on the table. She takes a lot of pride in what she makes, yet at the end looks on nervously, awaiting approval!
She decided to roast the brinjal and some time later hesitatingly asked me to check if it was cooked to my liking, check the salt etc. That look on her face, and I braced myself … how could I say no? So I gingerly took a TEENY quarter-spoonful … the rest was history! Stupid me. What had I been missing out on?
I couldn’t believe I had missed this for so long.So I bring to Tamara’s global table an Indian preparation of the humble, now beautiful, eggplant, which is lip smacking good, and is worth every morsel! I cannot keep from eating spoonful after spoonful. Do go across to Bite My Cake for the recipe. What a good time to share something comforting that brings Indian cuisine to the forefront other than our famed Butter Chicken!
I think this would be great served on a platter with pita chips too. It’s a simple dish, bursting with smoky good flavour, and fresh green chilies and coriander leaves. Reduce the green chilies if you aren’t very used to ‘hot’ food, but do add one at least.
As I sign off, I must announce the winner for the Shabby Apple Apron Giveaway. It’s Rachel @ Teacher by Day – Chef by Night who said “I think my favorite thing about this pie is the adorable little snowflake cut-out on the top!(I like S.A.on FB and am now spending time trying to figure out how to spend my money!)” Congrats Rachel. Will mail you soon, and the lovely folk at Shabby Apple will be in touch with you too! Thank you for joining the giveaway!
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
i love this ‘purple monster’- and love the way you have prepared and presented it. gorgeous. i’d love to have it with warm naan and lots of mango pickle. x s
s´s last [type] ..Happy 2012 & My Workshop
I recently became a vegetarian and somehow really find eggplant dishes very satisfying! I brought some gorgeous eggplants from my local market yesterday and I will try this delish baingan bharta! Yum!
Deeba, I am honored to have you as a guest blogger and you really touched me with your kind words.
This is such a beautiful post and this dish is absolutely perfect in my opinion. Comments from fellow Croatians were beyond nice, people here really like and eat a lot of eggplants so this is something we’ll definitely prepare. We roast fresh peppers in a similar fashion and this sounds even better.
Tamara´s last [type] ..Kremasti med / Creamed honey
Nice kind of food..Love it1!1 I want to cook like this…Keep on sharing delicious recipe..
Sandra´s last [type] ..How to remove tattoo
So happy to see PAB back!! Baingan Bharta is always a fav. to me..I make extra and refrigerate to eat it the next day as well
I always forget to sprinkle lemon juice, love the clicks. Best
Warm hugs.
Sanjeeta kk´s last [type] ..Steamed Pumpkin Soup with Shallots and AFBHLS Guest Post by Harini of Tongue Ticklers
I am an eggplant lover!! I can eat it every single day of my life and not get bored with it. Bharta is YUM!! Good to know you changed your mind about this glorious vegetable
chinmayie @ love food eat´s last [type] ..Homemade Spicy Tahini
I tried the stir fried eggplant many times and when I make it I can’t get enough of the sweet onions in the mix. Love it.
Louis´s last [type] ..Divorce Attorney Long Island
I’m an egg-planter hater and continue to remain one! How I’ve tried to convert my utter dislike for it – never been able to.
With the winter glory starting to fade – I’m trying to make the best of the last of the winter veggies – looked up a recipe for shalgam (turnip – never eaten it before) ka bharta! Lets see how it goes! Tomorrow and the day after have been reserved of moongra (rat-tailed radish!) and ganth gobhi (kohlrabi!)!
Sneha´s last [type] ..All new..Part II
I’m a baingan hater – haven’t been successful ever into converting myself..
With the winter fading, am hoping to experiment with the last of the winter veggies.
Today is a shalgam (turnip) bharta. Tomorrow and the day after will see dishes made from moonra (rat-tailed radish – love the name!) and ganth gobhi (kohlrabi). Lets see how that goes!
I can well imagine Sneha, I hear you! I made a roasted eggplant salad today which was really nice, but in my heart I kept thinking I was eating baingan! Looking forward to the tail end recipes from you…turnips, kohlrabi and rat tailed radish {how sweet is that}… good luck!
The turnip and kohlrabi were nothing to to write home about – both tasted extremely similar to radish! The kohlrabi infact was so hard to chop – never buying it again.
The rat tailed radish paired with potatoes was actually quite nice – made with regular ‘dabba masalas’. Tasted very similar to srping onion greens. I think I’ll stick to baking – making a boozy rum and raisin cake today.
Sneha´s last [type] ..All new..Part II
I like the sound of those ratty ones, pretty enchanting…but I like the boozy bake even more! Yay!!
Deeba! I’m so happy – I discovered Modern Bazaar on Arjun Marg
So happy!
Other than that, am happy and high on the boozy cake, too!
Sneha´s last [type] ..Boozy rum and raisin cake
hi deeba,
the only baingan dish i like is bharta! however i find the process of charring the skin on a flame really annoying…especially with larger ones. how can i char brinjals in an oven?