PlantwisePlus Blog

As part of our new mini-series, “Our favourite recipes”, here is the next delicious recipe for you to try from India. Baingan Bharta (Roasted mashed brinjals cooked with onions, tomatoes, green chillies and ginger) is one of the most popular dishes in India. Brinjal (aubergine/eggplant) is an important ingredient of the recipe.

Ingredients for Baingan Bharta Recipe

• Brinjals (aubergine/eggplant)- 1 kilogram
• Oil – 3 tablespoons
• Cumin seeds (1 teaspoon)
• Onions chopped (3 medium)
• Ginger (2 inch pieces)
• Green chillies chopped (2)
• Red chilli powder (2 teaspoons)
• Salt to taste
• Tomatoes chopped (4 large)
• Fresh coriander leaves chopped (1 and 1/2 tablespoons)

Method
Step 1. Wash, pat dry and prick brinjal. Roast them over an open flame or in a preheated oven until the skin scorches and starts peeling off and eggplants start to shrink. Let them cool.
Step 2. Remove skin and mash the pulp completely. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Cook for half a minute and add onions and sauté until translucent.
Step 3 . Add ginger and green chillies and cook for a minute. Add red chilli powder and mashed roasted eggplants. Cook for seven to eight minutes over medium heat, stirring continuously.
Step 4. Add salt to taste. Add tomatoes and cook on medium heat for seven to eight minutes or till oil separates.
Step 5. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.
Baingan (Hindi name) or Brinjal (Solanum melongena) is grown for its edible fruit.  Its other common names worldwide are Aubergine, Eggplant, Melongene, Garden egg or Guinea squash. The other important ingredients of the recipe are onions and tomatoes. Brinjal is a warm season crop and requires long warm growing seasons but can also be grown successfully as rainy season crop. India produces about 7.676 M mt of brinjal from an area of 0.472 M ha with an average productivity of 16.3 mt/ha. The brinjal producing states are Orissa, Bihar, Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (http://www.ncpahindia.com/brinjal.php).  However, each year its production is influenced by the prevalence and impact of a variety of pests and how effectively they are managed. The major pests of brinjal are as follows:-
Brinjal shoot and fruit borer (Leucinoides orbonalis)
Red spider mite (Tetranychus spp)
Root knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp)
Brinjal bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum)
Little leaf disease  (Phytoplasma spp)
For information on identification and management of other brinjal pests navigate to this link http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/SearchResults.aspx?q=brinjal