Alu Baigan – Curried Indian Eggplants with Tomatoes and Potatoes

Alu Baigan - Curried Eggplant with PotatoesA good Indian dish is one that has a literal unfussy name. Alu Baigan, which translated literally means Potato and Eggplant and it is a classic North Indian dish. Another late summer to early fall dish! Perfect when the eggplants are firm and tomatoes are plump and ripe. What is fun about this is that I make this with so many different small variations – the herbs (sometime mint, sometimes not), spices sometimes fennel sometimes not. This humble dish never fails to deliver.

This melt in your mouth gently spiced concoction that simply melts in your mouth out with unassuming aspirations. In fact, it started out as a lone eggplant, occupying some space in the refrigerator. I asked my helper to cut it into wedges and keep this in a zip lock bag for me. This is something that she does on occasion. Her knife skills are really, really appalling, there is not too much damage one can do cubing a large eggplant.

Alu Baigan - Curried Eggplants and Potatoes

What was an adaptation of my mother-in-law’s recipe which she makes with eggplants very finely diced and loads of tomatoes and just the right amount of potatoes. Not unlike a Indian version of a caponata! Alu Baigan in my household is a chunkier and very comforting dish that I make to celebrate late summer. What I do retain from my mother-in-law’s version is her generous use of tomatoes. I mean seriously how can there possibly be too much tomatoes in any dish especially if we are using eggplants.

Alu Baigan or Potatoes with Eggplants is a very Indian comfort dish, that is served with freshly made Indian flatbreads or chapatis. I have been known to serve this with well toasted sourdough bread, whole wheat of course.

Alu Baigan or potatoes with eggplants is quite a classic dish, there are several variations of this dish. I have for some reason never really tried it, but then as they say there is always a first time. This recipe after the first time visits me frequently every summer to fall when the weather and the leaves are ready to turn.

The few tips and tricks,

  • Cut the potatoes smaller than the eggplant to cook them together.
  • Start with cooking the eggplant and potatoes until fairly soft before addint the tomatoes.
  • This dish packs a decent spice punch, you can vary it to your taste as you see fit.

Alu Baigain - Curried Potatoes with Eggplants

And I even have an instant pot version now. I will however warn you, that while it is every bit as flavorful, but is a little saucier than the stovetop version. The bonus of the instant pot version is that it is more stew like and more often than not I do through in the chickpeas, resulting in a nice wholesome meal.

Alu Baigan - Curried Eggplants with Potatoes

Pick up a copy of my Instant pot cookbook Instant Indian  here, along with The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.

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Alu Baigan – Curried Indian Potatoes with Eggplants

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Alu Baigan – Curried Indian Potatoes with Eggplants

A classic summer homey dish pairing eggplants and potatoes and some tomatoes for good measure.

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (optional)
  • 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 large or medium sized, fresh eggplants, cut into 1 to 2 inch wedges (about 3/4 pound of eggplant)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
  • 1 large or medium sized, fresh eggplants, cut into 1 to 2 inch wedges (about 3/4 pound of eggplant)
  • 4 tomatoes, coarsely chopped about 3/4 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 green chilies, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil and add in the cumin seeds and wait until they begin to sizzle, this will take a few seconds. Add in the fennel seeds and the mustard seeds if using.
  2. Add in the potatoes and the turmeric and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the potatoes are almost cooked and a pale golden yellow. Stir in the coriander and cayenne powder.
  3. Add in the eggplants and mix well. Cook on medium high heat for about 15 minutes until the eggplants and potatoes are mixed well with the spices and are fairly soft.
  4. Stir in the tomatoes, green chilies, salt and the sugar and mix well. Cover and let the mixture cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove the cover and check, at this point all the vegetables should be nice and soft with flecks of red tomatoes.Sprinkle in the lime and lemon juice.
  5. Stir in the cilantro and mint.

Notes

Variation

Add in a cup of cooked chickpeas when the eggplant and the potatoes are mostly done, allow them to absorb the flavors before addint in the tomatoes.

Instant Pot Variantion

Turn the instant pot on to saute mode. Add in 3 tablespoons of oil (note, less than the stove top version. Add in the cumin and fennel seeds and the mustard seeds (if using) and wait until the spices begin to sizzle. Add in the potatoes, turmeric, coriander and cayenne powder and stir in the eggplant. Give it a good stir. Turn off the heat. If using chickpeas, add them in with about 1/4 cup water and salt. Give it a good stir and cover and cook for a minute on high pressure and release the pressure in 2 minutes. Turn on the saute mode and allow the water to evaporate for a couple of minutes (if desired). Add in the tomatoes and green chilies and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the tomatoes soften. Sprinkle with lemon juice and stir in the mint and cilantro.

https://spicechronicles.com/alu-baigan-curried-indian-eggplants/

2 Comments

  • Linda Nutter

    Your recipe looks delicious, But as we are making it, we notice that there are no instructions for the last several ingredients that are listed. Thanks!

    • rinkub@aol.com

      Linda, Thanks a lot for visiting. Somehow the last couple of steps had been cut-off. We should be good now!

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