Restaurant Style Brinjal Bhaji
A classic Indian veggie dish that pairs melt in the mouth aubergine with fragrant and punchy sauce.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the base sauce
- 300 grams Onions coarsely chopped
- 12 grams Garlic roughly chopped
- 7 grams Ginger roughly chopped
- 90 grams Tomatoes chopped
- 20 grams Carrot roughly chopped
- 20 grams Tomato Puree
- 20 gram Green Peppers
- 800 ml Vegetable Stock
- 60 ml Oil
- 10 grams Coriander Stalks
- 1¾ tsp Garam Masala
- ¾ tsp Curry Powder (any decent mild or medium one will do)
- ½ tsp Salt
For the Curry
- 125 ml Oil
- 400 grams Red Onion finely diced
- 1 Green Pepper chopped
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 1 tsp Nigella Seeds
- 10 Garlic Cloves sliced
- 2 tsp Garlic & Ginger Paste
- 1½ tbsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves
- 2 Aubergines (aprox. 600g) diced into 2cm chunks
- 2 tbsp Tomato Puree diluted 1:1 with water
- 2 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- 750 ml Base Sauce*
- 2 Large Tomatoes roughly chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh Coriander roughly chopped
Instructions
For the Base Sauce
- Wash and prep all the vegetables, placing them into a large pan with the oil, tomato puree, salt and stock. This will be blended later so there’s no need to be pretty with your prep. Leave the coriander and spices to one side.300 grams Onions, 12 grams Garlic, 7 grams Ginger, 20 grams Tomato Puree, 90 grams Tomatoes, 20 grams Carrot, 20 gram Green Peppers, 60 ml Oil, 800 ml Vegetable Stock, ½ tsp Salt
- Cover the pan and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer very gently for about an hour. You want to ensure all the vegetables are soft and well cooked. Now add the spices and simmer for another 10 minutes, before adding the coriander and simmering for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool before blending to completely smooth.10 grams Coriander Stalks, 1¾ tsp Garam Masala, ¾ tsp Curry Powder
- This will create more base than you may need for one curry but it will also allow you to be more flexible with the sauce depending on how you prefer it. The base can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for a day or two, or frozen for up to a month but it must be brought back up to a low simmer before being used below.
For the curry
- In a large pan, heat your oil on high before adding the red onions, green peppers and salt. Saute till the onions start to turn translucent, then add the mustard seeds, fennel seeds, and Nigella seeds. Turn your heat down to medium low and cook until your onions are translucent and the pepper is fully cooked (about 10 minutes).125 ml Oil, 400 grams Red Onion, 1 Green Pepper, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp Fennel Seeds, 1 tsp Nigella Seeds
- Add the sliced garlic, turn the heat up to medium and fry until the garlic and onions just start to take on colour but don’t let them burn. To this, add the garlic and ginger puree and fry off just long enough to remove the water before adding the fenugreek leaves and cooking for a further 30 seconds.10 Garlic Cloves, 2 tsp Garlic & Ginger Paste, 1½ tbsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves
- Now throw in the chunks of aubergine and tomato, stir frying for a couple of minutes allowing the aubergine to soak up the oil. Reduce the heat slightly and continue to cook until the aubergine has softened (this will likely take another 15 minutes or so). At this stage the aubergine will start to release some of the oil back into the pan.2 Aubergines (aprox. 600g), 2 Large Tomatoes
- Return the heat to medium high, add the tomato puree and the remainder of the spices and sauté for about a minute or so stirring non stop. The tomato puree should darken as it roasts but you need to make sure the spices don’t burn. The mix should be fragrant as the spices cook.2 tbsp Tomato Puree, 2 tsp Turmeric, 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- Add the simmering base and stir well. Continue to cook, simmering until the mixture is nice and golden brown, and the aubergines are buttery soft and cooked all the way through.750 ml Base Sauce*
- Stir in the coriander and taste – seasoning if needed. Serve with rice and some onion bhajis if you feel like treating yourself!¼ cup Fresh Coriander
Notes
Be very careful with the ginger in the base sauce, too much ginger can result in a bitter sauce. Equally, do not let the onions or garlic burn during the final cooking, they should turn golden and brown slightly but if they burn this will again cause the sauce to taste bitter.
*The traditional view of brinjal bhaji is that it should be quite a dry curry however this has varied to match the British palate. If you prefer yours with plenty of sauce then feel free to up the amount of base sauce to suit your own palate.
Allergy Notes; This curry is naturally vegan, gluten free, nut free and soy free.
If you have any allergies to the ingredients in this dish or have questions on substitutions, leave me a comment below.