Aloo Baingan Sabji
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy
Aloo Baingan Sabji Recipe
This recipe Aloo Baingan Sabji recipe has an interesting history behind it… Let me explain.
Would you believe that I used to puke at the thought of Aloo Baingan? If you’ve never had this dish before, I hope I’m not turning you off! Please don’t quick away, I’ll get to the good part! But yes, this was a regular dish in my household. My mom would make it as frequently as once a week, and sometimes twice. I did not want to eat it at all! I had to force it down my throat or else my parents would get mad at me for not eating it out or throwing up. I was dreading Aloo Baingan nights, and this went on for quite some time! My mom would make aloo baingan without tomatoes, and the gravy would be just so dry. Dry sabji with dry roti, and sometimes we wouldn’t have dal with it… Oh my, those dinners were a nightmare that I tried to expel from my memory!
Then one day one of my aunts showed my mom (and myself, the keen observer!) the light to a wonderful Aloo Baingan. My aunt prepared aloo baingan Punjabi style, with the help of tomatoes and aromatic spices to make a flavourful gravy and give the potatoes and eggplant incredible flavours. After that, gone were the days of wanting to throw up my dinner, and my mom made very scrumptious aloo baingans! They were so good that I went from hating the dish to requesting it be made for dinner!
So no, with this recipe you won’t want to throw it up, or at least I hope not! Are you trying to get kids to eat veggies? Are you looking for the perfect nutritious vegetarian curry to serve your family that’ll fill their tummies with joy? Aloo baingan is the dish you’ll want to cook for dinner tonight! It’s a wonderful marriage of potatoes and eggplant, fused together with a hearty tomato-based gravy. You’ll get delicious smokiness from your roasted eggplant, and the soft potatoes give so much body to the dish. Trust me, once you try this aloo baingan recipe, you’ll be hooked! Ready to get cooking? Let’s go!
What is Aloo baingan?
What exactly is aloo baingan, you may be wondering. “Aloo” translates to potato and “baingan” translates to eggplant or aubergine or brinjal. Aloo baingain is an Indian semi-dry curry prepared with roasted eggplant, sautéed potatoes with cumin seeds, ghee and hing, tomatoes and onions. The veggies are sautéed with ghee, but you can make this recipe vegan by using your favourite plant-based cooking oil. Ghee is just my favourite cooking oil to use here!
This recipe is very similar to Baingan Bharta, which means “eggplant mash.” “Bharta” translates to “mash!” I didn’t know this until I posted that recipe! In this dish, it’s basically baingan bharta but with the potatoes! If you’ve been around for awhile, you know that I love my potatoes! I also love tomatoes so much, so they’ll make up a significant portion of our sabji, which is the curry itself. I don’t usually like dry sabjis, so this one is a little runny but still thick! It’s perfect to serve with bread!
Ingredients for Punjabi Aloo Baingan Sabji
Here are the ingredient you’ll need for a delicious Punjabi aloo baingain sabji. We won’t use too many spices so that the amazing smokiness from the eggplant seeps through into the gravy and into the potatoes. Here is what we’ll need for the recipe:
Eggplant
Potatoes
Ginger
Garlic
Green chiles (optional, you can omit if you don’t want spice. I actually didn’t use any here, but that’s partially because I ran out of them!)
Onions
Tomatoes
Cilantro
How to Make Punjabi Baingan Bharta
Notes about the stovetop
The ideal stovetop to get that beautiful char is the naked flame from a gas stovetop. However, in case you don’t have a gas line in your neighbourhood or have another type of stovetop, you can still roast the eggplant without many issues!
I have an electric, smooth cooktop. On such a stovetop, the heat does not rely on a pot/pan being detected for the heat to turn on. Therefore, I can use a wire rack, over the cooktop and char the eggplant.
While you may do the same on an electric coil cooktop, these types of stoves are notorious for being a pain in the neck to clean. And you may get some juices dripping from the eggplant and I would like you to avoid any extra cleanup.
For any other cooktops, follow the instructions below to see how to roast the eggplant in your oven.
Roasting the Eggplant
On an electric smooth cooktop, place a wire rack over the largest burner and turn heat to high. Add eggplant over the wire rack and turn every few minutes until the eggplant is soft and lightly charred all around
On gas cooktop, add the eggplant directly over the flame and turn every few minutes until the eggplant is soft and lightly charred all around.
For any other cooktop, use the broiler in your oven to roast the eggplant. Move the oven rack to the second highest position and place a wire rack over a baking sheet lined with foil. Cook the eggplant as directed above.
Let eggplant rest on a plate/cutting board once done cooking.
Making the aloo baingan
Heat pan on medium heat and add olive oil/ghee, cumin seeds and hing and crackle until cumin turns reddish brown and fragrant.
Rinse the cubed potatoes, drain and add to pan, mix well and cover and cook for 5-8 minutes.
Then, remove cover and stir well, cover again and cook for 5-7 or until the potatoes are half cooked or translucent.
Add the onions and cook until the onions soften. Then add chopped ginger and garlic and sauté until the rawness has cooked off.
Add the tomatoes and green chilies if using. Mix well and add ground coriander, turmeric, deggi mirch and a pinch of salt.
While the tomatoes cook down and potatoes finish cooking, slice the eggplant in half and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the eggplant.
Once tomatoes and potatoes are soft, add in the eggplant and mix well. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until eggplant comes well together with the tomato masala.
Finish with garam masala, lime juice and cilantro, adjust for seasoning and serve right away!
Tips & Tricks for the Best Aloo baingan sabji
Potatoes take a long time to cook, so take your time to ensure the potatoes have completely softened before adding the eggplant
Use additional splashes of water whenever required if the dish is sticking at the bottom of the pan - stir often!
The star of this dish should be the eggplant, so be conservative with the amount of spice used in this dish to really appreciate the flavour of the roasted eggplant.
Make sure to season the dish with salt at every stage to really unlock the flavours of each ingredient.
The roasted skin of the eggplant is packed full of flavour. For additional smokiness in the bharta, feel free to chop bits of the skin and add with the eggplant. It is delicious!
Serving Suggestions for Punjabi Aloo baingan
I love having this Aloo Baingan Sabji with breads! Here are my suggestions:
I’ve always had my aloo baingan with roti or paratha, but if you’re feeling lavish, then by all means try tandoori naan or laccha paratha! I just view aloo baingan as a homestyle meal, so I’ve never tried pairing the dish with those breads. In the video below,
You could also serve with some simply steamed Basmati Rice or some Jeera Rice. For a fully hearty meal, you could also cook up some Masaledar Chana Dal, a yellow split-pea dal!
Enjoyed Aloo Baingan? Check out these other Potato-Based Dishes!
Watch How to Make aloo baingan sabji here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!