In early Spring we built a home garden at my country home using raised beds and organic soil. It proved to be quite easy. The greatest challenge was deciding where we would place it. The final decision was the backyard where I could see it directly from my kitchen window and close to the water source,
Since it was our first real gardening attempt, we planned on making it a manageable size of only 4 raised beds. One hundred bags of organic soil later they were filled. I planted seeds around March and by May they were ready to be planted once the last frost was a memory. We set up an automatic sprinkler system since we are not there during the week.
Some of the first seedlings that were planted died because it got too cold some nights in our zip code so I bought a few organic replacements.
At the end of August, back from our 2-week Hawaiian tour, the garden was laden with lots of eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes. Naturally, this dish of baigan and aloo came to mind, and the rescue!
Baigan and aloo (potato) is the ultimate vegan comfort food when accompanied by any one of our wide variety of Trini roti, including sada roti and dosti roti or even plain rice.
The perfect marriage of cubes of eggplant and potatoes gets a boost from a hint of hot pepper, tomatoes, and an abundance of garlic and onion that’s added to create balance and flavor in this dish.
A luscious scoop blanketed by a soft, warm, paper thin dosti, flaky, buttery paratha or spongy soft sada roti makes one long for the next bite even while chewing.
Although often considered a vegetable, they’re technically a fruit, as they grow from a flowering plant and contain seeds. My absolute favorite, the eggplant, is also known as baingan, aubergine, garden egg, guinea squash, melongene, and brinjal.
Health Benefits:
• Eggplant is an excellent source of vitamin and minerals –A, B C, K, magnesium
• Low in calories – 1 cup equals 27 calories
• High in fiber – helps with fullness, digestion. …
• Improves heart health. …
• High in antioxidants – help prevents cancer. …
• Natural compounds in the color helps improve bone health. …
• High in Iron – Prevents anemia. …
• Rich in phytonutrients –improves mental health, brain function-boost memory
This dish was most likely brought to Trinidad by the indentured servants from India. My research has led me to find a similar dish in India called Aloo Baingan that uses more spices including chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, and coriander powder. Its technique is referred to as the North Indian style of cooking. Since our ancestors may have originated from Uttar Pradesh this is no surprise.
How to select the best eggplants for Baigan and Aloo:
• heavy for their size,
• skins that are shiny, glossy, smooth
• young, firm and plump
• the stem should be green.
• when you press, it should feel firm and bounce back.
VIDEO TUTORIAL– FROM GARDEN TO TABLE!
Ingredients you will need for Baigan and Aloo:
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp whole cumin (geera), optional
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- Hot pepper, to taste
- 1 large eggplant or 3 small, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 head garlic, peeled and crushed, use less or more to your liking
- 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
- ¼ cup chopped, bandhania or scallions
- 2 sprigs thyme, optional
- Salt, as required
How to cook baigan and aloo:
Rinse all the ingredients and drain well. Chop the eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes and scallions. Slice the onion and hot pepper.
Heat oil in a medium heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. If you are using cumin, add now and cook until golden brown and fragrant. Add the onion and hot pepper and cook until edges are golden brown. Add garlic and cook one minute more.
Add diced eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, remaining onion, scallions and thyme if using.
Add salt and stir well to combine.
Cover, reduce heat to low and steam until the eggplant and potatoes are tender, checking and stirring every 5 minutes to ensure that it does not stick. Any liquid accumulated on the cover should drain back into the pot. It takes about 20-30 minutes. You can leave it chunky or stir often to create a more cohesive, pasty result.
You may also love these recipes:
Baigan Choka
Curry Chickpeas and Potato with Baigan
Curry Chicken with Eggplant and Chickpeas
Baigan and Aloo with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp whole cumin geera, optional
- 1 onion sliced, medium
- Hot pepper to taste
- 1 eggplant large or 3 small, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 lb potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 head garlic peeled and crushed, use less or more to your liking
- 2 plum tomatoes finely chopped
- 2 scallions chopped (or 4 leaves bandhania aka culantro)
- 2 sprigs thyme optional
- Salt as required
Instructions
- Rinse all the ingredients and drain well. Chop the eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes and scallions. Slice the onion and hot pepper.
- Heat oil in a medium heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. If you are using cumin, add now and cook until golden brown and fragrant. Add the onion and hot pepper and cook until edges are golden brown. Add garlic and cook one minute more.
- Add diced eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, remaining onion, scallions and thyme if using. Add salt and stir well to combine.
- Cover, reduce heat to low and steam until the eggplant and potatoes are tender, checking and stirring every 5 minutes to ensure that it does not stick. Any liquid accumulated on the cover should drain back into the pot. It takes about 20-30 minutes. You can leave it chunky or stir often to create a more cohesive, pasty result.
Video
Notes
• Eggplant is an excellent source of vitamin and minerals –A, B C, K, magnesium
• Low in calories - 1 cup equals 27 calories
• High in fiber - helps with fullness, digestion. ...
• Improves heart health. ...
• High in antioxidants – help prevents cancer. ...
• Natural compounds in the color helps improve bone health. ...
• High in Iron - Prevents anemia. ...
• Rich in phytonutrients –improves mental health, brain function-boost memory When buying eggplant, choose those that are
• heavy for their size,
• skins that are shiny, glossy, smooth
• young, firm and plump
• the stem should be green.
• when you press, it should feel firm and bounce back.
Nutrition
Ria, what's the deep golden stuff on the plate?
Sorry, my comment section hasn't worked for a while. That's kuchela–a condiment made with mango or pommecythere aka golden apple.