As far as my memory goes, I was the most non fussy kid amongst siblings,where eating vegetables was concerned.I adored Bitter gourds and bottle gourds as much as Paneer and Potatoes.My father who is a real foodie, encouraged us to eat everything from vegetables to fruits, nuts to berries. Every Sunday, he used to purchase a whole lot of vegetables from Veggie Market and while other kids in family made faces at sight of Ridge gourds and eggplants, I used to be the one who would wait for their turn in next meals
Life was all about simple pleasures then, when fresh cucumbers were peeled,cut and chilled in freezer and then relished with some dash of salt and red chilly powder, or those gorgeous looking, absolutely refreshing ,watermelons, cut into bite sized pieces and chilled to enjoy on a lazy Sunday summer afternoon.Sometimes a Mawa kulfi from the street vendors,or Laachi (a pepper-minty sugary candy like, but chewy) was all that it would take to enjoy a Sunday.
Some Black Jamuns (berries ) soaked in salted waters ,were nibbled over chats with neighboring friends, or some boiled whole peanuts,cracked and the nuts thrown in air and mouths kept wide open to catch those, were some of favorite past times.Not to forget those Karvandas (Indian mountain berries), Imli (fresh tamarind), kairi (Raw mango) that added the perfect tangy-ness to the sweet nothing talks with friends while on the way back from school.
Some hot Bhutta ( corn cobs) roasted on coals, right in front of us, were enjoyed after SCRIBBLING with a slice of lemon dipped in salt and red chilly powder, on the perfect monsoon evening. Ahh and bless that Paani puri waale uncle ,who used to announce his arrival daily with a typical sound of rubbing 2 china clay plates against each other (it sounded so uniquely wonderful) and who use to make the most awesome paani puris, resulting which, I am still unable to curb my craving for this amazing street food.
One such craving that dates back to my pre-marriage days is Bartho or eggplant chutney,which my mother made often !
Baingan bartha …I know each one of you will assume it to be the semi dry veggie dish, made with onions and tomatoes…..right? Wrong ….in my case at least.Because at my home (Not sure what other Sindhis called this) baingan bartha is a wonderful chutney, simple to make but very flavorful. A freshly made bartho with koki and Saibhaji (An ultimate Sindhi Food Trilogy) is Halfway to Heaven 🙂
But still after marriage I hardly make this at home, since no one else is interested in this boiled and grind-ed purple beauty.
So now whenever my mother makes this,she makes sure to keep aside my share and send me in 🙂
Rating
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-3
- Eggplant 1 medium,Dark purple variety (An un-confirmed tip is to choose a Female Eggplant,which have loads of seeds, is less meaty and tad bitter than its male counterpart, for a perfect texture of this chutney)
- Onion 1 small
- Green chillies 1-2
- Ginger just a bit
- Tamarind pulp 1-2 tsp
- Salt as per taste
- Wash and peel eggplant
- Cut into large chunks and soak in water for about 5 minutes to get rid of bitterness (of eggplants ...you silly).
- Boil these in little water for about 2-3 minutes till these becomes soft. You can blanch it just as well!
- Remove from water and let it cool completely (One more flavorful way is to roast the whole eggplant on direct flame or in Microwave and later peel and pulse it for few seconds)
- Meanwhile blend/grind together ginger, onion, chillies and salt to make a paste
- Add cooled brinjals and pulse it for 2-3 seconds only.
- Now add some tamarind pulp (1-2 tsp), mix it and adjust the seasoning (if less tangy, add more tamarind pulp, if less spicy, add some red chilly powder etc.)
- Enjoy it fresh.Do not store it for more than a day.
- It tastes great with Koki or parathas
This pic is of Bartho which my mother made and so it goes to our Just for You event,which in this case could be renamed as Just For Me 😉
This personal favorite of mine goes to Ramya’s Mane Adige for her unsual but most tangy event called Chutney/Dip Mania
Alkaji,Instead of blanching or boiling i baked the eggplant and then FLAME CHARRED it,also added some fresh minced garlic and instead of tamrind or Lemon juice(I was thinking to substitute tamrind and use lemon juice)i used HUNG YOGURT(All the liquid extracted by hanging in cheese cloth),it tasted good to me but i am going to make it next week with your recipe,i never had heard Baingan chutney until you published the recipe,its great as Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetable,i also make some time KHATTA VAANGARN(My mother used to make it when i was a child).There is a similar dish in Middle East like yours called “BABA GANOUSH”,i like that too,as you mentioned Biter Gourd and Bottle Gourd is your favourite,so is mine,my mother used to cook KADOO RAS WARO,which tasted just like MUTON(For vegetarians) and BBitter Gourd i made it with your recipe Karela basar mein,i would love to make that atleast once a week but the Bitttttter Gourd in USA is like the size of TOORI and fatter and has BIG-BIG seeds,i dont like that,i like INDIAN KARELA better.
My mom makes this too and I love it .
Super Alka! Male or Female Eggplant? Am not sure.However, Eggplants are my fav.My Granny makes something similar,we add roasted Urad dal with this and call it Thogayal eaten with Rice.Yummy!
Informative post. Never heard of this chutney before…..Looks yum.
Wow, this is a new way of making Baingan ka Bharta .. Am gonna try this for sure
This looks good. I make bhartha and we also have a raitha somewhat like this.
Male or female? I thought they were two different varieties of eggplant!
And Alka, about the question on my green pepper pickle.
Mango ginger is one thing you can pickle this way.
You can also make a similar pickle with lemon pieces, ginger and green chillies in brine but you don’t need to add the lemon juice. You could add sticks of carrot too.
hi alka,
I have seen a flashback of my childhood while reading this post very new and intresting recipe will try this
very nice recipeee alka
This is a new information for me.
Chutney looks so yumm.
Aubergine chutney looks yummy and healthy!
Hi,
Your egg-plant recipe looks so yummy.
looks very inviting and wonderful color too..
I will have to try it as you made it sound intriguing As always, your posts and pictures are so evocative
Looks so yum. We make something similar called Gothsu. It doesn’t have onions in it. You reminded me of the jamuns(berries) and i’m drooling right now 🙂 the simple pleasures of life…my sons have never tasted them so far since we goto india in winter usually.
Btw, thank u so much for your wishes. means a lot to me 🙂
hey! First time I am seeing this made by boiling the baigan. Interesting recipe. Looks tasty too.
It is very nice and new recipe. i love egg plant ,, thanks for sharing.Perfect for the event.
Hi,
Is it necessary to add gidaamri (tamarind)? I make it in a similar matter but dont add tamarind because (apparently) kataee (sourness) is not good for arthritis. And how do you make out whether it is a male or female vaangarn?
Male and female eggplant?? This is new to me . I have not heard about it..Chutney looks yummy..We make this with little variation..
Looks tempting. I usually make the regular one with onion/tomato but this one surely is worth a try
in stead boiling the brinjal just put it in oven or hold with the fork roast it on the gas boiling method takes away all the neutritions
u can add some fresh dhanya or mint leaves will test better take the fine plastic bag or cling film rap it make some slits in the brinjal just few mintues take it out the steam will take away the whole skin of it
Alka u always stir memories. Given a chance I would still do those things what i would do, without a care to who ever said what. even climb a tree:-)
This sounds like the bhartha (kind of ) we make in bengal.. its not cooked, just roasted & seasoned with onions, green chilis, salt, ginger & mustard oil.
Chutney looks so nice. Thanks for taking trouble of explaining koki/loli. You know, the recipe that my friend gave me on the day of leaving to US, has the cooking twice process. but I didnt follow it thinking if there is any error in writing!! My ignorance!! Thanks so much. Adding tomato was new to me as well, but went Madhur Jaffrey way and did my own twist with Salsa. 😀 Thank you, thank you, thank you – really, for explaining so well.
Never knew that such a ‘chutney’ exists! Looks yummy..Will surely try and see. Thanks for sharing 🙂
WOw chutney looks simply delicious, male n female eggplants explication seems very informative n never knew about this..
Alkaji, the recipes given by u r really helpful and i really enjoy making them . I tried ur dal pakwan recipes and everybody liked it in my house.
the chutney seems to be delicious.
Chutney looks yummy. Easy to make with less ingredients. This is my kind of chutney. How I miss all those simple pleasures of childhood.
Male and female eggplants? I never heard of such kinds! Chutney looks superb. mouth-watering.
Alka, simple pleasures have attained pretty exorbitant proportions now! When we were kids a movie was a treat – now it is expected that the movie treat should be rounded off with more treats like an eat out or shopping for some unnecessary stuff!!
Female and male eggplant? I seem to be ignorant:)
Chutney is new to me. My Mum makes one too but not like this. I was one fussy kid and am still a fussy adult!!
I am not sure I know the difference between a male and a female eggplant 🙂 Chutneys with the minimum ingredients are sometimes the best.