Baingan Chicken Bharta - (Chicken & Eggplant Curry)

This recipe is my take on Joe's Chicken and Eggplant curry. I am also including Joe's original recipe. Thanks Joe for sharing your recipe. Skip the chicken to get a vegetarian version of the curry.





Joe made the eggplant and chicken curry and gave some to me. That was the first time I had eggplant and chicken together in a curry and I loved it. I like eggplant bharta so I thought I should try making eggplant bharta with chicken so here goes....


BAINGAN CHICKEN BHARTA
Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1 big
Tomato - 1
Onion - 1 sliced
Garlic cloves, 2 peeled
chicken breast - 1/2 , cut into one inch cubes
yogurt - 1/4 cup
salt - to taste
Garam Masala - 1.5 tbsp (containing coriander powder, cumin powder, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom powder)
red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coconut milk - 1/4 cup
Oil

Method:

• Marinate chicken with some salt, 1/2 tsp garam masala, yogurt and some oil for about 30 mins.
• Pre-heat oven to 400 degs.
• Wrap the eggplant in aluminium foil. Wrap the tomato separately. In a third pouch add the sliced onions, garlic, 1/2 tsp oil and some salt. Make a fourth pouch with marinated chicken.


• Place the pouches/packets on a baking sheet and put in the over for 30 to 40 mins.
• Once cool to handle, open up the packets. Remove the eggplant skin and scoop the pulp out.
• Heat a pan and add the onions and garlic. Remove skin and mash tomato. Add to the onions.
• Add the eggplant pulp, 1 tbsp of garam masala, red chili powder, salt and turmeric powder and stir. Cook for about a minute.
• Add 2 tbsp of water and coconut milk and stir.
• Shred the chicken pieces or cut into smaller pieces and add to the bharta.
• Serve with rotis or rice.

JOE'S CHICKEN AND EGGPLANT CURRY (Edited version:) )

Joe suggests that you should make sure you have a wing man when you start out on the journey !!


Wizz together until forms a paste:
10 cloves of garlic (1/2 bulb)
equal weight raw ginger, peeled
oil, enough to lubricate

Dice or slice:
- two baseball sized onions
- two large eggplants
- six fire roasted jalapenos

Have on hand:
- can of coconut milk
- can of diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cooked roasted chicken
- cold beer
- oil
- garam masala
- salt
- cherry tomatoes

Steps:
Open second beer, as by now you should have consumed the first one during the "thinking about what to cook and find the recipe" session.

Saute onion in cast iron pan with a little oil until onions start to sweat. Add in the garlic and ginger. Continue cooking on medium heat until onions sugars are starting to show colour.

Dump them in a bowl and set aside while you tend to the chicken and eggplant.

Add more oil to the skillet and let it heat up a little on medium high.

Open another beer and throw in the eggplant and chicken pieces.

Once the eggplant is starting to look a little cooked, turn down the pan and throw on garam masala powder. About 3-4 wooden spoons full in total or until it looks pretty dry.

Toast it up, but don't let it burn.

Add in the tomatoes. Use the tomato liquid to deglaze the pan while you scrape the yummy bits off the bottom.

Add back in the onion mixture and the coconut milk and simmer on medium low to meld the flavours. Add cherry tomatoes. Add salt to taste.

Switch to wine now, you're in the home stretch.

You're done when it looks done and the eggplant texture is to your liking.