Inspired by the flavorful eggplant dish, baigan bhartha, this easy version skips the lengthy roasting and peeling steps and instead uses an instant pot to pre-cook the eggplant in 20 minutes.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 plum tomatoes, diced
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- Cooked basmati rice, for serving, optional
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Poke the eggplant 2 to 3 times on each side with a knife. Put the eggplant on the rack in a 6-quart Instant Pot® and pour 1 cup water into the pot. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for locking the lid and preparing to cook. Set to pressure cook on high for 20 minutes (see Cook’s Note).
- After the pressure-cook cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release and wait until the quick-release cycle is complete. Being careful of any remaining steam, unlock and remove the lid. Remove the eggplant and rack. The eggplant should be completely soft and deflated. Set aside.
- Turn the pot to the high saute setting and when hot, add the oil. Stir in the curry powder, cumin and turmeric and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the onions to coat in the oil and spices. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened and slightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and stir to coat. Cook until the garlic starts to soften, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and cook until the they break down and lose their structure, 6 to 7 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Cut the eggplant into chunks. Add the eggplant and peas to the pot and cook until completely warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add additional salt to taste.
- Serve warm with rice if desired and sprinkle with cilantro and mint.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 220 |
| Total Fat | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 34 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 772 mg |
Reviews
Fun fact. It took five minutes for my oven to reach 400F. It took 15 min to cook a whole eggplant on a rack over water in my Dutch oven. Neither the Dutch oven nor the range oven required any time to unlock, release, or cool. Just a potholder to protect my hands.
Instant Pots are not faster than a Dutch Oven and, like any pressure cooker, are more dangerous.
Instant Pots are not faster than a Dutch Oven and, like any pressure cooker, are more dangerous.
The recipe is good though.
It was OK. We grew our eggplant and needed some new recipes to try so we’re very hopeful. Unfortunately the final dish required some doctoring to give it some pop! We did enjoy it once we added more of the spices.
Very easy. I don’t have a pressure cooker so I just steamed it on the stove. I think oven would have given the same result. You could probably substitute butternut for eggplant if you’re not a fan. The rest was very easy and I had everything but the eggplant on hand. I didn’t had frozen peas so I used frozen veggies (peas, corn, green beans) instead and it was fantastic, healthy, easy, delicious… a win. Served (to myself) on Jasmine rice. I tore the chicken off a store bought rotisserie chicken and used the last bit of this to take the boring chicken and rice to a new level. Will be making this a lot.
No flavor and no sauce to coat the rice. Not worth the time
We grow eggplant and this is delicious for both Japanese or globe eggplant. Just the right amount of spiciness. I make this every week or two all summer.
This is a dish I will be making for years to come. I love the spiciness of it, I added just a little bit more ginger and some whole peppercorns. I served it over basmati rice and the flavor was awesome l. I will definitely make this again
This was tasty and very appealing visually but most of the time was spent sautéing and stirring in the instant pot which is very time consuming as instant pots don’t generally sauté consistently so this took quite a bit more time to get each step to the visual marks written in the recipe. I agree with another reviewer: maybe just use the instant pot as a tool to get the eggplant fully cooked and collapsed (which was also longer than written in the recipe) relatively quickly and sauté all the other ingredients on the stove while that is happening.
Good base recipe but I would recommend a few quick changes. Leave half the ginger rough chopped, this leave pieces that pop when you chew them and give a burst of flavor. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of whole peppercorns with the curry powder and cumin. This adds a depth to the flavor and texture. If you like more heat add cayenne pepper, up to a quarter of a teaspoon. Cooking directions are quite good and help build the flavors in this recipe.
This tasted absolutely delicious! The only thing I added was 1 tsp of Garam Masala and 1 T of nutritional yeast flakes (because I like it on my savory dishes). The cilantro on top is a wonderful addition, especially with a squeeze of lime.
This recipe was delicious. It tasted as if it came from my favorite Indian restaurant! My wife and I hate peas, so instead I substituted a small zucchini. Okra would also work well. I will definitely be making this again! Instead of the carb-centric rice, I served it with a small dollop of yogurt.