Baingan Barta

This is my husband's favorite dish.  This is a dish which we eat whenever we go to Royal Taj, a north Indian restaurant, in San Jose.  I was very hesitant to try this recipe because I didn't want to spoil his taste buds.  But after seeing these Barta Baingans available in the markets here, I was so curious to try this today. Followed the recipe from Manjula's Kitchen. I made couple of changes to the original recipe.

Ingredients:-

1. Eggplant/Barta Baingan - 1 (big)
2. Onion - 1 medium sized (finely chopped)
3. Tomato - 2 (medium sized finely chopped)
4. Green Bell Pepper - 1 (medium sized) (finely chopped)
5. Garlic - 5 pods (chopped finely)
6. Ginger -  a small piece (finely chopped)
7. Oil - 2 tsp
8. cumin seeds - 1 tsp
9. Green chillies - 1
10. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
11. red chillies powder - 1 tsp (acc to taste)
12. salt to taste
13. Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
14. coriander leaves - for garnishing
15. Milk - 2 tbsp

Apply oil on top of egg plant. Take a microwave safe bowl and microwave the oil applied egg plant for 9 minutes in high (mine is 900W). Let it cool.   In the mean time, pre heat oil, splutter cumin seeds, add finely chopped ginger & garlic, green chillies and saute for a minute.  Now add finely chopped onions & green bell pepper to it. Cook it for 3 to 4 minutes or till it becomes half cooked. Now add finely chopped (or grind it into a paste) tomato to it. Let everything cook.  Meanwhile, peel the skin off from the eggplant and mash it with a fork.  When the ingredients starts boiling, add the mashed eggplant, turmeric powder, red chillies powder, salt & garam masala powder and mix it well. Sprinkle a hand full of water and let everything cook for 5 minutes. Now add the milk and mix it well. Garnish it with coriander leaves. This goes really well with rotis, chapatis or with rice(I had it with rice as side dish).