Eggplant and potatoes

Eggplant and potatoes Indian style

Eggplant and potatoes indian style or Aloo Baingan is a popular and comforting home-style dish in India, consisting of potatoes (aloo) and eggplant (baingan). Its cooking style and flavor profile can vary, but it's most commonly associated with North Indian cuisine.

The dish is typically prepared as a semi-dry curry or a sabzi (a stir-fried vegetable dish). The cooking process is designed to ensure both the potatoes and the eggplant are cooked to perfection without becoming a mushy mess, which can be a challenge given their different cooking times.

In many parts of North India, particularly in Punjabi households, mustard oil is the preferred cooking medium. Its pungent, smoky flavor adds an authentic depth to the dish that other oils can't replicate.

It's a classic example of a "sabzi" that is a regular feature of everyday meals, often served alongside roti, chapati, or paratha.

Our eggplant and potatoes indian style kit

We provide all the spices and dry ingredients needed to prepare this dish in this kit, which is freshly hand-prepared to order.

You will need to source the necessary fresh ingredients from your local grocery store. We believe deeply in the importance of healthy, local food and therefore recommend that you buy these fresh products from a short-circuit store near you.

As some of these spices are not grown here in France, we import them directly from India via our carefully selected partners in respect of fair trade. The spices we import are all certified organic by the EU.

To learn more about where our spices come from, please feel free to send us an email. We will be happy to answer all your questions!

Your ready-to-cook kit contains the ingredients listed below, as well as a simple and practical recipe card, so that this dish will be the best you've ever tasted.

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  Turmeric or Curcuma longa is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between 20 and 30 °C (68 and 86 °F) and high annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption or dyeing.

  Turmeric

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  As the name suggests, these chillies are a specific variety cultivated in the Kashmir region of India. Prized for their vibrant red color and mild heat, they are used to add a beautiful red hue to dishes without making them excessively spicy. They are essential for dishes like rogan josh, tandoori chicken, and various curries.

  Kashmiri red chili powder

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  While thought to have originated in the Middle East, cumin has been cultivated in India for millennia and is a cornerstone of Indian cooking. Cumin is used both whole and ground. The whole seeds are often fried in hot oil at the beginning of a dish (Tadka) to impart a warm, earthy aroma. Ground cumin is a key ingredient in almost all curry powders and spice blends like garam masala.

  Cumin

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  Coriander is one of the oldest spices, with evidence of its cultivation in India for thousands of years. The seeds have a warm, citrusy flavor. They are often toasted and ground into a powder, which is a staple in almost every Indian curry powder. It provides a mellow, background flavor that balances other spices.

  Coriander powder

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  Garam masala, which translates to "hot spice mix" in Hindi, is a blend of ground spices that originated in North India. The name "hot" refers to the warming effect the spices are believed to have on the body according to Ayurvedic medicine, rather than the spiciness from chili peppers. The composition of garam masala varies greatly by region, and even from one household to another. Garam masala is a versatile spice blend used to enhance the flavor and aroma of a wide variety of Indian dishes. It's often used as a finishing spice, added toward the end of cooking to preserve its potent fragrance. It can also be used in marinades or as a dry rub for meats. Garam masala differs from other Indian spice blends like curry powder. Curry powder was a blend created for British colonizers to mimic Indian flavors, and it typically contains turmeric, which gives it a yellow color. Garam masala, on the other hand, does not usually contain turmeric and is a traditional part of Indian culinary heritage.

  Garam Masala

The recipe requires the following ingredients, which are not included in your kit. We recommend purchasing these ingredients locally.

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  Ginger is native to the rainforests of Maritime Southeast Asia and is one of the first spices to have been exported from Asia. It was introduced to India very early in its history and has been cultivated there for thousands of years, becoming an integral part of both its cuisine and traditional medicine, Ayurveda. Ginger is a foundational ingredient in Indian cooking. It is a key component of the aromatic paste known as ginger-garlic paste, which forms the flavor base for countless curries, dals, and marinades. It provides a pungent, spicy, and warm flavor. Fresh ginger is also grated or julienned and added to stir-fries, and is famously used to make a soothing and spicy chai (tea).

  Ginger

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  Ghee

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  Salt

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  Tomatoes

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  Water

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  Coriander leaves

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  Potatoes

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  Eggplant