Baigan Choka
Ingredients
- 2 large purple eggplants
- 1 head of garlic or to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped shado beni plus more to taste (cilantro is a popular herbs with a similar flavour profile as the Trinidadian leafy herb, shado beni). Optional.
- 1 habanero or scotch bonnet pepper
- 1/2 large onion very finely sliced
- 1-2 medium to small tomatoes optional
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt or to taste
- 3 tablespoons - 1/3 cup olive oil or other vegetable oil
Instructions
- Wash and dry all your veggies.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Make slits into your eggplant and wiggle the knife in there so there is space to fit garlic cloves. Halve about 3/4 of your peeled garlic cloves and shove about 4-8 pieces of your halved cloves in each eggplant. If you are heaving trouble stuffing garlic in, you an either cut the cloves even small, or simple roast the garlic wrapped in tin foil.
- Lightly oil your stuffed eggplant, hot pepper and tomatoes and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 40 minutes, turning half way. You may need to remove the hot pepper and tomatoes at the 30 minute mark or before that because they are significantly smaller and cook faster.
- Turn on your broil feature of your oven and broil your eggplant for an addition 10-15 minutes until he outside is very blistered and charred or close to it. Use long tongs to help you reach in the oven to turn over your eggplant every 5 minutes while it is broiling.
- When your veggies are roasted let them cool slightly so you can touch them. Peel your eggplant (remove the flesh which will include your roasted garlic that was stuffed in it) and place in a bowl. Peel your tomato and place in the same bowl and remove the stem, finely dice your habanero or scotch bonnet. You can use the whole pepper or add half and taste finished product before mixing in other half.
- Use a fork to mask your eggplant, tomato and hot pepper together. If you are having trouble mashing with a fork, you can remove the larger eggplant pieces and chop them on a cutting board and return to a bowl. Alternatively, you can place all your peeled peeled/chopped roasted veggies in a food processor and pulse until it is chunky but well mixed.
- If using add in your Shado Beni or chopped cilantro and mix well.
- Season with salt and taste and add half or your finely sliced raw onions on top of your mashed eggplant mixture.
- Finely slice any remaining garlic cloves you have.
- In a small sauce pan, add your oil, and heat it up on medium heat. You can add up to 1/3 cup of oil or as little as 3 tablespoons. The amount of oil I add depends on the overall quality of roast veggies I end up with. There should not be so much oil that is does not mix in easity. Add in the other half of your finely sliced onion, and your sliced garlic cloves and cook in the hot oil until the onion start to brown. Make sure to not burn the onion and garlic because it will cause a very bitter taste and you will have to start over.
- Pour the hot oil with fried onion and garlic over your eggplant mixture and mix it in well.
- Serve hot with Sada roti but it can stay in the fridge for up for a week in a air tight container.
Notes
For a simpler bagian choka, omit the shado beni or cilantro.
You can omit the extra fried onions and garlic added to the oil. Traditional Baigan Choka is always finished with oil though, typically plain oil or oil with geera (cumin seeds).