Baingan Bharta or stuffed eggplants made in the Instant Pot…
Baingan Bharta is a popular vegetarian dish in India, eggplants or brinjals are stuffed with onion-coconut mixture and cooked in the coconut-onion gravy.
In the Instant Pot, cooking time will be reduced, 3 minutes of pressure cooking with QPR this dish will be ready-couldn’t get any easier.
Cooking Video
Instant Pot Easy Baingan Bharta -Instant Pot Stuffed Eggplants
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Thasneen
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- Baby eggplants or Brinjal, whole- 10
To cook and make paste
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds- ½ tsp
- Fennel seeds- ½ tsp
- Onion, chopped- 2
- Salt- ½ tsp
- Garlic, chopped- 1 large clove
- Ginger, chopped- 1 inch slice
- Green chilies, chopped- 2
- Grated coconut- 1 cup
- Jaggery or palm sugar- 1 tbsp
- Coriander powder- 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Kashmiri Chili powder- 1½ tsp
- Fresh tamarind juice- 2 inch slice soaked in 3 tbsp water
- Water- ½ cup
Other ingredients
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Water- ½ cup to thin down gravy
- Salt- to taste
- Cilantro, chopped- 2 handfuls
Instructions
- Soak 2 inch fresh tamarind in 3 tbsp slightly warm water, squeeze the tamarind and extract the juice. Drain the juice and discard the skin.
- Turn on Sauté Mode in Instant Pot- Medium temperature. Let turn hot.
- Add 1 tbsp oil, followed by cumin seeds and fennel seeds, saute for 30 seconds.
- Add onion, season with salt.
- Add chopped garlic, ginger and green chilies, saute till onion turn translucent.
- Turn off Saute mode, remove the stainless pot from the main pot.
- Into a blender, add grated coconut, jaggery, coriander powder, turmeric powder, Kashmiri Chili powder, fresh tamarind juice and the cooked onion.
- Add ½ water and grind to a smooth thick paste.
- Wash the eggplants under running water and pat dry it.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the eggplant vertically from the side opposite to the stem until you are about ¼ inch from the stem.
- Make a cut on the other side too, so that there are 4 slits on the eggplant.
- Be careful not to cut the stem, so that the eggplant will stay in place without falling apart.
- Gently, stuff the coconut-onion paste into the slit made on the eggplants.
- While, stuffing open the slits gently with fingers so that the stuffing goes inside and remains intact.
- Don’t open it too wide as it might break apart.
- After stuffing the eggplants, save the remaining coconut-onion paste.
- Turn on the Saute Mode.
- Add 1 tbsp oil.
- Place the stuffed eggplant on the pot.
- Pour the remaining coconut-onion paste over the stuffed eggplants.
- Rinse the blender with ½ cup water and add that to the pot.
- Add ½ to ¾ tsp salt.
- Combine well and cook for 2 minutes.
- Cancel Saute Mode.
- Close the pot with its lid.
- Select Pressure cook mode, high pressure and set the time to 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes pressure cooking, do a quick pressure release.
- Open the lid.
- Combine well and add chopped cilantro, cook for a minute.
- Turn off the IP, take out the stainless steel pot from the main pot and keep covered for sometime.
- This can be served with chapati, rice, roti etc.
