Green Eggplant Potato Curry | Aloo Baingan Recipe in Pressure Cooker – Cooked in selective spices, this curry brings a distinct aroma & flavour complementing both eggplant and potato. I have also shared thee Instant Pot Eggplant Curry with Video.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2015 and has been updated with Video and replaced with new pictures for comprehensiveness and freshness.
The beauty of cooking with the enticing and incredible eggplant is its versatility combined with bold flavours!! I have always been an eggplant fan, and since I have found the sweet and tender Asian varieties, I never miss a single chance to indulge in eggplant ecstasy. Healthy and delicious, there are myriad ways you can enjoy this charming eggplant. So friends, today I’m going to share this simple yet delicious Green Eggplant Potato Curry cooked with selective spices. The permutation and combination of vegetables are in abundance and this is one dish that highlights both veggies together. Both of them, according to me, are king of vegetables, they complement each other without taking away the credit from one another.
Health benefits of Eggplant
Eggplants are a wonderful source of dietary fibre, potassium, Vitamin C and Vitamin K. Eggplants also contain many antioxidants, which neutralise free radicals in the body and protect the cells from damage. The raw flesh contains some levels of toxic solanine, so it should be cooked before it is eaten. Cooking the eggplant gets rid of the toxic solanine. Plants in the nightshade (Solanaceae) family — which includes eggplants, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos — contain an alkaloid called solanine, which in very large doses can be poisonous.
What are the different types of Eggplant?
There are several varieties of these eggplants, green striped with whitish body, totally white, totally green and purplish. When ripened, some turn yellow. Cut the stem and quarter the ripe ones to separate the seeds in the centre core. You will see a big ball of brown seeds in the centre that most people do not eat. But I know a few people who thoroughly enjoy them. The childhood story of eating seeds and having the plant growing out from parts of your body is always somewhere in the back of my mind!!
They have mildly sweet and buttery taste when cooked and the greenish white skin outside tastes so delicious. There are actually several different varieties of eggplants & they come in all shapes & sizes. This variety is about 2-3” in diameter like a golf ball & the eggplants are light green in colour with thin white stripes or markings at their stem end. Green eggplants have a wonderful taste & firm texture. They are available in any Indian grocery store or Asian market. If you can’t find them, just use small round dark purple eggplant variety – the Green Eggplant Potato Curry will still be delicious.
Source of information about green eggplants- Wikipedia, Evergreenseeds and some articles on the Internet.
Off to the recipe!!
Steps to Follow For
Green Eggplant Potato Curry
You will need:
When selecting an eggplant, look for one that has a shiny, smooth skin that does not have bruises or blemishes. It should feel heavy for its size and when tapped on it should sound solid and not hollow. The smaller eggplants are generally sweeter, thin skinned, more tender, and have fewer seeds. Comparatively the green ones tend to have more seeds.
- Now take eggplants, wash, trim and cut them into wedges as shown below. Though you can see many seeds, they are very tender eggplants.
- Transfer the eggplant wedges into a bowl filled with water and a little salt. This is to to avoid browning of eggplants.
- Peel the potatoes, dice them into cubes and add them to another bowl with water.
Eggplant Curry / Aloo Baingan Recipe in Pressure Cooker:
- Heat oil in a pressure pan.
- When oil is hot enough add mustard seeds.
- Add finely chopped onions and green chillies once the mustard seeds splutter.
- Sauté till the onions turn translucent.
- To this add cubed potato pieces and stir.
- Now add a little salt, curry leaves and ginger garlic paste.
- Sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Now add turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
- Mix well and sauté for a minute.
- Now add cut eggplant wedges and mix well.
- Sauté for a minute and add half a cup of water.
Note: Alternately you can also prepare Green Eggplant Potato Curry in a normal pan or any cooking vessel. You may need to add a quarter cup of extra water to cook the veggies. After adding water cover the pan with a lid and cook till the veggies are done. Rest of the process remains the same.
- Close the lid of the pressure pan and allow it to cook for one whistle.
- Turn off the heat and open the lid once the pressure subsides.
- Now, as this dish is neither a gravy nor its dry one, so if their is excess water then place over high heat and stir it till there is no more water left.
- Sprinkle garam masala and garnish with coriander.
How to make Green Eggplant Potato Curry in an Instant Pot?
Watch the VIDEO for all the pictorial steps!!
- Turn ON the IP and press the SAUTÉ button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays HOT, add oil to the pot and then add mustard seeds. Let the seeds sizzle & splutter for a few seconds.
- Then add finely chopped onion and green chillies.
- Sauté until the onions turn translucent. Now add in the potato cubes.
- Stir for a few seconds and then add curry leaves, grated ginger (you can also use garlic paste), turmeric powder, red chilli powder and a little salt. Adjust red chilli powder to suit your taste.
- Sauté for a minute and then add eggplant.
- Optionally for another variation, at this stage you can add 1 chopped tomato. But, I’m not adding it today.
- Add a tablespoon of water if required and Scrape off anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Give it all a nice mix.
- Add water and mix. Adjust water to your requirement. This is not completely a dry curry but has a semi liquid consistency. Check for salt and adjust if needed.
- Press CANCEL and close lid with vent in SEALING position.
- Change the instant pot setting to MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK mode at HIGH PRESSURE for 3 MINUTES.
- After the instant pot beeps, QUICK RELEASE the pressure MANUALLY.
- Do a quick pressure release by moving the valve from sealing to venting position.
- Open the pot, using a spoon gently stir the potato and eggplant with all the spices until combined.
- Mix in the garam masala and garnish with coriander.
Since Green Eggplant Potato Curry/Aloo Baingan is on the moist side (not completely dry nor a gravy), it goes very well with plain rice or even roti, paratha or any Indian bread.
Green Eggplant Potato Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 Onion Finely chopped
- 2 Green Chillies Finely chopped
- 2 Potatoes Peeled and cubed
- A sprig of Curry Leaves Optional
- 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 10 Round Green Eggplants Washed, trimmed and cut in quarters
- ½ Cup water
- Required salt
- ½ tsp Garam masala powder
- 2 tbsp Finely chopped Coriander
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Version:
- Heat oil in a pressure pan. When oil is hot enough add mustard seeds.
- Add finely chopped onions and green chillies once the mustard seeds splutter.
- To this add cubed potato pieces and stir.
- Now add salt, curry leaves and ginger garlic paste, and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder and stir for a minute.
- Then add cut eggplant wedges and mix well.
- Sauté for a minute and add half a cup of water.
- Close the lid of the pressure pan and allow it to cook for one whistle.
- Turn off the heat and open the lid once the pressure subsides.
- Sprinkle Garam masala powder and garnish with coriander.
- Since the curry is on the moist side (not completely dry nor a gravy), it goes very well with rice, roti or any Indian bread.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Watch above VIDEO and look at the post for detailed explanation for the Instant Pot Version.
- Adjust spice levels with red chilli powder and green chillies to suit your requirement.
- Add diced potatoes and eggplant wedges into water immediately after cutting to avoid browning.
- You can use ANY eggplants to make this curry. But, they should be tender and not too mature.
- Instead of ginger garlic paste, you can also add minced ginger and garlic or just ginger.
Do check out other VEGETABLE GRAVY RECIPES & VEGETABLE DRY CURRIES from blog!!
To name a few in the similar category:
- Baingan bartha
- Garlicky tomato onion gravy
- Paneer butter masala
- Stuffed Indian eggplant
- Tricolour capsicum masala
- Stuffed okra
And many more to come!!….Stay Tuned!!
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma
