Bangain Bhartha that's bangin'!

I love eggplant so much.  It is definitely in my list of top 10 foods.  I make Italian and Greek inspired eggplant dishes but never have tackled an Asian eggplant recipe.  The first time that I had an Indian eggplant dish was in the spring at a restaurant in Media, PA near my daughter's college in Swarthmore.  It was so good and has left me craving it ever since.  It is a vegetarian dish made with roasted eggplant, onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, jalapenos, peas, and lots of spices.  Savory, sweet, spicy, creamy - perfect.  Served with basmati rice and garlic naan - oh yeah!   Well, when I got several eggplants in my CSA box, I just knew that I would have to try and recreate the baingan bhartha from Shere-E-Punjab. 

I searched all over trying to find a recipe that seemed to match what I had at the restaurant.  I distinctly remember peas and tasting garam masala.  The waiter had asked how spicy I wanted the dish and I responded with 8 out of 10.  He seemed a little surprised that I would want it so hot but it was perfect for me.  I can handle spicy food.  I finally found a recipe that seemed just about right on the blog showmethecurry.com - I followed their spice mixture pretty closely but did not have asofoetida so I went without it.  I used only one jalapeno (I could have used a little more heat) and grilled two Japanese eggplants totaling just over a pound.  I also used five plum tomatoes.  The resulting dish was fantastic!  I served it with basmati rice.  I also made garlic naan from the same site - so good!  It was great to step out of the box and try something new.  The bad thing about this - no leftovers and I am already craving this dish again!!