News Americas, NEW YORK: This week, we bring you a unique Caribbean recipe that is especially known in parts of Guyana and Trinidad. It’s baigan choka or roasted eggplant. Here’s the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large eggplant
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 medium tomatoes (seeded and cut into 6 wedges)
- 1⁄4 cup onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1⁄8 teaspoon scotch bonnet pepper (minced) (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Wash eggplant and make slits in it with a knife.
- Peel garlic cloves and stick into the slits made in the eggplant.
- Insert tomato wedges into the slits.
- Rub the eggplant with a teaspoon of oil.
- Roast over an open flame (for example, a gas cooker) until soft. Do not grill because the taste will not be the same. The open flame imparts a smokey flavor which gives this dish its signature flavor.
- Additionally you can place into a Ziploc bag and microwave on high for about 5-6 minutes.
- When eggplant is soft, slit the charred or microwaved skin lengthways with a knife and scrape out the soft somewhat stringy pulp. Discard skin.
- Mash the pulp, tomato and roasted garlic in a bowl with a fork.
- Add 1 tsp oil to a non-stick frying pan and cook 1/4 cup onion until fragrant but not translucent.
- Add the barely cooked finely chopped onion, salt to taste and scotch bonnet pepper to the eggplant pulp.
- Serve with Sada Roti or Naan (Indian flatbread)
Your Baigan Ch
oka is ready.
