I love a good mashed potato, don’t you? The English standard is potatoes mashed with milk or cream and lashings of butter and generously seasoned with salt and pepper. But France makes theirs a little differently. Where the English use floury potatoes, the French use waxy potatoes. In India, it is more usual to crush potatoes rather than mash them. Such a good idea, leaving texture in the dish while incorporating spices and herbs.

So I tend to collect mash potato recipes. This one has its origin in Vivek Singh’s (from Cinnamon Kitchen) book Curry. It is so simple but packs a punch of flavours. I adjusted it to our flavours. It is a variation of Aloo Baigan Bharta.

Similar recipes include Roasted Eggplant with Saffron Yoghurt, Trinidad Style Baigan Choka, Spicy Mashed Potato with Onions, Aloo Gobi, Simple Indian Potato Crush, Garlic Potato Mash and Potato Pallya.

Browse all of our Potato recipes and some other Mashes. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Late Summer recipes.

Aloo Baigan Bharta | Crushed Potatoes with Roasted Tomato and Roasted Eggplant

ingredients

1 medium potato, boiled, peeled and crushed coarsely with the back of a fork

1 large eggplant

2 tomatoes

1 green chilli, or to taste, chopped finely

1 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped finely

1 Tblspn coriander leaves, chopped

half of the green part of 1 spring onion (scallion), chopped

squeeze lemon

0.5 Tblspn mustard oil (optional) + 1 tspn more

method

Heat the 0.5 Tblspn mustard oil until hot but not smoking, then set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cook the potato in boiling water until tender, allow to cool until it can be handled, then peel.

Using the tspn of mustard oil, rub it over the outsides of the tomatoes and eggplant.

Place them in an oven proof dish and put this in the oven to roast the vegetables. Remove the tomatoes after 15 minutes.

Roast the eggplant until very tender, approx 20 – 30 mins, perhaps longer depending on your eggplant. It must be very soft and tender.

Leave the vegetables until they are are cool enough to handle and then peel them. Mash them together and then stir through the potatoes with the rest of the ingredients. Taste and add salt only if you need it (you probably won’t).

Serve warm or at room temperature. Top with a few more coriander leaves and spring onion greens.

recipe notes and alternatives

This recipe can also be made with just tomato or just eggplant, or with any two of the vegetables.