Meatless Monday with Dilawer Singh

Recipe and header image provided by dilskitchen.com.

The dish name is “Aloo Baingan,” and it translates to “Potato Eggplant.” It’s not quite a curry, but it’s a dish to pair with rice or roti. It is entirely vegan, and it’s our family recipe that has been passed down for many generations now.

I grew up in a small town in Southeast Arkansas, and I started helping my parents at our family restaurant ever since I could remember. My mom is a trained chef from Punjab, India, and just by growing up in that restaurant, constantly around her when she would cook, I think cooking was ingrained in me from the start.

Since moving to Baltimore, I had to form new habits of cooking healthy, exercising, and maintaining a proper diet in order to keep both my physical and especially my mental health in check. I sometimes struggle as we all do, but these “life” ingredients are what keep me going and a smile on my face.

Aloo Baingan

A special “Potato Eggplant” dish

Ingredients

• 2lb eggplant, diced large
• 1lb diced potatoes
• 1 oz minced ginger
• 1 oz minced garlic
• 1 lb chopped onions
• 10 oz diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt (to taste)
• 1/2 oz Dil’s Punjabi Masala
• 1/2 cup minced cilantro (optional)

Tips

• Use a nonstick pan if possible
• Add salt to your taste preference, with 1 1/2 tablespoons being mildly salty in this dish.
• 1/2 oz of Dil’s Pubjabi Masala yields this dish at a medium spicy level, so decrease or increase as per your tolerance.
• Cilantro is not required, only used for garnishing.

Steps

1. Add oil, minced ginger, minced garlic, and chopped onions to a medium-sized pot, mix and turn on stove to medium heat.
2. Cook until onions are caramelized (turns a brownish color) and then add Dil’s Punjabi Masala to the pot and mix until even.
3. Simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes and salt and mix until even.
5. Simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Add eggplant and potatoes. Mix until even.
7. Cook on low heat for 30. minutes. Stir occasionally.
8. Turn off stove and allow dish to thicken for 5 minutes.
9. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!