How to roast eggplant/ brinjal on gas flame?

Roasting eggplant for baingan ka bharta

Want to know how to roast eggplant on open gas flame. Find here a video and step by step written instructions.

This roasted eggplant can be used to make Baigan ka bharta, mashed eggplants or any other dish where you need roasted brinjals.

purple brinjal before roasting

roasted eggplant - brinjal

Roasting eggplant is one of the ways of cooking eggplant. Many Eggplant recipes ask for roasted eggplant. Other ways are stir frying, baking etc.

You can use gas stove, grill to roast eggplant. You can also roast it in an oven or using on charcoal. Charcoal roasted eggplant has a wonderful flavor. But the one roasted on gas is good too.

How to roast eggplant / brinjal on the gas stove:

Depending on your requirement, you can roast one two or three eggplants in the similar way. You can roast them all at the same time on different burners or roast them separately one at a time.

1. Choose large purple eggplants.

Wash and dry well.

Apply a little oil all over the eggplant.

2. Place oiled eggplant on direct flame. Use a grilling plate or heating mesh.

The flame should be on medium low.

3. The eggplant skin will start to change color as it gets roasted - see the image.

Rotate/turn the eggplant once in a while, so that it gets evenly roasted on all the sides.

roasting eggplant - brinjal

You may use a grill as shown in the image above.

The brinjal skin becomes charred and starts cracking. It is very easy to peel the eggplant after it is completely roasted.

roasting eggplant - brinjal - cracked skin

Roasting brinjal may take about 8-10 minutes. Keep flame low so that brinjal cooks well inside too.

If you keep flame high, the skin will get charred but the inside will not be cooked well/soft.

roasted eggplant - brinjal

4. Once the eggplant is roasted well all the sides, remove from fire and put it on a plate/bowl.

5. You can see in the image, roasted eggplants with charred skin. These are hot, ready to be skinned.

6. Cover brinjal in the plate/bowl it till it cools a little, for some time.

If any inner part of brinjal is not yet cooked properly, it will get cooked with the remaining heat when you cover it like this for 10-15 minutes.

How to skin roasted eggplant - brinjal and mash it

7. After some time, when the eggplant has cooled, remove the black charred skin carefully. It comes off very easily.

For doing it neatly, keep a bowl of cold water on hand. Dip your fingers in the water once in a while and keep peeling the skin away. It will come off fast and will not stick to your fingers.

Brinjal skin may stick to fingers if you do not dip fingers in water.

8. You can see the skin removed roasted brinjals in the image.

9. Cut off the roasted brinjal stem with a knife. Cut brinjal in pieces.

10. Depending on what you are planning to do with the roasted eggplant, you can mash it using a fork or a slotted spoon.

Cut up any threads using a knife.

Now the roasted / mashed eggplant is ready to use for your recipe.

Tips for roasting eggplant properly:

Use large eggplants but not too large. Too big eggplants may not cook properly in the center.
Keep the flame medium. If the flame is too high, the skin will get charred faster but the insides may remain uncooked.
Remember to turn the eggplant once in a while. When you are roasting, do not go away for long.
You can leave the brinjal to cool completely for 30-40 minutes if you have time. If you are in a hurry, peel it after it is cool enough to handle.
You may store the roasted and mashed eggplants in the fridge for 2-3 days and use when you want.
You may stick in garlic cloves in the eggplant before roasting to get garlic flavored roasted eggplant.