Baigan Choka, Trini Roasted Eggplant
Choka is the Trinidadian way of cooking a vegetable straight over fire, mashing it, and waking it up with hot aromatics. Baigan is eggplant, and baigan choka is the smoky, garlicky cousin of the better-known tomato version, an everyday Indo-Trinidadian dish eaten with sada roti at breakfast or alongside rice and dal. The eggplant is roasted until its skin burns and its flesh goes soft and smoky, which is what carries the dish with no salt at all. Garlic slivers tucked into the flesh roast right along with it. The finish is a chunkay, traditionally sliced onion and garlic sizzled in hot oil and poured over; here they are toasted dry and stirred in while they crackle, keeping the flavor and dropping the oil.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb Eggplant, 2 medium
- 6 cloves Garlic, 3 slivered, 3 thinly sliced
- 1/2 whole Yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 whole Habanero, seeded and minced
- 3 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
Method
- Cut small slits all over the eggplants and push a garlic sliver into each one. Roasting the garlic inside the flesh means it softens and sweetens in step with the eggplant instead of scorching on the outside.
- Set the eggplants directly over a gas flame or under a hot broiler, turning, until the skins char black all over and the flesh collapses completely, 15 to 20 minutes. This is the whole point of a choka: the burnt skin drives a smoky flavor deep into the flesh, the depth that stands in for salt and oil.
- Let them cool enough to handle, then peel away the charred skin and pull out the softened garlic. Mash the flesh and garlic together with a fork into a coarse, rustic paste. A choka is never smooth, so leave some texture.
- Make the chunkay: toast the sliced garlic and onion in a small dry pan over medium heat, stirring, until the edges brown and smell sweet and nutty, about 3 minutes. The classic move is to pour hot oil over the aromatics here, but a dry toast pulls the same flavor with none of the fat.
- Scrape the hot toasted onion and garlic into the mashed eggplant and stir at once, while it still sizzles. That sizzle carried into the eggplant is what marries the two halves of the dish.
- Fold in the minced habanero, cilantro, and black pepper, then brighten with the lime juice. Serve at room temperature with whole grain roti, rice and dal, or as a spread. It is even better the next day.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 70 calories, 2 g protein, 5 g fiber, 15 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
