Baingan Gosht holds a special place in the 'cookery' compartment of my heart. It was my first curry that I played around with, didn't ask my Mother about and didn't follow a recipe for, back in the wee days of my marriage. Just my luck that it also happened to be an amazing curry that has become a 'signature' dish of mine!
Aubergine and lamb isn't a combination I had ever had, nor was it one any of my family had ever heard of. It must be cooked around Pakistan, but it's not something we had ever heard of. Aubergine is more commonly paired with potato and lamb with a variety of vegetables, but not usually aubergine.
I haven't cooked this curry for almost half a year now and as I was making it, it transported me back to the dark and gloomy days of November - me, a newly wed bride wearing chunky bangles and rings of gold stirring a pot of lamb in the kitchen frantically trying to taste-adjust all these new spices I had never before used...
My husband gave me two thumbs up for the Baingan Gosht the day I made it. Surprising, since he thinks aubergine is the most boring vegetable out there. I thoroughly enjoyed it too - It was a well good curry and I was very pleased.
I didn't give it much more thought than that and put it away in the fridge. We had a dinner party the next day at my house and I had invited my parents and an uncle and aunt of mine for the first time ever. I figured I had enough Baingan Gosht leftover to be able to serve the next day (I don't advocate the serving of leftovers for guests, but back then I had no idea about portion control and had cooked a whooping 1.5kg of lamb).
The next day, I prepared dinner: french onion soup, salad, lasagna fish kebabs, mixed vegetable curry, chicken karahi, cinnamon rolls and homemade biscuits for dessert and heated up the leftover Baingan Gosht as an afterthought - something I almost forgot and had to be reminded by my husband about.
The first one to try the Baingan Gosht was my uncle. He took a bite, his eyes lit up. He declared 'This is amazing. This is so unique. It's amazing.' he kept on repeated. This prompted my aunt to try it, then my Father, then my cousins. 'It's great' 'Never thought of mixing the two together' 'Where did you get the recipe from?' I took a bite too and realised the flavours had developed extremely well overnight, making this curry an exceptionally delicious discovery!
The next day I took a trip to one of my other uncle's house. Praises of my Baingan Gosht had spread there too! I left that evening promising to make them this suddenly famous curry soon. It wasn't long before I received a message from my cousin in Pakistan - 'I heard you made Baingan Gosht. So creative!'.
My Baingan Gosht gained me international praises. No exaggerations.
This curry marked the day I became a confident cook.
It was a very happy day.
I'm very happy to be sharing this recipe with you all. I hope you all enjoy and love this recipe just as much as me and my family do. Serve with chapatti or rice and with an optional side of an onion salad and/or raita.
Enjoy, with love x
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60 ml) oil plus more, to fry the aubergines in
- 2 (220 g) onions sliced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 1.1 lb (½ kg) lamb, bone in
- 3 medium-sized aubergines
- 3 (370 g) medium tomatoes
- salt to taste
- 3 teaspoon coriander powder
- 2.5 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 0.5 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 0.25 teaspoon turmeric
- 3 whole green chillis
- Coriander for garnish
Instructions
- Heat some oil in a pot and add the sliced onions, garlic and ginger. Heat on medium/high till golden.
- Add the lamb and brown this in the oil till it no longer remains pink. Add all the spices during the last minute.
- Add 2 cups of water. Bring this to a boil and then cover and simmer on the low heat for approximately 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, slice your aubergines into thin semi-circles and pan fry them on both sides till they begin to brown. Don't use a lot of oil, as aubergines soak up oil like a sponge so the more you use, the more they'll take in and the more oily your curry will end up being. Just use enough to prevent the aubergines from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You may need to do this in batches. Keep this aside.
- After the 50 minutes are up, add in the fried aubergines, whole green chilli and chopped tomatoes and cover again. Allow this to simmer on low for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and check the curry for spices and doneness. If the lamb still needs more time to cook, continue to simmer it with the lid on. If the lamb is done, then turn the heat up to high and begin to dry out the curry. We are aiming for a very thick and smooth gravy the consistency of smooth pasta sauce.
- Once the curry has dried out to the right consistency, garnish it with fresh coriander and serve hot with rice or chapatti.
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Julie
First time I have made this, delicious, I did accidentally cut my aubergines too early so just put them in as they were going brown, my own fault they turned to mush😂 still doesn’t take away from the excellent recipe.
Gill
Thank you for this recipe.My family loved it !
Fatima Cooks
You're welcome - glad to hear!
Vicki
Absolutely delicious! Will definitely be making this again 😋
Fatima Cooks
Thank you so much, Vicky!
Michael
Thanks for this Fatima, it’s our favourite curry dish! My wife loves lamb and my favourite veg is aubergine. So win, win! I prefer to leave it for couple of days before we tuck in! 😋 x
Fatima
I'm so glad to hear! I also love this and I agree, it tastes SO good after a day or so!
Ruth
Thanks for sharing this receipt. I can’t eat chilli due to a skin disorder so put in extra ginger. Very tasty receipt, loved it and will make again and again and so easy to do. Thank you so much.
Kanwal Akbar
So so so delicious 😍
Thanks for sharing ur recipe!
Dinah Shortt
I have just made it with leftover lamb for a meal tomorrow - smells delicious - hope it turns out OK!!
Rod
Delicious combo, I pressure cooked the lamb and broiled the eggplant. Thanks so much.
Jeanette
Delicious delicious! We had it two days in a row and the flavour definitely got better with time. Greetings from Namibia.
Bindu
I was looking for something different for the great mutton we get in hyderabad. This is what I am making now. Such a good dish . Thanks .
Maha
It sound really nice so will try and let you know. Love to add you as friend as I live in London.has about it.
Joy
I was looking for a recipe to use up leftover roast lamb plus aubergines from my garden and came upon your recipe. It worked really well. Yum. Thanks from Down Under in Australia. ☺
Fatima
i'm glad it worked out for you, Joy! And aubergines fresh from your garden... sounds divine!
Roshea
Great recipe, easy to follow. Fantastic curry!!!.Thnx
Tara
I love this recipe! You've explained it so well and it tastes so good (literally just finished cooking it), the lamb is just falling apart. I didn't have all your ingredients (to my embarrassment no coriander powder, green chillies, had to use minced ginger, steal my housemates' tomatoes and substitute chinese five spice / allspice). I imagine it will taste exponentially better when I get my s**t together!
Fatima
Thank you, Tara! Sounds like a very interesting combination, the chinese five spice!
Phil Grimes
Just followed your recipe and was delicious. I tried lamb and aubergine curry before, but think I ruined it by cooking too quickly and adding creamed coconut at the last minute rather than letting tomato and flavours soak in. Patience pays off! Lovely meal.
Fatima
Patience definitely does pay off! I'm glad you liked the recipe, Phil 🙂
Rainbow in the grey sky
To toast the aubergines before hand is something i will try as trying to perfect my vegetable aubergine curry, the aubergines are either over cooked or remain white and unflavoured. This maybe the tip i have been seeking in shaa Allah.
Fatima
Hope this works for you, iA!
Jeny
Made this for tea tonight and it was lovely!! Will definately make it again, lovely flavours. Already looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow.
I didn't seal the aubergine I just cut it into cubes and it soaked up all the lovely spices and flavour.
Thank you for sharing your recipe 🙂
Fatima
Thank you!