This is the easiest method to smoke something. I learned this method from Sanjeev Kapoor’s new book, How to Cook Indian (scroll to the bottom of this post for a chance to win a signed copy of the book!).
I was intrigued by Sanjeev Kapoor’s koyla (charcoal) chicken recipe in the book. He makes a chicken curry and then smokes it by placing a bowl with a smoking hot piece of charcoal in the curry. The smoke gets into the curry, making it all smoky and wonderful. I’ve adapted Sanjeev Kapoor’s smoked chicken curry by using eggplant and creating a great vegetarian smoked eggplant curry recipe.
How to smoke the eggplant curry
Heat charcoal till its red. Then put it in a small bowl, and place it over the curry.
Pour a little oil over the hot coal. The coal will now give out smoke, that will flavor the curry.
Cover the skillet to trap the smoke. Let it sit for a few minutes so that the smoke infuses the eggplant curry.
When choosing charcoal, make sure you buy all natural charcoal. Don’t buy anything that has chemicals or petroleum added to it or is ‘self igniting’.
Watch Sanjeev Kapoor making his smoked koyla chicken curry. His method of smoking and my adapted recipe will work well for zucchini curry, mushroom curry, or use paneer or mock meat in this recipe.
Smoked Eggplant Curry Recipe
vegetarianized from Sanjeev Kapoor’s Koyla Chicken recipe from his book, How to Cook Indian
Serves 2
3 medium tomatoes
6 whole cashewnuts
1 tablespoon butter, ghee or vegetable oil
½ lb American or Indian eggplant
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon or to taste, chili powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice, you may need more or less depending on how tart the tomatoes are.
For smoking the curry
1 lump of charcoal, about the size of a large lemon
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Boil a medium pot of water, and drop the tomatoes in whole. When the tomato skins start to blister, drain them and let them cool a bit. Then peel the tomato skins and discard. Core the tomato. Place the skinned, cored tomatoes in a blender along with the cashew nuts and puree. Set this aside.
Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. I peeled the skin first, but that’s optional.
Heat butter, ghee or oil in a medium skillet. Add the eggplants, and let them brown a little on medium-high heat, about 4 minutes. Then add ginger and garlic. Stir on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the garam masala and chili powder and cook another 30 seconds.
Pour in the tomato puree and salt. Boil for 7 minutes or till the eggplant is cooked and the sauce has thickened a little. If the sauce gets too thick, sprinkle some water over it.
Turn off heat. Taste the curry and add lemon juice, if using.
Now comes the fun part – smoke the curry!
Hold a piece of charcoal, using tongs, over an open flame. You can do this on an open gas flame, or an outdoor grill. Heat it till it becomes red hot. (Be careful, the hot coal may give out sparks, turn on your ventilator or exhaust). Now you need to work quickly. Place the red hot coal in a small bowl.
Immediately place the bowl inside the skillet with the eggplant curry. Pour the oil over the coal, so that it smokes. Quickly place a lid over the skillet. Let the smoke from the charcoal infuse into the covered curry for about 6 minutes. The longer the charcoal bowl sits in the skillet, the smokier your curry will get.
Remove the bowl from the skillet, and discard the charcoal. Serve the smoked eggplant curry with rice, roti or naan.
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This giveaway has ended, the winner is comment #65, Shil!
Win a signed copy of Sanjeev Kapoor’s new book,
How to Cook Indian!
This book has more than 500 classic Indian recipes for the modern kitchen.
To enter the giveaway:
Leave a comment below and tell me whats an Indian dish you havent tried at home yet, but would love to try and make.
Giveaway ends Friday June 3rd 9pm EST. One random winner will be picked.
I will ship anywhere in the world!
I met Sanjeev Kapoor at a book signing, and had an extra copy signed just for this giveaway. The signature says “Veggie Belly Reader, Happy Cooking! Sanjeev Kapoor 
”
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There is a dish I once ate at an Indian restaurant in Berlin (actually it was the first time I ever tried Indian food! It was just last summer
– I do not even remember the name of the dish, but it was a kind of curry or stew, and had raisins and chicken in it. I am Vegetarian since this year, so I would love to first of all remember the name of this dish, and then try a vegetarian version of it, maybe with Tofu?? 
I am just learning how to cook!
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Lori Reply:
June 7th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Lara,
Do you know the name of the restaurant? I’ve only found one really good Indian restaurant in Berlin and I would LOVE to expand on that…
Thanks!
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As usual, the pics are beautiful!! Smoked Eggplant caught my attention – since bharta is my favorite and I thought this sounds something similar. But I was pleasantly surprised with this recipe- will sure try to make this. As for the giveaway, this book is an awesome choice for a giveaway. Thanks Sala – you never fail to stimulate the senses esp eyes and tongue!!
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I am a new reader to your blog and am so glad I found you. (Awesome giveaway!!) I love indian food and am greatly looking forward to adding your recipes to our weekly dinner plan. I used to love to get Garam Masala at restaurants but with my gluten allergy (some curry has wheat added to avoid clumping) I havent been able to order it. So, I would really appreciate the recipe so I can make it gluten free and vegan myself!
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Never heard of placing the smoke source directly into the curry…I have heard of smoking the egg plant first and then making thuvaiyal (like babaganoush). Very neat trick.
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Shobana Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
oops…I forgot to mention that I would like to try Dal makhani at home….creamy
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I love your photographs and recipes. I like Indian chaats very much but havent tried making any at home because my chutneys doesnt turn out the way I like…I would love to make pani puri at home
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I love Samosa and would like to make them but need a really good recipe. The best Samosa I ever had were from a market in Toronto that I visited. I still dream about them. lol
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Hi Sala,
Beautiful pics as usual. And as always I’m intrigued by this dish too and will end up trying it (maybe even tonight except I don’t have charcoal
). As for what I’d like to try in Indian, it would be Avial, which is sooo tasty and yet I haven’t brought myself to trying it (even though I’ve tried far more complicated dishes). Thanks for these pictures! Reading as always,
Jaya
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I would love to try to make vegetable korma. I love the sauce. Thanks for the giveaway!
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Such an interesting method of smoking! And I love eggplant, I should try this… it’s a keeper! Regarding the Indian dishes I would love to try at home, I’m very curious about Indian desserts like rasmalai… I wonder if they could be made at home by an amateur and resemble the original!
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wow.. King pin of an idea to adapt to to eggplant.. beats messing up the stove top trying to roast it. I did read up on this technique in the book, but you’ve really opened up the possibilities..
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baigan bharta! and dosas inspired by yours! mmmm. yum!
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I have never tried making Indian breads, and I would love to know how to make them in a standard kitchen!
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Smoking the curry with a briquette like that is ingenious. I’m going to have to try that. The dish that I’ve never made that I’d like to learn is Dal Makhani. I would love to win this book!
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I would love to make kachoris at home sometime. They seem complicated and I avoid deep frying but I’d love to try it sometime as a weekend project.
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I know it’s supposed to be super simple, but I’ve never made paneer before. Homemade ricotta, yes, but not paneer.
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I have always wanted to make dosa at home, but have never tried.
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I would love to make a good punjabi chole- somehow I have a weird idea of how the punjabi chole should taste
Would love to get my hands on his book (just saw it the other day at the book store!)
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YUM! This looks amazing and I love how the color came out! I’m a huge eggplant fan.. thanks for sharing!
http://chefpriyanka.com
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AWESOME POST AS USUAL. love the step by step pictorial. thanks for the giveaway…I have been wanting to try Butter chicken for ages but not getting that perfet opportunity. either the gathering is too large or the guests are vegetarian…will try the recipe surely but not sure how quick.
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Wow.. this is a fantastic idea to infuse smoke flavoring to any dish. Love it totally. The idea of eggplant is going to make my dad drool for sure. He loves eggplant so much
Would surely give it a try this way to flatter him.
And the give away is so attractive now
Someone is generous enough to ship it anywhere in the world!!! 
So sweet of you 
I have not tried the authentic dum biriyani at home and would love to try it out sometime. It still feels like rocket science to me. Anyways will surely give it a shot sometime.
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Hi am new to ur blog . Love all your recepies.and i must say your pics are absolutely stunning. the smoked baiganis a great new tec to get the smoky flav will try it out .
My kids love paneer makhni but my gravy never gets that resturant taste to it . I would love to learn to get that creamy almost sliken texture to my panner makhni.
Priya
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My mother in law does the thing to smoke raita at home. She adds asefotida and cumin to the charcoal as well and I have never tasted a raita better tasting than hers!
It might sound lame but I have never cooked a gujrati kadhi at home but LOVE it and so does my family.
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Wow….thats an awesome recipe……my grandma used to do it while making biryani and it tasted heavenly……love to try this recipe…..
Giveaway sounds extremely great……nice to know that u had met Sanjeev Kapoor…..glad for u…..and coming to the recipe there are so many which i wanted to try at home……to choose one i stop with naan from scratch…
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What a simple method to make a smoked curry! Thanks for sharing. I’d love to learn how to make Indian chaats.
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Such a lovely giveaway. I have tried making different varities of biriyanis but would like to perfect the art of cooking them.
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I never liked eggplant growing up but finally gave it another shot and I love it now. This recipe sounds great. Bet it would be pretty tasty with paratha – my favorite bread that want to learn how to make. Thanks for your really fresh and yummy website – it is my new fav!
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I love smoked egg plants. I normally make smoked egg plant chutney. But this curry looks wonderful Salaa. When it comes to Indian dishes, I have’nt tried methi malai mutter, Paneer pasanda and I have not tried the bhatura. Guess there is quite a lot to try out!!!
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I’ve been wanting to try papadums but don’t actually know how or if I need any special equipment.
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Puri – I constantly crave my mom’s and should learn to recreate it in my own home.
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I definitely want to try to make homemade samosas. Even making the dough for the wrappers! One day… when I own a rolling pin!
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Paneer butter masala, definitely, before it’s too late!
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That’s a cool way to making smoked curry! Love your vegetarian version!
I really want to try Kashmiri Pulao and Vegetable Kolhapuri!
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Wow, fabulous! That dish is so original. I love the way this curry is smoked.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Smoked recipe in indian cuisine, who would have thought. Actually I’m a big fan of “stuffed baingan” curry my roommate used to make. I haven’t had it in a long time. hmmmm
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Absolutely amazing pictures! Smoked eggplant.. I am surely waiting to try this..
I would really want to recreate Chole-Bhature with a healthy twist. I love the fried Bhature but would love it if I can somehow recreate it without all the oil and deep frying!
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Oh! I’d love this book! Two things I would like to make that I just haven’t attempted yet: samosas because the stuffing and frying seems daunting to me and real biryani, the way it’s made in Chettinad, which has a unique smell and flavor like no other! If only I had veggie belly posts to make both seem “doable”
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I would love to try making malai kofta!
Its a dish I always order in restaurants, just because it seems so labour intensive to make on my own!
From the creamy cashew infused curry to the delicate koftas…one of my favourites!
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Beautiful pictures and cool idea of bringing in the smoky flavor to a dish.
I would love to make perfect biryani, and tandoori roti at home.
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Beautiful website. I must, must try this smoked eggplant. I LOVE eggplant and I LOVE Indian food.
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Hi Sala
First let me compliment you on all the delicious recipes that you post. Thanks for sharing this koyla technique.
I would like to make naan and kulchas at home
Meghana
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I would love to learn how to make korma at home. I make curries sometimes, but I definitely feel like I could use a primer on Indian food generally. It’s always SO much better in restaurants!
Thanks! Meg
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Dum Aloo and Mirch Ka Saalan. I have always these two recipes wanted to make this but am put off by the effort involved!
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This idea looks great. I’m thinking it could even be used when roasting the eggplants on the grill for making baba ganoush.
As for the giveaway, I would love to get better at the spices. I can put together my own garam masala, for example, or curry dishes without following a recipe but it’s never as good as I’d like (though I haven’t spent much time on it either!). I need to figure out the right balance of spices and liquid to make that lovely “sauce” that makes ordinary vegetables and rice so fabulous.
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Thanks for this great tip, I can’t wait to try it! The cookbook looks amazing, I love Sanjeev Kapoor! There are tons of Indian dishes I haven’t tried to make yet…if I had to choose just one I’d say vegetable dhansak, the Parsi dish. Had it in a restaurant off of Brick Lane in London… amazing!
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Great technique! I’m ashamed to say I’ve never tried making my own curry. Looking forward to giving it a shot one day!
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I don’t want to sound like a total suck-up, but I want to make this smoked eggplant curry. It looks scrumptious, and I cannot wait to try it out! I’m new to cooking Indian food, so there are a ton of recipes I look forward to trying out.
As I get the hang of making my own chapatis, I’d also really like to start making my own chutneys.
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Sala, I have been following your food blog and you have been doing a great job putting the recipes and pictures together
The indian recipe that i have not made but would want to try to make is Gujarathi Kadhi, little scared of the part where we have to heat up yogurt…
Archana
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I’d like to make aloo gobi or vegetable korma =)
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I’d like to try my hand at puran polis sometime in the near future.
Thanks for the giveaway!
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That would be tandoori naan! Want to get my hands on an tandoor very soon
I love your blog!
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This looks very interesting. The one dish I had that haven’t conquered making at home home is truly great veggie biryani.
Will have to give this a try as I love eggplant.
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The dish that i would like to make is Samosa & Gulab jamun…
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Sala, Me me me, I’d love to have it.
Such an exquisite giveaway, I am drooling at sight of that book right here! Any Indian who has watches television is sure to know and admire Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
Two dishes I’d like to make someday.
I have never made Paneer Butter Masala ever. Though husband L O V E s ‘anything’ Paneer, somehow the calories in it or the richness of it gives me creeps. I turn to Tofu instead to satisfy my cravings for the Paneer texture.
Second one being Dum Aloo, which I find myself ordering at restaurants, but never made at home for reasons unrealized
BTW, your (Sanjeev’s) koyla technique reminds me of watching the same method used by Maharana of Udaipur when he *cooked* goat curry for Anthony Bourdain in one of his episodes on visiting India. Quite a neat technique to infuse the smoky flavor indeed.
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i would like to prepare marakarikka dosa at home…really love it
hope u got what dish i meant
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BTW, this eggplant curry is so easy, I might even give it a try sometime soon..
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i would like to cook the chicken tikka masala!
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Definitely marking as a “must try” – soon !
Dum Biryani is the one I am hoping to try soon, now that I have the idea to give a smoky flavour.
Would love to have the book added to my collection
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I love to cook with eggplant. I will surely try this over the weekend. I would love to learn how to make a crispy samosa crust(even after it gets cold). I make samosas all the time but the crust doesn’t seem to stay crispy after its cold. So can you please please give me a receipe. I also love to make Sanjeev Kapoor’s receipe. I watch him on TV all the time. Thanks.
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I want to try and perfect the dosa. But after seeing your smoking technique for the Smoked Eggplant Curry, I really want to try that!
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Biryani.
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That looks absolutely delicious. I had some Baghare Baingan at a restaurant recently, and it was incredible; I have to make it.
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saag panneer, biryani, kofti – ahhhhhhhhhh, so many choices!
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ok this post is pulling me in many directions.
first of all, i love the background of the pic – coals! ingenius
second, that dish looks delicious, and nothing like eggplant.
the technique is awesome and so simple!!
finally, that book, i am totally coveting it but what are the odds i win two books from the same site?
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ooh i forgot to answer your question. i have been meaning to make samosas for AGES now. need to get around to doing it.
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I love Indian food, but have never tried cooking it at home! It seems so intimidating, so I would love a good cookbook to guide me. This curry looks amazing!
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Oh my! what a great work of you, Sala!!! I would decide what I would like to try after having this book.
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smoky flavored eggplant my kinda dish, loved your recipe
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GORGEOUS pictures! One of my Pakistani friends used to swear by this method, but I never believed him because it sounded so weird — then I tried it, and I now I do this whenever I can! Thanks so much for sharing!
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This site is THE ONE that gives the gentlemen the confidence for being a great cook (especially when they want to refresh their taste buds’)! Thanks for the yummy recipe! The easy way to do smoking is really a good tip!
)
(Though I read this website frequently, this is the first time I am commenting and that too for the free giveaway! Sorry, but frankly that is the truth!
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Sankaranarayanan Venkatasubramanian Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 5:37 am
I would love to cook multi-layered stuffed paranthas (at least two or three layers – stuffed with different items on each layer – aalu masala in one, gobi masala in the second and veggie/baby corn in the third). I am afraid it will be as thick as a pizza, but want the recipe to make it thin and yet tastier! Appreciate if you can help!
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This method looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. I’ve never made homemade malai kofta but am planning on trying it soon
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Tandoori Chicken is a recipe that I’ve never tried. I would love to make it very soon.
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Vegetarian biriyani (maybe with tofu?) would be nice and somosas. Maybe different koftas. I make a channa dahl kofta curry from an internet recipe that I love but I can’t replicate a different one someone made me once. It had like a green curry. I really want to try this smoked eggplant recipe you posted too. Anyway, now I’m hungry and I want that book
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hmmm. I don’t know where I will find an open flame. I have an electric stove and no grill. Maybe a candle???
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methi roti
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That looks great, have read about a similar smoking technique, but never tried it out. Dont think I have eaten anything with smokey flavour.
Lucky you met Sanjeev Kapoor! Have never tried anything traditionally cooked in a tandoor, such as naan, tikkas etc. Would love to try tandoori paneer.
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Wow lovely idea and beautiful clicks….
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Lovely recipe. I haven’t tried a smoked Indian dish, but would love to try one…
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I want to make biryani and tandoori dishes at home but the biryani recipes I’ve come across seem quite time consuming and complicated and I don’t have a tandoor. This book looks interesting. I love this method for smoking..must try it soon!
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amazing pics… and the dish luks yummy…. i do the smoking for aaloo ka bharta and it tasted awesum….
wud love to try making chaat and biryani at home…. have never gotten myself to doing that…
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I’d love to make my own Naan bread and homemade, slow-cooked Dal. There’s nothing like that simple combination.
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Love the pics …n the background is just so apt ..I saw this method in Khana Khazana ages back…Sanjeev Kapoor used the same thing for some recipe which I can’t remember now …Am going to try this eggplant curry soon …
Abt the recipe I want to make real authentic Malai Kofta.
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It seems there are several curry type recipes for boiled eggs. Pls give us your best.
It should taste like bhuna mutton. Or fish curry taste.
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Totally intrigued by this recipe and dying to try it out myself – thanks so much for the inspiration.
I love prawn puri and would like to give that a go sometime. x
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Hi Sala,
I used to make smoked chicken and paneer using this method and chicken recipe is already in my blog… Lovely pics as always:)… Awesome give away…
I would love to make Bhuna Ghost and Fig Halwa….
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I really want to try making dosas but have never been able to…my dad still raves about them from when he was in India!
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Hey,
Cool technique to smoke the eggplant..Never thought of it this way.. Trust Sanjeev Kumar ot come up with these things..BTW..where did you meet him? Lucky you…He is my most fav chef and would also love to meet him in person..His recipes are always good and his instructions awesome..
I would love to make Medu Vadas at home…I am a southie and have never ever made them…so scared of all the deep frying.. Need to overcome it and make some medu vadas!!
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As I have said earlier, I am really enjoying your blog ..thank you!
And Indian dish that I would love to recreate at home .. the punjabi Kheer that I have had in a Dhaba in UP oh about 25 years ago! I still have to come across Kheer made like that. I wish I could turn back time and learn how they made it!
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I would like to try paneer korma. I like paneer very much. And I would like to find a perfect roti recipe, because i didn’t like the taste when i made it last time from a book.
I like your blog anyway :*
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Newlywed, so there are SO many things to try! I love your recipes! I really want to try that Afghan pumpkin dish that you put up a recipe for, a while ago. I hope you post a lot of fun, easy and quick lunchbox sort of recipes too!! About to start studying for the boards and am depending on my lunchbox contents to brighten my day
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I’d love to try making a Masala Dosa or some of the other wonderful Indian breakfasts. This book looks fantastic so thanks for this chance to win it. Have a great day!
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WOW this is an amazing tip you shared. Can almost feel the smoked flavor .. I am getting so many ideas now
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I just bumped into your website and I must say I like the presentation very much!
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I love cooking Indian food! I haven’t tried making fish pakora yet, but am excited to try soon
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Sushma Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Eggplant/Bhaigan was my childhood favourite vegetable(King of all). But when I started cooking , I could never get it right like my mom used to:(..Love your version of it. Will defintely try one. The one recipe which I have never tried to cook at home and I want to try is Cutlet/Samosa Chaat/Ragada like the ones you get it on Indian Streets. Yumm!
Pics are asusal fabulous.
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Would love to try Dal Makhni
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wow, that smoking thing is INGENIOUS, but when I tried to tell my friend that I just read an article about a wonderful new way for smoking things, he thought I was talking about drugs! hah! I have never tried making momos! Or vegetarian tandoori “chicken”!
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Eggplant/Bhaigan was my childhood favourite vegetable(King of all). But when I started cooking , I could never get it right like my mom used to:(..Love your version of it. Will defintely try . The one recipe which I have never tried to cook at home and I want to try is Cutlet/Samosa Chaat/Ragada like the ones you get it on Indian Streets. Yumm!
Pics are asusal fabulous.
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hi sala,
,…now that u made this curry and give away of the book..my all time favourite chef sanjeev kapoor’s book! i didnt want to miss a chance! i might get lucky and get that book!! 
so my comments adding in the list.
i am a silent reader of ur blog! a (khaitan) fan!
i would like to try crispy kachoris…thin rumali rotis at home!….
great blog with wonderful and easy recipes…keep going…
arathi
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Hi Sala,
wonderful post on eggplant curry, I love eggplant curry. My most favorite Indian curry is kofta curry, i love them with biryani. I hope I’d win Sanjeev kapoor’s book for me to explore into indian culinary world.
Hv a grt wk end!
Tc Abi
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Wow! that pic surely would make anyone drool….. those creamy texture….. I would like to try the Navratan Korma and malai kofta….
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Very good pictorial.. One Indian dish I would like to cook is Jalebi.. haven’t ventured much into deep frying, but would love to make some hot jalebis at home
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