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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WOW, the smoked eggplant curry looks so yummy!! I’m from Malaysia , a simple guy who I luvs cooking… with such great recipes and ideas in ur site, everyone can be vegetarians..
I would really luv trying out a nice delish paneer butter masala recipe and impress my family and friends…never tried cooking with paneer before.. but luv the taste.
I think the book will be a god send…with so many more recipes and cooking techniques , who knows I might just get the attention of girl after eating my cooking !! ..yeah I’m still single
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You have officially blown my mind with this. What a wonderful idea (and it makes perfect sense). I don’t think I’ve made any Indian dishes (2011 bucket list)… but the one I’m dying to try is saag paneer.
And this, of course.
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I’d love to try making my own Naan!
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I have never made this eggplant curry. And wllmost definitely try it because I love eggplant. But another dish I wouldmlike to try is a Chick Pea Korma. Thanks for a great blog!
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Hi Sala,
I am a hardcore non-veggie and for me to stop and look at a veggie site and drool is definitely a difficult task and you have given me ample opportunities to do so in the past couple months since I first discovered your blog. Your Smoked Eggplant Curry is one perfect example. I have tried several of your recipes and loved them thoroughly. Thanks for an amazing blog!
These are two dishes I have always wanted to learn to cook, 1. Appams and 2. a mean & spicy Konkani crab curry.
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I’d love to learn how to make Dahl. We have a couple who come around fortnightly for dinner who are vegetarian, so we’re always looking for new things to cook. Indian cooking has so many amazing options for vegetarians, but I haven’t yet been game to give it a try at home myself. I’m sure with Sanjeev’s help, I could impress!
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This recipe looks delicious thanks to the beautiful photographs, and it sounds delicious thanks to the alluring ingredients. Eggplant season is right around the corner, so I’ll definitely be trying this one. Indian food is my all-time-favorite food weakness, but it rarely turns out right at home. We frequent the our favorite Indian restaurant here at home so often, they know us by name!
I’d love to be able to master Paneer Masala!
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I would love to try making a healthier version of pakoras at home. I really like them, but try to avoid deep fried foods as much as possible. This book looks incredible.
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I always think about making samosas but the deep frying thing makes me hesitate. I am trying lots of new dishes though with the help of food blogs like yours.
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I am new to both vegetarian cooking and indian cooking but am an eager, more mature student. I have recently planted a vegie patch and am keen to put all my produce to good use. I would love to make paranthas and my son loves the idea of palak paneer – so much to learn and so many recipes to try. I love the idea of the smoked eggplant but not sure I can access coal in Adelaide, Australia but will certainly start asking around. Thank you for a wonderfully inspiring website.
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Hi Sala,
This dish looks really yummy. There are a lot of Indian dishes that I have not tried to make at home, especially lot of Indian sweets. The one that I have been wanting to try is rosagulla.
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I havent made most ANY Indian dishes at home but this cookbook would change all that for me!
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Absolutely wonderful photographs, Never knew you can actually use a charcoal to infuse the food and yet very tempting recipe! Would be trying it for sure coz i adore eggplants and been following your blog for a while to get inspirations for veggie-cooking.
The one dish i would love to make is but havent tried yet is – Veggie spring rolls or a veggie version of Japanese Sushi food.
Thank you for putting this together xx
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I’m a novice when it comes to cooking Indian food. My favorite dish to eat is Chana Masala. So that’s where I’d like to start.
Thank you!
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I have not made saag paneer at home, but would love to try to some day. I really want to make the cheese myself as well.
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I’m new to the world of Indian cooking (although a faithful eater of Indian food
), so right now I’d just love to learn how to cook naan!
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this recipe sounds awesome and the book sounds great too
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Wuh!right time. Lovely recipe salah. BTW,i wanted to try Laddo, Mysore pak, haleem, khandvi and bhagara bhaingan.:)
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I’d love to make a vegan versions of Saag Paneer and Badam Halwa…thanks!
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Caroline Reply:
July 25th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
This is a very old comment, but I have successfully used tofu in place of paneer for vegan guests. Yeah, tofu might be pretty typical and boring for a vegan, but in the dish, it truly picks up the flavor and matches the texture best. If there is cream involved in your chosen recipe, there are many vegan “dairy” substitutes.
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my next project is stuffed parathas … many thanks for the giveaway, great blog!
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What a wonderful give away! Love Indian cooking to spice up a vegetarian diet!
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In the last year I have moved to Paraguay and found that I cannot get many spices. The eggplant curry is something I can get all ingredients for and look forward to trying. I have often wondered how restaurants impart the smoky flavour, now I know, thank you. I have never made a xacutti curry and would like to know how that is made.
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I have little experience with home cooking Indian dishes. I’d love to learn. Thanks for the opportunity to receive the book.
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Hi Sala,
This eggplant curry sounds sooo delicious–I have never tried smoking my food before so this will be a first. I am a college student who loves cooking when I have the time away from study. I come from a strong Korean heritage so I enjoy the spice of Indian foods but I have yet to conquer the art to Indian cooking! I am vegetarian so I do my best to make sure I get all the nutrition I can with a variety of vegetables, grains and fruits. My boyfriend is Indian (his family is from Chennai) and we always try to cook together especially when he can get his mother on the phone to help us out! I have always wanted to make Palak Paneer or Masala Dosa but haven’t got around to it yet. Hopefully I will get to it at some point in the school year!
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Hi Sala
Just loved the recipe of smoked egg plant. I have become a big fan of your blog and the photographs are fantastic!!
The tutorial is very very helpful. Thanks a ton for explaining in such detail. Seeing your photos I am all the more motivated to shift fro AV mode to manual.
The one dish I would love is cook at home is the Vegetable Sizzler. It is hubby’s and my fav.
Thanks again..
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This is a wonderful brilliant way to smoke curries…I have to try this…thanks for sharing
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Would love to try try Mysorepak at home. Never have managed to do it. But that is one sweet I would love to do it every weekend.
Love your blog. Wonderful work and thanks for the inspiration.
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hey. one indian dish i would love to try at home is the quintessential Paneer Makhanwala aka Paneer Butter Masala. No matter what I do, getting that perfect taste has been really difficult.
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I’d love to dedicate a day (it seems like a daunting enterprise) to tackle malai kofta. It varies so much from restaurant to restaurant!
I’ve finally got my pantry stocked with the Indian cooking basics and I’m ready to go.
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OOoooo.. I have so many in my list and on top of it right now is dal makhani… i just love the one i order from delhi darbar here. I wish i could just recreate the dish at home.
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Oooo…. There are so many recipes I am yet to try but currently on top of my list is Dal Makhani. I love the one I order for Delhi Darbar, and wish to recreate it someday.
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What a brilliant technique for smoking a dish! I’ll definitely have to try this curry, eggplant is one of my favorite veggies. I have yet to try to make my own flatbread, like naan, paratha, or roti. I’d love to try but I’ve been a little afraid I wouldn’t cook them right.
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This looks so interesting – what a great technique! Looks really delicious – yum!
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Smoked eggplant curry is one I would LIVE to try!! Looks so good!! YUM
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came across your post by way of TasteSpotting. i will definitely have to try this! what a neat idea!
i’ve cooked a couple indian dishes, my fav being aloo gobi, but one dish i adore and yet have never tried – a simple yet rich goat curry.
mmmmmmmm
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I’ve been dying to make paneer makhani or kofta at home, but this recipe looks amazing. The other two may have to wait in line. It sounds so simple too!
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i’ve tried making naan and failed miserably, ending up with a hard crispy disk. i want to redeem myself and hopefully end up with something flaky and buttery and delicious.
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Looks amazing. Love the idea of smoking it.
I would like to make my own paneer to make saag paneer. It looks so easy to make, but I just haven’t gotten around to trying it.
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What an interesting technique for smoking! I just tried making naan “ish” bread..without a tandoor it isn’t nearly as good..next i want to try aloo parathas.
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Hi Sala;
My daughter is a budding chef with a dream of opening a restaurant. For her upcoming 12th birthday, I registered her in a vegetarian Indian cooking class. I know she’ll be excited to learn from a professional chef, and eager to return home where she can recreate an Indian meal for her family. ‘How to Cook Indian’ would be a lovely addition to my daughter’s birthday celebration, cookbook collection, and her love of ethnic cooking.
As for what recipe I’d like to try… I love mango (I know, I know. You’re cringing!). I’d like to wow my husband with a foolproof mango lassi recipe (and now you’re probably gagging). Previous attempts have been moderate at best. I’d also like to make (and eat) two of my favorite comfort foods: mango chutney and homemade samosas – both of which are recipes I’m sure to find in ‘How to Cook Indian.’
Keeping my fingers crossed – and thanking you for the mouth-watering recipes.
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The one Indian dish that I love to eat and have not tried to make at home is
‘rasmalai’. Awesome post, love the idea of smoking a curry!
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I LOVE Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipes!!!!
I’d love to know how to make a good carrot halwa (my husband’s favorite) and jalebis (my favorite)!!!!
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I just love rumali roti and get it every time we eat out when visiting India but have never attempted to see if its even doable at home. Seems like you’d need a lot of skill for the rolling and tossing! YOur eggplant recipe is something I’m going to try this week. Thanks!
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Oh Wow! I always suspected and later found out that they used coal in the countless restaurants I had eaten to give Indian food that smokey flavour, but never knew how, till I saw your gorgeous pictures!!
I have never made Tandoori Chicken and Naan the authentic way, and I would love to!!
Thanks for offering this awesome giveaway
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My once had a “paruppu usuli’ made with Banana flowers, super exotic and delicious in taste , I would love to make it at home.
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I want to make pathra/pathrode. have no idea what leaf or filling to use. Would love to find that recipe.
Thanks for sharing a “smoking” tip….I tried it out (borrowed a coal piece from nextdoor) and the curry tasted awesome.
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i would love to learn how to make palak paneer. my spouse is a chef.. i would love to try some new indian recipes
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I am intrigued by this recipe and many others on this site. As an american that lived in england many years I developed a taste for Indian food. Have you ever thought of how many americans do not know many of the spices and items used in the Indian delicasies? I would be sooo excited to win this book!
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I’ve always wanted to try making Chatti Pathiri (12 layer Malayalee dish), this is very interesting and a vegetarian version would be absolutely superb. It’s great for lunch, brunch or entertaining in general. It’s also an easy way to add more veggies into your family’s diet. This dish is one I plan to tackle this summer, I’m sure it will be worth the effort and also allow me to explore the delicious cuisine of Kerala
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Would love to try this featured recipe. This method of smoking a dish has escaped the Food Network peeps. Have never seen this method but would luv to try it out. I adore all types of mid-east food and spices. The only dish I have made myself : http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/baingan-bharta-recipe-punjabi-baingan-bharta-recipe/
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Hi, The smoked curry sounds wonderful! For a long time, I’ve been toying with the idea of building a tandoor. I found instructions on the net about 10 years ago. Those particular ones are gone, but I’ve found others:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Garbage-Can-and-Flower-Pot-Tandoor-Oven/
http://www.ehow.com/how_5997389_homemade-tandoor-clay-oven.html
I’ve also thought about making a cob oven. Anyway, I would love to be able to bake naan and real tandoor chicken.
I also would like to be able to make Butter chicken.
Wishing myself luck!
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I never thought smoking a dish was as simple as this. Thanks for sharing!
I would love to make a ‘good’ veg korma at home. My husband makes a really good biryani and I can cook up a mean palak paneer, but we have never tried a korma. Maybe if we win the book we could start trying delicious new recioes
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I really enjoy reading your blog. The recipes and the photographs are fabulous. I have never cooked with charcoal and I can’t wait to make this smoked eggplant curry. I have read about this method before but it just seemed too complex. You have captured it beautifully with the photos and really makes it seem simple and easy.
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Sala, this is such a great idea. I am for sure teaching this is my class. Hmm, I am trying to think what of what Indian dish I have not made at home- Koftas. I have not yet made vegetable kofta with sauce. Would love Sanjeev Kapoor’s cook book
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There is so much I haven’t tried yet. The more I cook, the more I realize I don’t know. I really want to try samosas at home but I keep feeling intimidated by it! I should go for it and see what happens!
I love that you made a veggie adaptation of a main meat dish. That opens up a whole new world of recipes!
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Smoked eggplant sounds uber cool. Although I’m not too sure about reproducing this in my dorm room. I’ve tried your other recipes but bringin’ in a charcoal….errr…lol
Nevertheless, will get my mom to experiment it.
Love your site much.
Cheers
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bel puri!
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Love love love Veggie Belly !!! Esp. ur lovely photography
Makes every food u make ‘try-it-rite-now’ good !!!
The one dish I love to make is Kalakhand. Its my absolute favourite and would love to learn to make it at home !!
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I would love to try to make Naan and have been seaching for the perfect Dal recipe.
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great giveway!!! Nope, excusing myself from the drawing (I already have one from the NJ book signing) , but I’d really like to try making dishes from Bengal!
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Awesome.. of course who doesnt want a sanjeev kapooor book!
i’d say i probably want to try this smoked eggplant dish, since i havent tried any such smoked dish!
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Despite it being my favorite genre of food, I’ve never tried making anything Indian myself (well except naan). There are so many things I would like to try.
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Hiya!
Nice technique with the charcoal. love dishes with smoky flavour. Sooo going to try this with paneer or mushroom. One dish I haven’t tried at home and dreading to try is malai kofta! hope u come up with a easy recipe for that soon!
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I would love to make masala dosa
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Being a vegetarian in the US is a slightly difficult task and not having my mother here to instruct me in the finer points of cooking is another impediment. I would love to have Sanjeev Kapoor’s book. I was a big fan of his back in India and used to sit on Sundays to note down his recipes. I remember how I forgot to note down certain key ingredients and the recipe would not turn out as expected.
. I hope you pick me for the giveaway book. There, I rest my case.
I have been returning to your website time and again and have a huge list of stuff I want to try out from here. The one thing I screwed up and want to try again is Burnt Eggplant curry that Aarti Sequeira (Food Network Star) had made. I ended up making it extremely burnt.lol .I threw it eventually. That’s what caught my eye about this recipe, this looks like a much safer saner version and probably have the same smokiness to it. I would love to try it. Here’s my blog if you are interested. I made a Radish Kofta curry recently – https://arwenevenstar.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/radish-kofta-curry/
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Lovely Blog !!! Been following it for quite some time !!!
Something that i would love to try is the Bhagara Baingan ……
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The book is beautiful!! I’ve never tried a korma, and it is one of my favorite curries.
Thank you for your wonderful blog- amazing recipies, great writing, and beautiful photos!
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I may have missed t deadline but its OK… I would like to cook Indian dessert like ladoo gulab jamun etc…
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Hey Sala,
Thanks for the book. Looking forward to it.
Regards,
Shil
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Thanks for sharing this useful way of getting the smoley flavour> Recipe looks good!!
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Wow, this looks so yummy. I’ve been wanting to learn to make Indian curries for awhile and this recipe looks like a great place to start. Eggplant curry is my usual when I go out for Indian cuisine. Thanks for the recipe!
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Oh, we do that all the time in Rajasthan. I learned it from my mother. Except that we put the piece of hot coal on a small circle of rolled out chapatti dough instead of a bowl. (Be sure to throw out the dough after you’re done.) So if you don’t have a small stainless steel bowl you can always make a bowl out of dough. Works great.
Nice blog! Cheers.
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Me and my fiance have just made this dish. It turned out really delicious with this “smoked” touch to it. We followed the recipe but we didn’t have garlic and ginger paste so we used fresh minced garlic and ginger and we doubled the recipe (fortunately:)) Also it turned out quite soupy, not thick. Do you know what may be the reason for that?
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
July 2nd, 2011 at 9:52 pm
glad you liked it! the more you cook the curry the thicker it will get. also some tomatoes are juicier than others. if you want it thicker, cook the gravy longer (uncovered).
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ula Reply:
July 3rd, 2011 at 4:02 pm
thanks! we’ll try that:)
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Your Mushroom Tikka Masala looks wonderful and I plan to try it soon. Hope it turns out well
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am a student. can u help me with paneer .. so that i can cook paanner n i wannaa serve my frdss with delicious paneer currry
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
February 8th, 2012 at 5:17 am
you can make this curry and use store bought paneer instead of the eggplant. I also have another easy paneer curry – http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/10/paneer-tomato-curry.html
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wo…… this recepie really looks wonderful Indian cooking is so versatile that no matter how good cook u r but there r so many tastes ,flavours ,methods that i always think it is not easy to know the authentic ways of indian cooking ,but thanks to u & Sanjeeev kapoor .I would love to learn making smoked fish at home .Really very despirate to know more about Indian cooking .
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I made this tonight and my husband loved it. This is my second Indian recipe I have made from scratch and it is “so far so good”! I love your blog. You are definitely one talented lady.
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A mouth-watering dish, loved it very much. Thanks for sharing and I must say you have wonderful recipes in your awesome blog.
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