Instant Pot Easy Aloo Baingan Masala (Indian Potatoes and Eggplant)

Aloo baingan masala is a hearty vegetarian Indian dish made up of spiced potatoes and eggplant. It’s so simple to make and delicious too!

Aloo baingan masala is a dish where potatoes and eggplant are cooked in a tasty spiced onion tomato sauce. It sounds like it takes a while to make but you can actually have the whole thing done in 15 minutes – from prep to placing it onto the dinner table. Really! With a 4 minute cook time and no need to wait for pressure to release, this dish is an absolute breeze to make. As long as you’ve got my pre-made onion masala ready to go that is!

Okay, okay before you say “I knew there was a catch” just hear me out! If you spend a bit of time making a batch of onion masala one day, you will save you SO much time when it comes to cooking Indian recipes! This is how a lot of Indian people are able to cook Indian dishes daily. This is our way of “meal prepping.” We make a batch of masala and cook up fresh meals in minutes. Plus, it’s so easy to make onion masala in an Instant Pot.

I’m sharing everything you need to know about this magic masala in an onion masala series that I’m sharing on the blog this month. This recipe for aloo baingan is part of the series! Check out this post to learn all about the series. The gist: I’m sharing recipes that call for exact amounts of onion masala to help make Indian cooking easier for you on a daily basis.

There are many different ways to make aloo baingan – you can play with the spices as well as the texture of the dish. It’s kind of amazing how this dish can really vary in flavor. For example, I have a delicious achari aloo baingan recipe which is made without tomatoes and with completely different spices. I also use whole small eggplants in that recipe so the texture is different too.

This recipe for aloo baingan is more like a sabzi that you’d scoop up with an Indian flatbread though you can certainly serve it with basmati rice too. It has some gravy but it’s not a super soupy curry. The eggplant is soft and mashed which means that every bit of it is full of flavor and the potatoes are cooked until perfectly tender. If you’ve ever had bharta before, it’s sort of like that but with potatoes. You’ll love it!

I feel like there are certain veggies that soak up flavor extraordinarily well and potatoes and eggplants are certainly on that list (along with cauliflower of course). This dish requires minimal effort (again, as long as you have the masala ready to go) and makes for a perfect and healthy weeknight meal. The potatoes add body to the dish and also make it more filling.

If you make this dish, I’d love to hear what you think! And be sure to check out all of my other onion masala recipes as well!

Instant Pot Aloo Baingan Masala

Instant Pot Aloo Baingan Masala

5 from 13 reviews

Pin Recipe Print Recipe

Servings 4 -5

Ingredients

 

• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ ½ - 1 serrano pepper minced (adjust to taste)
• ▢ 2-3 medium gold potatoes approx. 1 pound, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• ▢ 1 medium to large eggplant approx. 1 ½ pounds, chopped
• ▢ ¼ cup water
• ▢ ½ cup frozen or fresh/thawed onion masala (click here for recipe)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garam masala
• ▢ Cilantro garnish

Instructions

 

• Press the sauté button then add the oil and allow it a minute to heat up. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and serrano pepper to the pot. When the cumin seeds turn brown, add the remaining ingredients (I don't even bother mixing).
• Secure lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 4 minutes at high pressure.
• Open the valve to quick release any remaining pressure.
• Mix well, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Notes

• This recipe is part of my onion masala series – be sure to check it out!

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