Smoked Baingan Salad

This Smoked Baingan Salad is the perfect accompaniment to serve with your meals – it’s a smoky yogurt with coconut-y flavours combined with fried spiced eggplant. A true flavour bomb!

Love Eggplant? Try my Air Fryer Stuffed Baingan | Baked Stuffed Brinjal, Stuffed Brinjal Curry | Gutti Vankaya | Yengai, Easy Baingan Bharta (Smoky eggplant stir-fry)

Some matches feel like they were made in heaven, and this spiced eggplant and smoked yogurt pairing is one of them.

This is essentially a loaded raita dip recipe but I don’t want to put it in a box – this can go so well with so many meals and cuisines. I love this with some lavash crackers, some toasted sourdough, or even just along with roti and sabzi. You can serve this up as an Indian ‘salad’ appetizer to have just as is, as well! This would also be fantastic along with some biryani or pulao – the smokiness and creaminess will pair perfectly with the spiced fragrant rice.

I really like to serve this when I’m hosting friends over because it’s one of those dishes that comes together so beautifully, presentation wise! The spiced eggplant rounds and onion rings topped with a layer of smoked yogurt look impressive (but all it takes is a few pantry ingredients and easy steps).

All you need is a piece of charcoal to smoke the curd so don’t worry about any complicated equipment or steps – when I say this is an easy recipe, I mean it!

This recipe comes together with less than 10 (and all pantry) ingredients
You don’t need any fancy equipment for this
There’s hardly any chopping or prep work required

Ingredients You'll Need to Make Smoked Baingan Salad

Eggplant/Brinjal/Baingan – one large baingan sliced in a ¼ inch thickness
Onions – two large onions, sliced into rounds
Curd – one cup of homemade or storebought curd, alternatively you can use greek yogurt
Coconut Milk – you can use any kind of coconut milk that you have on hand.
Salt – just a pinch (for both the curd mixture and the marinade)
Sugar – again just a pinch to balance the flavours
Coconut Oil – this is for frying the brinjal, I wouldn’t sub for a neutral oil since this adds another layer of the coconut-y flavours
Kashmiri Chili Powder – 3 big tablespoons for a red & spicy marinade!
Turmeric – just a pinch
Jeera Powder – this will add on to the bold flavours we’ve got going on in this recipe, don’t skip!
Vinegar – just a few tablespoons to form a paste-like consistency for the marinade. Can sub with lemon juice

How to Make Smoked Baingan Salad

1. In a small bowl, prepare the marinade by mixing Kashmiri Chilli Powder, turmeric powder, salt, and jeera powder. Add vinegar gradually, stirring well, until you achieve a thick paste consistency.

2. Rub the marinade all over the baingan slices, ensuring they are evenly coated. Set aside and let it marinate for about 15-20 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together curd, coconut milk, salt, and sugar until well combined.

4. To add a smoky flavour to the curd mixture, you can use a smoking technique. Place a piece of smouldering charcoal in a small heat-resistant bowl or foil. Drizzle a few drops of oil on the charcoal and quickly cover the bowl with the curd mixture. Allow it to smoke for a few minutes to infuse the flavour. Then remove the charcoal.

4. Heat coconut oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the marinated baingan slices in batches until they soften slightly and the marinade cooks a bit. Do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Add more coconut oil to the pan, if needed. Remove the baingan from the pan and set aside.

5. Refrigerate the smoked curd mixture for about 30 minutes to chill and let the flavours meld together.

6. To assemble the salad, arrange the fried baingan slices on a serving platter. Top them with the sliced onion rings. Pour the chilled smoked curd mixture over the baingan and onions, evenly covering the layers. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Richa’s Top Tricks to make the best Smoked Baingan Salad

Smoking the Curd:

To smoke the curd, place a piece of smouldering charcoal in a small heat-resistant bowl or foil. Drizzle a few drops of oil on the charcoal and then place the small bowl inside the larger bowl with the curd. Cover with a lid immediately and allow it to smoke for a few minutes to infuse the flavour. Then remove the charcoal and discard it.

I order my charcoal cubes on Amazon.

If you’re looking to try or serve up a unique looking and tasting side anytime soon, you’ve just got to try this smoked brinjal raita. It’s rare for a side dish to be so packed with flavour – truly infused throughout levels in this recipe, and after making this I’m questioning why that is! I want ALL the flavour, ALL the drama, ALL the presentation even if what I’m serving isn’t the star dish of the night. If you think about it, what makes a main so good is often what it’s served with.

Serve this with my chicken biryani or kabuli chana pulao for the most yum combo! I also have a lot of other traditional raita recipes up for you to try out as well!

I can’t wait to see how you plate this one! Be sure to send me pictures and happy cooking!

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