Eggplants in Chilli Paste (Terong Balado)

Okay, where do I start with this dish? That’s just it – I’m always out of words when it comes to anything balado.

Ah, let me first explain what balado is. It is essentially chilli mixture. It’s tangy, sweet-ish and, of course, spicy. It originates from West Sumatra (Minang), Indonesia. The cool thing about this balado is, once you have the basic chilli mixture down, you can add virtually anything to it. There’s egg balado or dendeng balado, just to name a few – the closest I can translate dendeng to is probably jerky. Or in this post’s and recipe’s case: terong, eggplants.

Typically, Chinese eggplants are used for this dish. I understand, however, that they are not common type of veggies that your local grocer usually carry. Therefore, it can totally be substituted by the usual eggplants or aubergines you find in your local supermarket. If you do, however, I’d recommend either steaming or baking the eggplants instead of deep frying them. Otherwise, you might end up with too greasy a dish, since the eggplants have to be deep fried first (more of this below) and the ‘usual’ eggplants absorb much more oil, when deep fried.

As with all my recipes, I try to keep them simple and quick. I do have two little boys, so everything needs to be zap-ish (did I just invent a word there? :D) However, this one does need a little TLC, but I promise it’s minimum. Especially the chilli mixture. It needs to cook until all the water has evaporated and renders its own oil. However, you need to watch over it so that it doesn’t scorch. But all in all, it’s pretty much my usual dump-and-mix kinda recipe. 🙂

Anyway, you start cutting the eggplants into about 10cm logs and split them in halves and deep frying them until they are soft. If you want a healthier option, you can steam them. Simply put the pieces into a steamer dish and steam until they are tender. You can also bake them, though you will have to drizzle a bit of oil to help things going. Put the pieces on a baking sheet that’s been lined with parchment paper and bake at 210˚C degrees for 15 minutes. I personally prefer baking them, because they can bake away in the oven while the chilli mixture is cooking. Thus, cutting the cooking time by about a quarter. 🙂

So, if you’re baking the eggplants, you can actually start by getting the chilli mixture going first. And here, all you have to do is combine almost all ingredients and blend with a submersion mixer. I like using the submersion mixer because it gives me that smooth-ish chilli paste, but I can still see some bits and pieces. A food processor is totally fine, but you’ll probably get a more chunky paste. If that’s your preference, you can totally opt for the food processor. When you have the mixture, you’ll need to cook and reduce this mixture with the rest of the aromatics. And just before serving, you just have to toss the baked/fried/steamed eggplants until everything is coated with that beautiful chilli paste.

A little note on the chillis: If you’re intrigued to try this recipe but can’t stand the heat, have no fear! All you have to do is de-seed the chillis, because that’s where the heat is coming from. Simply split the chillis in half and using a teaspoon or the back of your knife, run it along the chilli and remove the seeds. Just make sure you don’t rub your eyes or touch your face before you wash your hands thoroughly, though. Because it’ll burn like nobody’s business. Or, if you have some lying around, wear gloves in the process. 🙂

I really hope you try making this dish. And, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments section and I’ll get back to you ASAP!

Cheers, Revi