Boronia: Colombian Eggplant and Plantain Mash

Name: Boronia (Colombian Eggplant and Plantain Mash)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 3 eggplants (peeled and quartered); 2 ripe plantains (the skin should be well darkened: the sweetness is what balances the eggplant); 2 tablespoons oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 1 tsp salt, plus pepper to taste (the teaspoon is for the salt; the pepper goes in the hogao, to taste)

Boronia is a mash of boiled eggplant and ripe plantain, folded through with hogao, the Colombian sofrito of onion, tomato and garlic. It comes from the Caribbean coast and it is sweet, smoky and soft, served hot as a side or a light main. Serves four.

Total: 20

JUMP TO RECIPE

Boronia is eggplant and ripe plantain, boiled soft and mashed together, then folded through hogao, the Colombian sofrito of onion, tomato and garlic. Thick, sweet and savoury at the same time, and on the table in twenty minutes.

It belongs to the Caribbean coast, and it is one of the less famous things Colombia does with plantain.

Boronia, boronía, and the Australian shrub

The name is doing several jobs at once, which is worth untangling.

Boronía in Andalusia is a dish of eggplant and pumpkin with Moorish origins, and the name almost certainly reached Colombia through it. The Colombian version keeps the eggplant and replaces the pumpkin with ripe plantain, which changes the character of the dish entirely: the sweetness is fruitier and there is a plantain softness the Spanish version does not have.

Boronia in English is also a genus of Australian flowering shrubs, and a suburb of Melbourne. Neither is edible, and both are better known online than the dish, which is why this page says Colombian in the title.

Eggplant and plantain, and why both

The pairing is the whole idea and neither ingredient works alone here.

Eggplant boiled and mashed is savoury, faintly bitter and a little smoky, and on its own it is bland and grey. Ripe plantain is sweet, dense and starchy, and on its own it is cloying. Together they hold each other up: the plantain sweetens and thickens, the eggplant cuts through.

Which is why the ripeness matters. A plantain with dark skin has converted its starch to sugar and can do that job. A yellow-firm one is still a starchy vegetable, and boronia made with it tastes of very little.

Hogao, used twice

Onion cooked until translucent, then garlic and peeled tomato, then twelve to fifteen minutes until it stops being separate ingredients and becomes a sauce. That is hogao, and it is the base of a large part of Colombian cooking.

Half of it is stirred into the mash, where it disappears and seasons everything. The other half is spooned over the top, where it stays visible and gives each forkful a sharper, fresher hit.

Make it while the vegetables boil. Both take about the same time, which is what keeps this a twenty-minute dish.

Drain it properly

This is the one place boronia goes wrong, and it goes wrong silently.

Eggplant is mostly water to begin with and it absorbs more while boiling. Mash it straight out of the pot and all of that water goes into the dish, which then sits on the plate as a loose grey slurry instead of a thick purée.

Drain both well and give them a minute in the colander to steam off before you touch them with a fork. There is no fixing it afterwards short of cooking the whole thing down again, by which point the plantain has gone gluey.

Fork or food processor

The recipe allows either and they give different results.

A fork leaves texture, with recognisable pieces of eggplant and plantain, which is how it is usually eaten at home. A processor gives a smooth purée that looks tidier and loses the contrast between the two.

If you use a processor, pulse it rather than running it. Plantain turns gluey when it is overworked, in the same way potato does.

How it is served

Hot, with white rice, and very often next to fried or grilled fish, which is what the coast puts with most things. It also stands on its own with an arepa.

It is more filling than a plate of mashed vegetables sounds, and it reheats well, which is not true of most plantain dishes.

Boronia FAQ

What is boronia?

A Colombian dish from the Caribbean coast: eggplant and ripe plantain boiled until soft, mashed together, and mixed with hogao, the local sofrito of onion, tomato and garlic. It comes out thick, sweet and savoury at once, and it is served hot as a side or a light main.

Is it the same as Spanish boronía?

Related, and not the same. Andalusian boronía is a dish of eggplant and pumpkin with Moorish roots, and the shared name almost certainly travelled to Colombia with it. The Colombian version swaps the pumpkin for ripe plantain, which changes the sweetness completely and makes it a different dish.

What is hogao?

The Colombian sofrito: onion, tomato and garlic cooked down slowly in oil until they collapse into a sauce. It is the base of a great many Colombian dishes. Here half of it goes into the mash and half is spooned over the top, so you get it two ways in the same plate.

How ripe should the plantains be?

Well ripened, with dark skin. Their sweetness is what balances the eggplant, which is savoury and slightly bitter. A green or yellow-firm plantain stays starchy and the dish ends up flat, with nothing to play against the tomato and onion.

Why is my boronia watery?

It was not drained well enough. Eggplant in particular holds a lot of water after boiling, and it carries it straight into the mash. Drain both properly and let them sit for a minute before mashing. There is no way to thicken it afterwards without cooking it down.

What do you eat it with?

White rice is the standard companion, and it goes well with fried or grilled fish, which is what the Caribbean coast tends to serve it alongside. It also works on its own with an arepa. It is filling despite being mostly vegetables.

📖 Recipe