Ghar pe Gourmet: A Minimalist Bharleli Vaangi

Kartik Pendse gives a chef-y and minimalist twist to the humble bharleli vaangi, using a chilli peanut butter sauce.

As children, my brother and I despised the brinjal and so, my mother would put in a lot of vegetables like potatoes in it. The potatoes were for us and the brinjal was for my parents. Now that I think about it, it was an efficient modification for easier meal planning for the family. This recipe is my tribute to one of those brinjal dishes, the bharleli vaangi , with my chef-y perspective. 

We had some leftover brinjals from a food trial that had happened at my house and thus came the opportunity to make this dish. 

Recipe for Bharleli Vaangi

Ingredients
3-4 long brinjals
10-15 dried whole Kashmiri chillies 
2 tbsp unsweetened peanut butter (reduce the honey if you have sweetened peanut butter)
1 carrot
3 tbsp honey 
1 tbsp butter
2-3 slices of bread (better if its stale) 
1 lime/lemon 
10-12 leaves of basil (or any fresh herb) 

Method 

Wash the brinjals and slice vertically. Make a cross-section on the surface and season with salt and olive oil. Bake in a pre-heated oven (170°C) for approx. 45 minutes.
De-stem the chillies and heat in the microwave with water for a minute to accelerate the soaking process 
Use a mandolin slicer/peeler for thin cuts of the carrot. Mix in a tsp of honey and a tbsp of butter and cook in the microwave for around two minute (in 30 second bursts ) and keep aside.
Blend the soaked chilies into a paste (with some water if needed). 
Add two tablespoons of the chilli mixture to a pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Add a tablespoon of peanut butter, along with some water to bring to a sauce-like consistency.
Season with salt and a teaspoon of honey. Switch off the flame and add lime zest and fresh basil.
Coarse blend some stale bread and sauté in butter until toasty gold.
To plate: spread the chilli peanut sauce on the plate and place the baingan followed by the buttered carrots. Drizzle some honey and garnish with the bread crumbs and some more basil.

Kartik Pendse is a chef and food entrepreneur who has spent all his working life with food and all that this deceptively simple word stands for. Kartik is the chef and restaurateur behind the much-loved Fooze (now closed). He is presently heading up his second venture, Scribble Foods.
Photos by Nachiket Pimprikar.

ALSO ON GOYA