Audrey III Returns as Stuffed Baby Eggplant at Banana Leaf Restaurant!

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Audrey II appeared on my plate at Banana Leaf Restaurant Indian restaurant!  Look at the resemblance to this plate of  Bharvaan Baingan.  

But this time we got to devour Audrey II (unlike Little Shop of Horrors).  We adored Chef Vadivel Kasirsian’s Bharvaan Baingan, instantly honoring it as another out of this world creation.

Bharvaan Baingan, is made with baby eggplants stuffed with an astonishing, mix that is both tangy with just enough lingering heat in it.  This being said, Chef Vadivel, chuckled, reminded us that the heat can be turned up to any level.

Flavors brought out by the “tadka” technique, added to the dashing colors and the textures, give it the satisfaction to rival an animal protein. Because the eggplant fruit is fleshy and savory, it is frequently cooked as a vegetable – and this dish is vegetarian.

Tamarind paste heads up the list of Bharvaan Baingan ingredients and lends it such a satisfying feel.  Turmeric and chili powder infuse it with their usual brilliant red-orange coloring.  Layers of flavor are added with coriander, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, garlic powder, garlic and usually dried coconut.

These ingredients are then cooked in oil with mustard seeds, red chilies, and curry leaves.  The key here, though is that the ingredients are tempered with a special technique, known as “tadka.”  Whole or ground spices are briefly roasted in oil or ghee.  This releases the essential oils of the mixture and makes the flavor more aromatic. In English it is called known as “tempering.”.

Small baby eggplants, peel, seeds and all, are used. After I finished the dish for the first time and left the eggplant peel, as you would with a western versions, I was told that the skin is eaten.  And so I did. It was wonderful. 

The very little eggplants, so common in India, can be found in Indian and Asian grocery stores.  The little babies do not store well and should be used quickly. 

Brinjal and baingan on a historic and fun note, are both names for the egg-shaped “eggplant” fruit. Brinjal is a less common name used for eggplants, mostly by South Asians (such as Indians) and Sri Lankans.

Brinjal or baingan goes by different names in different parts of the world.  In North America, or course, it is “eggplant.” in England as Aubergine is the English and French term, also often used in fashion to describe a rich, purple color.  

The dish may be fit for royalty, but starts with humble beginnings as the “common man’s vegetable” in India because it is popular amongst small-scale farmers and low income consumers.  

Nevertheless, “We gave the vegetable to the rest of the world. The Turks, the Italians and everybody else took it from us,” writes Vir Sanghvi in the Hindustan Times.

“The Turks, the Italians and everybody else, took it from us,” he happily boasts. “They may give it fancy names. But it is an ancient Indian vegetable. It appears in all our ancient texts – even our epics – and we have had the first ever name for it: the Sanskrit vrantakam from which the Hindi baingan came. As for the Arabic name of which so much is made, well it looks like Badinjan but it actualy) is derived from the Sanskrit vrantakam.”

As for me, I’ll take it with any name.  And this includes Audrey II.