Kashmiri Recipes Meet Eggplant Recipes In This

Chok Wangun

Recipe

Kashmiri chok wangun recipe, or khatte baingan recipe, is a brinjal curry with no onion or garlic, a hallmark of many traditional Kashmiri recipes, where asafoetida and dry ginger powder step in to do the aromatic work those two usually handle elsewhere in Indian cooking. What's left is a dish that tastes distinctly different from any brinjal recipes elsewhere, and has a sharper, tangier and more homely taste, using tamarind rather than tomato for its sourness. The technique of this chok wangun recipe starts with deep-frying the brinjals, usually featuring the slim, long violet Kashmiri brinjals, in mustard oil until they're a deep golden-brown all over. Mustard oil is important here as its distinct pungent flavour carries through the entire dish in a way a flavourless oil simply can't replicate. Frying the brinjals fully before they go anywhere near the gravy is also important for the texture of the vegetable, and helps them develop a charred flavour, plus retain their shape once they're simmered. The gravy of this chok wangun recipe is where the no-onion-no-garlic character really comes through. A tempering of cumin seeds and a pinch of asafoetida in hot oil forms the base, followed by turmeric and Kashmiri red chilli powder, both added off direct heat or with some water so they don't scorch and turn bitter. Fennel powder and dry ginger powder go in next, and both are doing the job normally split between fresh ginger, garlic and a longer-cooked onion base. Because it keeps well, this is also a dish that's traditionally made a day ahead for weddings and larger family gatherings.