Badanekai Gojju/ Roasted Eggplant

Brinjal/Egg Plant/ Aubergine is a vegetable native to India. I was rather surprised even Okhras, Chillies and Tur dal were not actually native to India which has so much become a part of our diets these days. So Brinjal happens to be a vegetable which our ancestors feated on. No wonder every part of India has delicious brinjal dishes. and a variety of it too.
So Here is one recipe which my grandmom makes and is a very very rustic dish. I remember watching an old Kannada movie with Rajkumar and Leelavathi. In the movie Leelavathi prepares this dish using eggplants and chilles from the neighbours back yard to serve guests(because they are poor they cannot afford an elaborate feast.. is how the story goes)
This is going to be my second entry to the event SWC Karnataka .


My grandmother used to make this dish very often, and it has been my favorite dish. She used to tell me as a kid that during her younger days, they had wood fired stove in the kitchen. Apart from the soot, inconvenience, the stoves imparted a fine smoky aroma to everything that was cooked on the stove. I vouch for it too! This is one such dish that is best when made on open wood fire. My grandmothers trick was fairly simple. Once she had cooked breakfast, she would just burry a few brinjals in the dying embers of the stove. And check on the brinjals only after the embers had died down and just ashes remained. She would crush some chillies, garlic and Chopped some onions and mix it with the now skinned charred brinjals. And then the best part.. eating it!!! Here is an updated version

Brinjal/egg plants/ Aubergines (the Indian purple round variety) 6-8
Green chillies 3 and above
Coriander chopped 1 cup
Garlic 3 cloves
Shallot 5 diced
Salt
Lime Juice

Method:

• For this particular dish, pick the meatiest of the brinjals, the plumpier the better. Wash and wipe the brinjals dry. Spray some cooking spray on the brinjal. Trasfer it onto a foil lined cookie tray and broil it in the oven till the skin is charred. That works out to be between 12-15 minutes in my oven. Keep an eye though, it does not take long for it to burn completely.
• Once done, remove and keep it aside to cool. Mean while. Heat a non stick pan. Punch some holes in the chillies. Toast the chillies in the hot pan. No oil is required. Once the chillies starts developing black char spots remove and set aside. 
• Toast diced shallots till almost translucent. Set aside. Toast the garlic cloves too till it develops black char spots and remove from fire.
• When the brinjal is cool enough to handle, gently peel away the charred skin. It should come off easily. Chop the flesh fine almost mashing it. 
• Mash the garlic and chillies and mix into the chopped brinjal. Stir in the shallots and the rest of the ingredients. Else dump everything except the shallots into a food processor and pulse it till it reaches a salsa like consistency. Finally mix in the shallots. The idea is to keep the shallots chunky so that it adds texture to the dish.
• It is served cold with hot Ragi balls/ Ragi mudde or steamed rice and ghee!

This dish regardless makes me feel that i am inches away from heaven!
I now realise this is a fat free dish. What a way to eat healthy.. I need to make it more often.