I'm a huge fan of trying new things. Snails? Sure. Ants? Bring 'em on. Geoduck? Yum.



But sometimes the most exciting new food experiences aren't primary elements but flavors.

Take, for example, this recipe from Lord Krishna's Cuisine for baingain aloo charchari, AKA char-cooked eggplant and potatoes. As Serious Eats notes, although Westerners "tend to think the full range of Indian main dishes consists of wet curries and tandoor-cooked meats [,t]here are actually a huge array of cooking techniques"—and, I would add, ingredients—"used throughout the subcontinent ... never seen in American restaurants."

Baingain Aloo Charchari includes only a few unusual ingredients, but those are more than enough to make it seem exotic even to someone who's accustomed to fiery, coriander-studded Indian curries and tandoori lamb stained yellow by tablespoons of turmeric. They include: Curry leaves—the astringent, slightly bitter leaf of a deciduous Himalayan tree that is not actually an ingredient in traditional curries (buy in bulk at your local Asian supermarket and freeze)—and asafoetida, a pungent red spice that's frequently used as an antiflatulent in lentil- and eggplant-based dishes. Additionally, I added a nontraditional (but—I think—ethnically appropriate) quarter-teaspoon of amchur—unripe mango dried and ground into a powder.

How did it taste? Astonishing—sweet, tart, sour, savory, spicy, and bold. The curry leaves added a bitter, bay-leaf-like kick, while the asafoetida and amchur contributed citric, exotic undertones. I don't have many recipes featuring either ingredient, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of them now.

Recipe below the jump.

Baingain Aloo Charchari

Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2  tablespoons butter (or omit the vegetable oil and use 4 tablespoons of ghee)

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 serrano chiles, seeded and slivered

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder

6 curry leaves

1 1/4 pounds waxy potatoes, 1-inch dice

1 medium eggplant, about 1 pound, unpeeled, 1-inch dice

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspooon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon amchur (dried mango) powder, optional

garnish: cilantro and thinly sliced green onions

Procedure

1. In a large, fairly deep pot (like a Dutch oven), heat the oil and butter over a medium flame. Add the mustard seeds, ginger, chiles and Asafoetida powder. Fry until the mustard seeds begin to pop.

2. Immediately add all of the remaining ingredients (except the garnish) and 1 1/4 cup of water. Stir once, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cover lightly, enough so that some steam will cook the top layer of vegetables. You don't want to serve raw eggplant. Or potatoes.

3. Without stirring, cook until the vegetables are quite tender. If necessary, add a bit more water but no more than a couple tablespoons at a time.

4. When the vegetables are done, remove the lid, raise the heat slightly, and cook until the liquid is gone and you hear a frying/sizzling sound on the bottom of the pot. You can probe the bottom a little with a spoon to see what is going on. You aren't looking for burned food—when you can feel a little bit of crust forming, turn off the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Then stir it all together, garnish, and serve.