Ingredients
1 big eggplant/brinjal (the one used in making bharta)
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
oil for frying
Method
Cut the eggplant in about 1/4 inch rounds. In a spice grinder, mix the salt, turmeric and mustard seeds and make a fine powder. Cover each eggplant slice with the spice powder made. let it sit for about 1/2 hour. In a frying pan, add oil to fill about 1/4 inch. When it gets hot, add eggplant slices one by one, do not overlap them. Fry till they become a nice golden brown on both sides. Drain on a paper towel and they are ready to eat.
If you are conscious about the oil, you can shallow fry them too.
These should be consumed as soon as they are made - if you let them sit after frying, they become soggy.
Authentic Begun Bhaja is fried in mustard oil and the eggplant is just coated with turmeric and salt before frying. Since I was not using mustard oil - I ground mustard seeds and covered the eggplant with it to get the pungent taste of mustard oil.
2 comments:
Begun Bhaja? Never heard of it before. But it looks tasty so will try it this weekend for the family. And if I opt for the authentic one, is it possible to use coconut oil instead of mustard oil? And can I add more turmeric powder as I want it more spicier than the usual? :P
Misty
Begun Bhaja is a famous Bengali dish. To make it authentic it has to be cooked in mustard oil - thats the oil generally used in Bengali cooking.
The mustard does makeit a bit spicy. If you want it more spicier you can try adding chilli powder.
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