As i mentioned in my
Chaler payesh post,here comes the second Bengali recipe for this week,begun bhaja which i made for lunch thali.Begun bhaja means (shallow) fried eggplants(aubergine).Bengalis serve this as an accompaniment for rice,rotis or just as a snack.They make varieties of bhaja with potato, bitter gourd etc & there should be at least one bhaja in their authentic lunch menu for sure.Usually bengali bhaja is made in a very simple way by slicing and marinating bigger sized brinjal with turmeric powder,salt and a pinch of sugar & shallow fried in oil.But being a south indian girl,i wanted it to be little spicier.So i just tweaked the actual recipe according to my taste bud
.When i googled,I saw many variations for this bhaja recipe like adding garam masala,dusting the begun in poppy seeds,rice flour,wheat flour or maida before frying to avoid oil consumption and to get a beautiful brown layer on top.But i did not want to deviate much from the original bengali style and so i followed this simple one.I referred many websites and Sanjeev kapoor’s video for this recipe.
As i am a big fan of brinjal,i loved this bhaja very much and i started making this bhaja for our South Indian sambar & Rasam rice too
.Its so easy to make and u can prepare it within 10-15 minutes including marination time.I strongly recommend all the brinjal lovers to try this recipe at least once.U will love the simplicity of this recipe and of course the taste . But one thing,u should drain the brinjal in a tissue paper well before u eat else u may have to consume a week’s calorie in one meal
.Ok , Lets proceed how to make this easy bengali style begun bhaja recipe ..
Begun bhaja recipe
Bengali style begun bhaja recipe – Pan fried aubergine slices
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Sidedish
Serves: Serves 3
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 5 Minutes
Total time: 15 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
- Medium sized Begun/Aubergine/brinjal - 1 no (the one we use for baingan bharta)
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (optional)
- Salt - as needed
- Water - as reqd
- Sugar - a pinch
- Cooking oil - 3-4 tbsp
|
METHOD
- Wash and slice the big brinjal into one inch slice.Keep it immersed in salt water till use( It helps to remove the bitterness in brinjal if any)
- Mix turmeric powder,salt,red chilli powder and sugar and set aside.Remove brinjal pieces from water and sprinkle this powder.Make sure the powder coats the brinjal well.Let it marinate for 5 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying.Fry the brinjal pieces in batches for 5 minutes in medium flame. Flip it once in the middle.Fry till brinjal is cooked well and soft without losing its shape. It turns golden brown.Drain the brinjal in a tissue paper and remove the oil.
Serve with dal ad rice OR with sambar ,rasam.
Enjoy ! |
Note
- U can make it more flavourful by adding garam masala pwd .
- Skip red chilli powder if u want to try the authentic bengali version.
- If u are conscious about oil absorption, dust brinjal slices in rice flour or wheat flour before frying.
- The thinner u slice the brinjal,it gets cooked quickly but do not slice less than 1 inch else brinjal will become crispy.
- Use big variety brinjal which has less seeds and more flesh for best results.I used small purple ones here.I think u can it find out from the picture.
- Soaking brinjals in salt water is optional but it helps to remove the bitterness in brinjal if any.
- Adjust salt while adding turmeric and red chilli powder.Do not add more.
- Check the flame and keep turning the brinjals till it gets a nice brown color and it should be cooked till soft.Do not over cook it.
- Add oil whenever necessary while frying between batches because brinjal absorbs more oil.
|
Enjoy begun bhaja with roti,dal rice or sambar sadam or rasam! Tastes great with anything & everything
Do check out my other related posts for this recipe
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق