Wednesday 4 March 2015

Begun Bhaja/Fried Aubergine

Begun Bhaja/Fried Aubergine





My grandfather was a perfectionist in every way. He would always do things right, do things the proper way. Even at the age of 75 he was ramrod straight and he would go to the market everyday and carry back bag full of vegetables. He scorned luxuries for himself and yet provided us with all comforts. He was a man like none other.

One of the most vivid memories during growing up has been meal time. Every meal was a rhapsody of food. Simple, hearty, Bengali fare eaten and served with panache. We would start with a “sheddo” or boiled vegetable (potato/radish/pumpkin/okra/bittergourd) and end with a chutney. Every meal. Every day. It was truly a seven course meal the desi way.

 First came the the “sheddo” (boiled) and next came the “bhaja” (fried).

Begun bhaja is an all time favourite. It can be eaten with rice during lunch, it can be eaten with “muri” during tea time and it, of course, has to be eaten whenever it rains!!


Ingredients

1 big baigan/aubergine, cut into big pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp haldi
Oil to deep fry

Apply salt, sugar and haldi to the baigan pieces and keep aside for ½ hour. 



The sugar balances out the saltiness and the baigan absorbs less oil during frying.
Now heat oil to smoking point and deep fry. If you don’t want to use so much oil you can shallow fry on a non stick pan.




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