Begooner Jhaal

In a Bengali household, the most traditional thing to do with brinjals is to simply cut it in roundels and deep fry it with a little salt and turmeric. The humble "begoon bhaja" takes on divine proportions when served with luchi or even hot rice. Another very popular thing to do with brinjals is to have beguni - thin strips of the vegetable batter fried and served with hot rice or even muri and cha in the evening.

Then there was the Punjabi influence where we made begoon bharta, or the very Bengali begoon diye maach er jhol...there are other dishes too, and for those of us who love the vegetable, there are ample options in Bengali cuisine to experiment with it.

This recipe for example, comes from my husband's great-aunt. I had never made it, or even heard of it before i got instructions for making it from my mother in law. A lot of people would wonder how you can mix a paste of onion-ginger-garlic with eggplants, and to be honest, I did too. But then when I made it, and had it with rice, it was really, really amazing. The taste is very layered...you get the tangy sour of the tamarind first, and then the sweet and finally the heat, and then it all combines again to give you a taste like no other. Only, be careful about the amount of salt you add because by the time the eggplants go into the gravy, they are already salted.

What You Need:
Eggplants, cut into strips, Onion-ginger-garlic paste, Tamarind pulp, Salt and sugar, turmeric powder, chili powder, panchforan, oil

How I did it:
Cut the brinjal into strips and lightly smear with salt and turmeric powder. Fry in oil and set aside.

Heat oil and add panchforan. When it sizzles, add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and fry very well. Add the turmeric and red chilli powder and salt.

Now add the tamarind pulp and sugar and gently tip in the fried brinjals into this. Coat the strips of brinjal in this and wait till the gravy gets your desired consistency. It should not be too runny or too dry. And since this goes best with rice, leave enough to mix the rice with. Remove and serve.