I love eggplant for its delicious taste and smooth and velvety texture. It doesn’t hurt that it’s healthy too. Growing up, my Mom used eggplant in many dishes. She would either deep fry it in a chick pea flour batter, stir fry it, or pan fry it in a skillet. The pan-fried version of this dish is called Begun bhaji, which is what I make in this recipe.

Begun bhaji or fried eggplant is one of my favorite fast dishes. It reminds me of my childhood home and my Mom. It is hard to explain the taste of this dish but it’s a classic Bengali dish and one of the very easiest to prepare. All you need to do is smear sliced eggplant in turmeric and salt, and fry them in a skillet until golden brown. You can use spices like cumin, chili powder, or garam masala to make it more interesting.

Below I try to make the dish like my Mom used to. She made it very simple and yet it was so good. I remember I used to beg her for this dish when she made dal curry. It goes really well as a side dish with dal curry (lentils cooked with spinach) or with khichuri (rice with lentils).

I was a bit surprised how much my husband (who is normally not an eggplant fan) really liked this dish. He asked why I don’t make it more often. I hope you try this and like it as much as my family and I do.

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 cup oil

Instructions

Wash the eggplant. Slice off the top of the eggplant and cut the eggplant crosswise into round, 1/2 inch slices. I was able to get 11 pieces out of one eggplant.

Transfer the eggplant into a large bowl. Mix with 1 tsp of salt and turmeric. Rub the slices well to incorporate the turmeric and salt into each piece. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet at medium heat. Once the oil is hot, put the slices of eggplant into the pan as you can, making sure not to stack them. Fry the eggplant till both sides are golden brown and soft for 5-7 minutes.

Enjoy this with cooked jasmine or basmati rice!

Serves 4

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!