Tag: brinjal

Baingan Baja(Pan Fried Egg Plants)

Vegetarian

I first had these shallow fried egg plants at my friend Bobby’s house in Toronto. This is a staple in every Bengali household. Bhaja in Bengali is thick slices of vegetable coated with gram flour and shallow fried. With a soft inner and a crispy texture on the outside, I instantly took a liking to it.

Ingredients:

Egg plant – 1 big

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Red chillie powder – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Rice flour – 1/4 cup

Sugar – 1/4 tsp

Oil for frying (Mustard oil preferred)

Preparation:

Wash and cut the egg plants into 1 1/2 cm thick round slices. Wipe them in a kitchen towel to remove the moisture.

In a mixing bowl, add chillie powder, turmeric powder, salt and sugar and mix well.

Rub this mixture on both sides of the egg plants. Then, coat the egg plant slices with rice flour.

Next, take a skillet and heat it. When hot, reduce the flame to medium and pour little oil on it. Shallow fry the egg plants. When golden on one side, turn it over and fry.

Serve it hot with rice.

Brinjal Chana Dal curry

Vegetarian

The unique combination of chana dal and brinjals adds to the flavour of this gravy. It goes well with chapathis and plain rice. You can also substitute brinjals with beans, knolkhol, chow-chow or cabbage.

Ingredients:

Bengal gram dal or Chana dal – 1/2 cup

Brinjals – 2 medium size

Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp

Chillie powder – 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Tomato – 2 small

Onions – 1 big

Bay leaf – 1

Ground coconut paste – 1 1/2 tbsp

Water – 1/2 cup + 1 1/2 cup

Oil – 1 tbsp

Garam masala powder – a pinch

Garam masala powder:

Patta – 1 inch

Cloves – 4

Elaichi -2

Saunf – 1 tsp

In a kadai, saute all these without oil and pulse it in a blender to make the powder. Store this powder in a tighly sealed bottle.

Use only a pinch of this for this recipe.

Preparation:

Soak chana dal for 1/2 hr . Cook chana dal in a pressure cooker separately. Add the soaked chana dal to the cooker with a little salt and a pinch of turmeric and add 1 1/2 cups of water to it. After the first whistle, reduce the flame to the lowest and boil for 3 to 4 minutes. After it cools, check if the dal has been cooked well.

Meanwhile, in a kadai, add oil and heat it. Add 1 bay leaf and the chopped onions to it. Saute it well and then add ginger-garlic and fry until the raw smell goes off. Then add tomatoes. When it becomes mushy, add the chillie powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder and mix well. Then in goes the brinjals and stir well. Cover and let it cook for some time. When the veggies r cooked, add the boiled chana dal and the ground coconut paste to the mixture and boil for 2 minutes. Add a pinch of the garam masala powder and stir well and put off the gas. Garnish with coriander leaves.