Beguni

Aubergine cut the long way, in a gram flour batter, fried in mustard oil.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 large aubergine, about 500 g
• 200 g gram flour
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• about 200 ml cold water
• mustard oil for deep frying

Method

1. THE AUBERGINE IS CUT THE LONG WAY AND FRIED IN MUSTARD OIL, and its article specifies both where another recipe would leave them open. The eggplant IS USUALLY CUT LONGITUDINALLY AND DIPPED IN A BATTER OF BENGAL GRAM FLOUR WITH SALT AND TURMERIC, AND DEEP-FRIED IN MUSTARD OIL. Long slices, not rounds; mustard oil, not any oil. The oil is a flavour here, not a medium.
2. AND THE BATTER IS DELIBERATELY PLAIN. Its list is gram flour, salt and turmeric. No garam masala, no ginger, no herbs. The dish is aubergine and mustard, and the batter exists to hold them together.
3. CUT THE SLICES ABOUT HALF A CENTIMETRE THICK, FROM STEM TO TIP. Thinner and they go limp; thicker and the middle is still raw when the batter is done.
4. SALT THEM AND LEAVE THEM TWENTY MINUTES, THEN PAT THEM DRY. The slices give up water that would otherwise steam the batter off from underneath.
5. MIX THE BATTER TO A COATING CONSISTENCY, NOT A THICK ONE. It should veil the slice so the purple shows through faintly. A heavy batter turns this into a fritter and loses the aubergine.
6. HEAT THE MUSTARD OIL UNTIL IT JUST STOPS SMOKING, THEN LET IT SETTLE. Raw mustard oil is harsh; heated to smoking point and cooled slightly, it loses the edge and keeps the scent.
7. FRY THEM IN ONES AND TWOS AT A MEDIUM HEAT, TWO OR THREE MINUTES A SIDE. They should be gold rather than brown and the aubergine inside should be completely soft. Press one with a spoon: if it resists, it needs another minute.
8. EATEN HOT, AND IN BENGAL AT A PARTICULAR TIME OF YEAR. Its article notes it is A REGULAR SNACK THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IN BENGAL and is SERVED AS AN ENTREE OR SIDE DISH WITH IFTAR IN BENGALI MUSLIM HOUSEHOLDS DURING RAMADAN. It also notes the European cousin: aubergine fritters.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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