East Indian
Begun Bhaja (Fried Eggplant Slices)
Begun Bhaja (Fried Eggplant Slices) is East Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the cooked vegetable. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, sliced into rounds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tbsp rice flour
- 4 tbsp mustard oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Slice the eggplant into rounds about half an inch thick.
- Rub the slices with turmeric, red chili powder, rice flour, and salt, and let them sit for 10 minutes.
- Heat the mustard oil in a wide pan until it shimmers.
- Shallow-fry the eggplant slices in batches until golden brown and soft in the center, about 3 minutes per side.
- Drain on paper towels and serve hot as a simple side with dal and rice.
Serve it with
A East Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Begun Bhaja (Fried Eggplant Slices), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The dish at the centre
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The protein alongside
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What it is eaten with
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Begun Bhaja (Fried Eggplant Slices) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Light
- Protein
- Low
- Food groups it covers
- Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Begun Bhaja (Fried Eggplant Slices) takes about 20 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on eggplant.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from East India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.