After consistently blogging for few months I was forced to take another blogging break for two weeks, which was both un foreseen and unavoidable at the same time. I never expected that my OS will be brought down by a virus after securing the network with so many anti-viruses and multiple layers of firewalls, but it seems to be a newly launched virus which so cunningly able to fool Norton and even Kaspersky and sneaks through the Symantec. It corrupt my hard drives but thanks to the backup, I did not lose much vital data. For two weeks we frantically try to execute recovery and restore ops, but could not succeed,and finally gave up. We had another decade old hard drive lying idle in my box, perhaps waiting for such incidents, and an equally old version of Linux. And thanks to these two, which made possible the blogging again, and Linux is known for its sturdiness and well insulated for any virus attack, but for extra caution it is always good to keep the root directories separate while accessing the internet. WAP -ing made possible to approve the reader’s comments but it has its own restrictions, it does not allow to post the drafts.
Lastly thanks to all my blogger friends and readers who keep visiting my space, even though I was restricted to do any blog hopping.
Coming to the recipe of begun basanti or pan-fried eggplants in rich and creamy mustard-yogurt based sauce is yet another delicacy from Bengal, some calls it begun sorshe /eggplants in mustard sauce when you do not use the yogurt and begun basanti when you use the yogurt along with mustard. Posto bata / poppy-seed paste and sorshe bata / mustard paste are the two most favoured condiments among Bongs who loved and adored these two and which lends a unique flavour and taste to so many dishes which are so much Bengali in nature. These two are highly culture specific and we loved sorshe bata / mustard paste in anything, and its inherent quality magically transforms the simple greens to a savory dishes.
- Eggplants / brinjals : 1 big
- Yellow mustard seed paste : 3-4 tbsp
- Nigella seeds / kalonji : 1 tsp
- Curd (beaten): ¼ cup
- Green chillies : 3-4 medium
- Ginger paste : 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder : ¼ tsp
- Cumin powder : 1 tsp
- Red chilli powder : 1 tsp
- Warm water : ½ cup
- Salt and sugar to taste
- Mustard oil : for shallow frying and cooking
- Chopped cilantro leaves for garnishing
- Wash and cut the eggplants into long strips, as shown in the pics. Rub salt and turmeric on the eggplants and leave for 15 minutes.
- Heat some mustard oil in a pan and shallow fry the eggplants till it gets a nice brown hues. Take out from the oil and drain it and keep it on a tissue paper to remove excess oil from the fried eggplants
- In a mixing bowl, add the mustard paste, salt, turmeric powder, beaten curd and ginger paste, blend it well.
- In a separate pan, heat a tablespoon of mustard oil and temper it with nigella seeds.
- Add the above mentioned paste of mustard seeds, curd and ginger paste, fry on low heat for sometime and add the slotted green chillies.
- Let it fry for few more minutes till the oil separates out. Add the cumin and red chilli powder and mix well. Add salt and sugar to taste.
- Add the warm water to get a saucy consistence, dip the fried eggplants in it, coat it well with mustard-yogurt sauce, cover and sim for 5 minute.
- Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and serve the beautiful golden-yellow colored begun basanti / eggplants in mustard-yogurt sauce with paratha or pulao.
18 Comments
Priya
May 25, 2011 at 1:31 pmWonderful looking dish, i was searching something new to cook eggplants, very prefect dish for me,thanks for sharing..
Deepa
May 25, 2011 at 3:36 pmGood to know that you didn’t loose you data !! I was wondering about your sudden disappearance. Liked your begun shorshe recipe. In fact today I too posted something with sorshe only 🙂
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
notyet100
May 25, 2011 at 6:50 pmummmm perfect with rice and dal,.
Deboshree
May 25, 2011 at 8:32 pmGood one again… must keep it in mind when begun lovers drop by. :d
Reva
May 25, 2011 at 8:35 pmThe dish looks awesome… Yes, we must be very careful about newly developing virus capable of deadly attacks on our computer systems..:)
Reva
Priya Yallapantula
May 25, 2011 at 11:40 pmwow, a very very new recipe, love the idea 🙂
kankana
May 26, 2011 at 5:31 amI never heard of this begun dish. I like mustard sauce .. so i think it will taste delicious. Will give a try 🙂
torviewtoronto
May 26, 2011 at 6:12 amflavourful delicious preparation
swarnapali
May 27, 2011 at 1:54 amyummy . thanks for sharing.
Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
May 30, 2011 at 10:09 pmHey Sukanya – the baingun looks fab. My mom-in-law arrives tommorrow and I will be making your rezala chicken soon..hopefully this week….once again you are a Godsend to me 🙂
chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
achari baingan or baby eggplants in pickling spices « saffronstreaks … a food and travel blog
November 4, 2011 at 1:36 pm[…] More eggplant recipes you might also like : Hyderabadi baghare baingan ; Braised eggplants in tamarind sauce ; Begun basanti / eggplants in mustard sauce […]
Swagata
March 25, 2013 at 1:17 pmWe loved this dish. It is unlike doi begun and it is more pangent due to use of rai. We have tried it and everbody at the party praised it.
saffronstreaks
March 25, 2013 at 10:50 pmThank you so much for trying it out. Glad to know your feedbacks !
Susmita Duttaroy
September 27, 2016 at 4:55 pmI have cooked it…wonderful preparation..
saffronstreaks
September 28, 2016 at 12:10 pmThank you so much Susmita for loving it and taking time to write the feedback. Much appreciated.
Ismat
April 7, 2017 at 9:09 amThis dish sounds really delicious, and I want to cook it, except I’m concerned about this turning bitter. I made mastard Hilsha the other day and it tuned bitter.
Any advice as to what caused the bitterness and how can this be avoided? Thanks!
saffronstreaks
April 11, 2017 at 6:32 pmHi Ismat, Thanks for writing to us. Mustard paste are inherently bitter in taste. So to adjust that use yellow mustards rather than black mustards. Yellow mustards are more mellowy in taste and not bitter and sharp like black mustard seeds. Many uses both in desired proportion. So you can use 50% each of them. Also while using black mustard it is necessary to strain the husk after squeezing out the liquid from it. Another way is to use little yogurt while making the mustard paste. it offset the bitterness of the mustards.
Hope this helps you.
Sukanya
Poila baisakh menu Bengali cuisine
April 11, 2017 at 7:20 pm[…] Begun Basanti / eggplants in mustard sauce […]