Peter Kuruvita

Begun bhaja

Crispy eggplant with Bengali salad

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Preparation info

  • Serves

    5

    • Difficulty

      Medium

    • Ready in

      1 hr 5

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

  • About

Begun bhaja is a traditional Bengali dish in which delicately spiced slices of eggplant are fried until crisp, and usually served as a side dish with a simple, homely meal. Here it is served with a lovely fresh salad.

Ingredients

Begun bhaja

  • ½ teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1

Method

Start by making the salad. Place the cucumber, carrot, radish, tomatoes, onion and chilli in a large bowl.

Sprinkle with the sugar, pepper and salt and gently toss the salad until all the ingredients are uniformly mixed. Sprinkle with the lime juice and mustard oil, and crushed peanuts if using.

Cover and chill for 30 minutes, tossing the coriander through just before serving.</