Beguni / Baigan ke pakore - Bengali snack

All of my friends here who have never heard of this snack may think that “baingan ke pakore” !!! how will it taste like as its so unusual! But it is as tasty as normal pyaz ke pakore or any pakora. I remember my mon making this snacks in most of monsoon and winter evening along with tea/coffee and I never felt satisfied and ended up having 6-7 pieces of pakora at a time! Ya I know hats not good but that’s a nature of a pure bengali foodie...

Beguni is a Bengali snack made of eggplant (or brinjal) slices deep fried in besan batter. Longitudinally cut slices of eggplant  are dipped in a batter of Bengal gram (besan) with salt and turmeric, and deep fried in mustard oil in bengali kitchen. We also add small amount of poppy seeds to the batter to improve the taste. It is extremely popular street food and an evening snack.

Yesterday I made the beguni and thought of sharing a quick recipe with my non-bengali friends in case they would like to experiment something new..

What you will need :-

1. 2-3 long purple eggplants

2. Besan or gram flour

3. Salt

4. Turmeric

5. Red chilli powder or green chilli if you prefer

I have added a little ajwain too as it is known for its digestive properties

What you have to do :-

1. Cut the long eggplants into half pieces and then slit it into thin slices as shown below. Now sprinkle and rub a pinch of salt and turmeric on them and keep it aside till you prepare your batter.

2. Now for the batter take half cup besan, add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder / green chilli and half spoon ajwain. Make a batter.

3. Dip the thin eggplant pieces in the batter one by one, coat it well on both the sides and deep fry in hot oil. In bengali kitchen mustard oil is used for frying but for those who can not sustain the strong aroma of mustard oil, plain vegetable oil or olive oil can serve the purpose.

4. Deep fry them properly till golden brown.

5. Serve alone with tomato sauce or with tea / coffee. A bowl of puffer rice (mudmudey) will add up to its taste...

Sorry for the not so proper pic, i hope you all will like this quick snack and for those who hate eggplant may now include it in their shopping list from now onward...ha ha!!