A Culinary Journey to West Bengal, India
A Culinary Journey to West Bengal, India
During my college years, when I was in Bangalore, I spent sometime living with a very close friend of mine. She, being a Bengali, and being how Bengalis are about their culture, food and language, taught me a lot of what I know today about the state of West Bengal. Needless to say, one of the first few words I learnt from her in Bengali, could easily see me through any uninvited mishaps. Yes, like most of us, when asked to learn a language, I too wanted to know the big “bad” words.
Besides its language, West Bengal is widely known for its league of extra-ordinary artists. From admirable writers like Rabindranath Tagore, to talented movie-makers like Satyajit Ray, Bengalis have dominated every field from music, dance, cinema, and not to mention, sports.
With an abundance of culture in its offering, Bengal is not one to be left behind in its food. From their humbly delicious vegetables, to their mouth watering fish dishes, and their sweet tasting desserts, Bengal hosts a treat for any adventurous palate.
As I continue on my Culinary Journey to the whole of the Indian sub-continent, let me take a break in this wonderfully diverse state, to bring to you one of my personal favourites. A melt-in-your-mouth dish of eggplant slices smeared with spicy tangy spices, to tantalize the taste buds.
FRIED EGGPLANT
Prep time: 10 min, Cooking time: 30 min | Serves: 4
2-3 medium-sized eggplants 2-3 tbsp light cooking oil 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp garam masala 1/4 tsp amchoor powder salt, to taste CUT eggplant into slices and let soak in cold water for 15-20 minutes. Pat dry and set aside.
MIX all dry spices, including salt, to form a spice mix.
HEAT oil in a pan and place eggplant slices without overlapping with each other.
LET eggplant fry on one side for 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat. Flip once, sprinkle each slice with spice mix, and let it cook on the other side.
FLIP slices once more, sprinkle spice mix and remove onto a plate.
Serve with steamed rice over Dal, with a side of Tomato Chutney, to relish a simple, yet wholesome Bengali meal.
July 20th, 2006 12:39
Hi,
Your site and dishes are amazing . it has got me completely hooked. The earlier colors were more easier to read - this light green font is making reading a little difficult since it is too light .
I had one question about blending stuff together. I use a hand belnder for making cake preparation and it generally throws all the ingredients around . I cant blend properly if I cover the the container which has the preparation with a lid. How do you do it in a clean way ?
And great site once again. I hate brinjals; but now i am all eager to try out your latest recipie.
Hi Kavitha! I’m so happy you enjoy my site. Regardin gthe hand blender, I honestly don’t see how you can blend things conviniently by it without making a huge mess. I’d suggest investing in a good blender. In the mean time, you could always get one of those mini food processors/choppers. I have that on hand when ever I need to do a quick job and don’t want to take the trouble of using my actual blender. It works fine in most cases, especially when you don’t need to puree things in latge amounts. Hope that helps!
July 20th, 2006 23:36
Hi,
This dish sounds simple and delicious, i love egg plants, what a joy ! Thank you for the recipe.
Archana
You’re most welcome, Archana!
I’m sure you’ll love every bite of this!
July 22nd, 2006 08:01
I wanted to let you know that I’m spotlighting this recipe today in a feature on my blog that I call “South Beach Recipes of the Week.” It includes your photo (with a photo credit for you, of course) and a link to the recipe on your blog. Please let me know if you have any concerns about how I’ve done this.
July 22nd, 2006 13:57
Hi Meena,
I am tagging along here at your heels on your culinary journey and this eggplant looks delicious. I can’t wait to try! I enjoyed the writeup as well; a fascinating snapshot of West Bengal
Thanks Linda! This journey is fun, isn’t it? Hope you try this recipe as well, it’s just amazing!
July 23rd, 2006 02:01
Hello
saw your comment on my blog and im HERE!!* jumps up and down excitedly* i LOVE the idea and just in case my email went to your junk mail…im putting up this comment.
im part Bengali and i LOVE begoon fry!! YUM!
Thanks Grafx!
July 23rd, 2006 14:10
I made this last night for dinner and it was so tasty - thanks for the recipe! And it made good cold sandwiches for this morning’s breakfast too…
Quite a bit of oil used however as those brinjals do really soak it up.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Diane. I love making Paninis out of these well, really yummy. I agree about the oil. Eggplants are just like sponge and soak it all up. But I think soaking it in water for sometime definitely helps.
July 27th, 2006 02:16
looks yummy!! recently hv been longing for aubergine pakoras…saw a steamed egglant salad on TV(by Kylie Kwong)…vl hunt for it and share the recipe on ma blog…
July 30th, 2006 19:57
Love eggplant. Love, love love them. Can’t wait to try this.
September 25th, 2006 15:38
Tried this today. It turned out really good. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
April 30th, 2008 17:25
Hi Meena, What is amchoor? I couldn’t find it (I shop at Whole Foods
); what can I substitute it with?
Ashan, amchoor is dried mango powder and can be easily found at any Indian grocery store. If you can’t seem to get hold of it, then just omit it out and sprinkle a dash of fresh lemon juice in the end.