Achari Begun - Pickled Eggplant

 

Achari Begun

Here's another tasty way to prepare eggplant. The internet is a prolific source for recipes, and this was featured in a video by Banglar Rannaghor. One modification I made was to use imli chutney in place of tamarind paste. A technique that impressed me was to toss and marinate the eggplant pieces with spices and 2-3 tablespoons of water before frying. This made a big difference in the time it took for the eggplant pieces to brown without absorbing a vast quantity of oil.

I used a big globe eggplant that was cut in half and sliced. Any variety of eggplant would work for this recipe, so use whatever is at hand. Serve as a side dish, accompanied by any Indian bread or hot, steamed rice.

Ingredients

Marinade

1 large eggplant, cut in half and sliced

salt to taste

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. chili powder

3 Tbsp. water

Gravy

1/4 cup mustard oil

3 dried red chilies, seeds removed if necessary

1 tsp. panch phoron seeds (Bengali 5 spices)

1 tsp. roasted panch phoron powder

1/2 cup red onion, minced

1 Tbsp. ginger paste

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium tomato, diced

salt to taste

1/2 tsp. chili powder/Kashmiri mirch powder

1/2 tsp. turmeric powder

1/2 tsp. coriander powder

2 Tbsp. tamarind/imli chutney

1/2 cup water

Garnish

8-10 stalks cilantro, minced

3-4 green chilies, slit

Directions

1. Toss eggplant slices with marinade ingredients and set aside.
2. Heat mustard oil over medium heat and fry eggplant slices until brown on both sides.
3. Remove from oil and set aside.
4. Heat more oil in the same skillet and sputter panch phoron and dried red chilies.
5. Add onions and stir-fry until translucent and stir in garlic and ginger.
6. Add tomatoes and simmer until oil resurfaces.
7. Mix spice powders with water and add to skillet.
8. Bring gravy to a boil, add imli chutney and panch phoron powder.
9. Stir well and adjust seasonings.
10. Return fried eggplant slices to skillet and submerge to coat with gravy.
11. Cover and simmer until gravy thickens to desired consistency.
12. Garnish with a sprinkling of panch phoron powder, cilantro and green chilies.

Serve as a side dish with any kind of Indian bread or steamed rice.

Original Source: Achari Begun