Sweet & Sour Eggplant

Tok-Misti Begun

One of our favourite dishes to order in an Indo-Chinese restaurant is this sweet and sour eggplant. The recipe was inspired by one that was posted on Facebook. It's quick to make, light and delicious!

Begun-Zucchini Posto

Eggplant-Zucchini Posto

Our neighbour across the street shared his bumper crop of Japanese eggplants and zucchini with us. The eggplants were young, seedless, tender and tasted so much better than what's available in the stores around here. 

Posto are white poppy seeds (sometimes combine with mustard seeds), green chilies and salt to make a creamy sauce that goes with most vegetables, fish or chicken. It serves to thicken gravy and has a soporific effect, ideal for lunch, eaten before taking a nap.

Leaving the skin on the zucchinis prevents them from dissolving into mush while cooking and gives this dish a better colour.

Begun diye Maach'er Jhol - Eggplant & Fish Curry

Begun diye Maach'er Jhol

True fish lovers insist that bone-in fish taste much better than filleted fish. I prefer bone-in fish, but hubby prefers filleted fish, so both are cooked any time curry or jhol is on the menu. In this case, Shol Maach and Tilapia Maach were made in the same way, so everyone's happy.

Shol Maach'er Jhol

Shol maach is a species of catfish that is now available in SE Asian markets in the U.S. It looked interesting, but was tough to identify on the internet. It tasted sweet, was meaty and very good prepared in this way.

Tilapia Maach'er Jhol

Tilapia fillets are commonly found in the North American supermarkets and are hubby's favourite fish. 

Eggplant & Fish Curry

Fish Curry with Eggplant and Lentil Dumplings

Begun Bori Diye Macher Jhol

I've made variations of this dish and blogged about them in the past. Today I combined eggplants with dried lentil dumplings or bori in this Maacher Jhol. There was an abundance of eggplants in the fridge, of the Japanese variety, which are my favourite. Bori are little nuggets of "deliciousness" which add another dimension to anything they're added to. They are salted so make sure not to add salt without first tasting the gravy.

Jeera Guro Diye Maacher Jhol - Fish in Cumin Gravy

Jeera Guro Diye Maacher Jhol

Another quick and easy gravy for fish. Any white fish such as snapper, carp or whitefish works in this recipe. Since we all love eggplant, it's one way to sneak vegetables into a meal. Cumin seeds are roasted in a dry pan without oil and ground to a fine powder for the gravy.

This main dish is best served with basmati or jasmine rice.

Doi Begun - Eggplants in Yogurt Sauce

Doi Begun

Our nephew's wife first introduced us to this delectable dish and generously shared her recipe with me. It's the perfect semi-dry curry that goes well either with rice or chapatis/tortillas. Bengalis are natural-born lovers of begun and would gladly have this vegetable with every meal, if possible, which explains the myriad ways we have found for cooking with begun.

When cooked, eggplants soften turning creamy in the center. Greek yogurt combined with coconut milk makes a smooth and creamy sauce made even more delicious with a pungent touch of mustard paste and tang that is provided by the tomatoes. Green chilies serve to spice up this dish so use as much as you can handle.

If eggplants are not your thing, substitute them for thick slices of tofu or fish (for non-vegetarians), and use this same sauce to mound over a hot and steamy bed of rice. It makes for a delicious and satisfying meal that is hard to forget!

Begun Alu Posto - Eggplant & Potatoes in White Poppy Seed Sauce

Begun Alu Posto

Alu Posto is a favourite Bengali preparation and adding eggplants to it makes it creamier and more delicious. Japanese eggplants are practically seedless which makes it a good choice in this dish.

White poppy seeds, soaked in boiling water and ground with salt until thick and creamy is best served for lunch because it induces a restful afternoon nap. I love posto stir-fried with any vegetable. Add shrimp to it for boosted flavour and call it a main dish.

Burmese Stir-Fried Spinach & Eggplants

Burmese Spinach & Eggplants

Supermarkets now stock bags and tubs of triple washed spinach which cuts down on prep time. Baby spinach leaves are small enough to leave whole and that cuts down on prep time because they don't need to be chopped.

I fry the eggplant first then add the spinach, cooking it just until wilted.The leaves have to be moved from the bottom of the pan to the top several times because the pan is usually too small to accommodate the entire contents of the bag or tub.

Sorrel

Sorrel is an herb, delicious and tart, that look very much like spinach. If sown in the ground, this vigourous plant will take over just like mint. I've bought it at the farmer's market as seedlings and potted them successfully. They die back in the winter and return in the spring. The tender & tangy greens are edible when they first sprout but become more and more bitter as they mature. 

To emulate the tangy flavour of sorrel and roselle leaves (chin baung ywet in Burmese), I add the juice of a lime just before removing this dish from the stove. 

Stir-Fried Spinach, Eggplant & Shrimp

Stir-Fried Spinach, Eggplant & Shrimp

Shrimp added to any vegetable dish ramps up the flavour a hundred fold. Here, spinach and eggplant are stir-fried and salad shrimp added just before taking off the stove. Very easy to make, using the simplest of readily available ingredients, this is a must-try recipe for shrimp lovers.

Burmese Eggplant & Fried Anchovies in Coconut Sauce

Khayun Thee

Japanese eggplant are my favourite because they are practically seedless. It's only recently that this type of eggplant is being stocked at our local supermarket. Hubby usually does our regular grocery shopping, but it's my pleasure to shop at the Asian markets. We have Indian, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean markets within 5 miles of our home. Each market has something different and unique to offer foodies like me, like these Korean fried anchovies.

Korean Fried Anchovies

The anchovies are fried with chili powder and packed in oil. Stir-fried eggplant takes on a whole new flavour when they are cooked with anchovies. The dish could be cooked until dry and served with hot rice.

Dry Fried Eggplant & Anchovies

A slight twist was introduced today to add a cup of coconut milk to the pan just before removing from the heat. This left a little gravy that is always welcome when anything is eaten with rice.

Ground Chicken and Eggplant Stew

Ground Chicken & Eggplant Stew

I came across a picture of this dish on Facebook, but the recipe had not been added at the time, so this is my take on the dish. Eggplant is a favourite vegetable and combining it with ground chicken sounded too good to pass up. I added diced potatoes because that's what Bengalis do...add potatoes to everything!

Eggplant & Pork in Oyster Sauce

Eggplant & Pork in Oyster Sauce

For a quick and easy main dish with an Asian flair, few dishes can beat this eggplant and pork stir-fry. A combination of oyster sauce, chili-garlic sauce, balsamic vinegar and fish sauce form the base for ground pork that is browned along with diced onions and garlic. Bite-sized pieces of Japanese eggplant are added at the tail end so that they retain their texture and don't disintegrate.

Chinese and Thai restaurants have a form of this recipe on their menus. My problem is that they always seem to over-salt the dish, so I prefer to replicate it at home so I can control the amount of salt that is added. In fact, no salt was added in this recipe because the different sauces are salty to begin with. Adjust the salt at the end of the cooking cycle to suit your taste.

A trick to break down the ground pork with little effort is to hand-mix it with 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 Tbsp. oil and set aside for 15 minutes. The oil acts to separate the nodules of ground meat which makes it easier to brown.

Burmese Stewed Eggplant - Khayan Thee Hin

A form of sipyan, this eggplant dish is so much easier to prepare because everything is combined in a skillet and left to cook on its own.  Out of sheer habit, I scraped the bottom of the pan to make sure it wasn't sticking, but that was not necessary at all. Once the tomatoes cooked down, the cooking liquids covered the eggplant pieces which then stewed in the resulting juices. The bulk of the flavour and umami was imparted by a combination of peanuts, shrimp paste and dried shrimp powder.

Here are several options for vegans. To achieve umami flavour without using fish-/seafood-based sauces, would be to use mushroom sauce and dried shiitake mushrooms. Mushroom sauce is used by vegans to replace oyster sauce and the soaking liquid from dried shiitake mushrooms both impart strong umami flavour. More difficult to come by is dried konbu or kelp (seaweed) which is used to make konbu dashi. A third option would be to use Ajinomoto or MSG.

Serve this as a side over a mound of steamed rice, preferably coconut rice or Ohn Htamin.

Crockpot Begun Bhartha - Slow-Cooked Eggplant

Slow-Cooked Begun Bhartha

I was first introduced to Baingan/Begun Bhartha while living in Defence Colony, a suburb of New Delhi in India. Around the corner from where we lived was a dhaba or roadside restaurant which are most often found on highways and the outskirts of cities, towns and villages. Dhabas serve Punjabi food and are frequented by truckers because the food is generally simple, rustic and cheap. My favourite dishes to order from our neghbourhood dhaba were Baingan Bhartha, Keema Mattar and Naan. 

Begun or baingan is eggplant and bhartha refers to any vegetable that is roasted and mashed. Begun bhartha is the most common dish prepared in this way. The big and round eggplants are usually roasted over an unoon or charcoal stove. The charred skin is then removed, the pulp mashed and cooked with tomatoes, onions along with other ingredients on the stovetop. It's a rustic dish that requires a labour-intensive and time-consuming process.

This is where the crockpot, once again, comes to the rescue. I like Japaness eggplant which is diced along with all the other vegetables, dumped into the crockpot and allowed to cook on low without manual intervention for 3-4 hours. The resulting bhartha comes out looking like baba-ghanoush and tasting delicious!

Eggplant in Oyster Sauce

Eggplant in Oyster Sauce

Another favourite at Chinese restaurants, this eggplant dish is simple to make at home. 

Japanese Eggplant

In my opinion, Japanese eggplants are sweeter and tastier than other varieties and are now available at all supermarkets. 

The ingredient list is short and should be available locally. The oyster sauce is salty, so do a taste-test before adding more salt.

Vegetarians and vegans can substitute diced tofu for minced chicken and mushroom sauce for oyster sauce.

Pui Shaak Chingri Maacher Chorchori - Stir-Fried Malabar Spinach & Shrimp

Pui Shaak Chingri Maacher Chorchori

Malabar spinach or basella is labeled Indian Spinach in the Asian markets. In Bengali, this spinach is called pui shaak and it is one of my favorite vegetables. In this dish the spinach has been stir-fried with shrimp, Japanese eggplant & sweet potatoes with a tempering of Bengali 5-spice or panch phoron seeds. It is seasoned simply with ginger paste and roasted panch phoron powder. For a vegetarian or vegan dish, omit the shrimp.

Eggplant in Miso-Ginger Sauce

A tub of yellow miso sits in my pantry, begging to be used. It's thick and creamy, looks a lot like peanut butter, tastes salty and smells of fermented beans. Apparently it lasts forever in the fridge. I began to research its nutritional value and came across a number of recipes using eggplant (one of my favourite vegetables) and miso. The idea of combining ginger with miso was appealing and this delicious side dish was really simple and quick to make. No salt was added because both miso and soy sauce have high sodium content.

Thai Shrimp Pad Ped - Eggplant & Shrimp Curry in Red Coconut Sauce

Shrimp Pad Ped

Our favourite item on the Thai menu, often described as

EGGPLANT CURRY - PAD PED: sauteed eggplant, bell peppers and onion in Thai red curry and coconut milk sauce.

Shirataki Yam Noodles Stir-Fried with Anchovies & Eggplant

Shirataki Noodles in the Bowl

The brand-new 168 Asian Mart that just opened in the Madison Place Shopping Center, south of Oakland Mall, is everything a member of the Asian community could hope for.  They have fresh fish and a food court, all kinds of fresh, Asian vegetables, sauces and fresh & packaged noodles.

Stir-Fried Bitter Melon & Eggplant

Karola Begun Bhaja

My trip to the Asian market a couple of days ago proved fruitful because I found a tray of already sliced bitter melons.They were of the Chinese variety which have a smoother and lighter skin than their subcontinental counterparts.

Chinese Bitter Melons

Subcontinental Bitter Melons

Chinese bitter melons are also less bitter than the subcontinental variety. The long and slender Japanese eggplants go so well when they are stir-fried along with bitter melons.

This dish is a common side served as a first course of a Bengali meal. It's so simple to make and is considered to be beneficial in lowering blood sugar levels. It tastes perfect with any form of Indian bread or steamed Basmati rice.

Ingredients:

3 bitter melons, cut in half, deseeded and sliced

2 Asian eggplants, cut in half and sliced

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. whole Bengali 5-spice or panch phoron (equal proportions of fennel, nigella, fenugreek, cumin and mustard seeds)

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Toss both vegetables with salt to taste.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat and sputter 5-spice.
3. Stir-fry bitter melon and eggplant slices until golden brown.
4. Adjust salt and transfer to a serving dish.

Serve with chapatis or Basmati rice.