Begun Bhaja / Tale Huye Baigan / Fried Eggplant or Brinjal / तले हुए बैंगन

Monsoon is almost at our doors now and we all crave for a hot tea and some snacks to enjoy it with.
Today we are going to prepare a delicacy from the Bengal. They call it Begun Bhaja or Fried Brinjal/Eggplant. This can be enjoyed alone or with rice and dal (the way Bengali's do it).

Begun Bhaja

 Recipe:
Ingredients:
So we know that the main ingredient is eggplant or brinjal. For best taste we should use big size round brinjal and preferably the deep violet colored one. 

1. Brinjal/Eggplant/Begun : 1 big size
2. Spices:
1. Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon
2. Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon
3. Coriander Powder: 1/2 teaspoon
4. Yellow Mustard Powder/paste: 1 teaspoon
5. Red chili Powder: 1 teaspoon
6. Mango Powder: 2 teaspoon
7. Ginger Garlic paste: 2 teaspoon
3. Salt : To your taste
4. Mustard Oil

Preparation:

First of all cut the brinjal into half inch slices like the picture below and keep them aside

Brinjal Slices

Let us prepare spices into a paste:

• Take a bowl and put all the spices (from the ingredients) into it
• Add salt to your taste
• Add 2 tablespoon of mustard oil. You may use your favorite cooking oil instead but a Bengali recipe is not complete without mustard oil. 
• Mix them well to make a paste as shown in the pic below. You may add some water if needed.

Spices' Paste

Next we will apply a thin layer of this paste on both side of the brinjal/eggplant slices we had cut earlier. See the pic below:

Final Step:

• Take a pan (preferably non-stick) and heat a little oil (preferably mustard oil) in it. We need the oil to shallow fry the brinjal slices. 
• Once the oil is well heated put the brinjal slice into it. Cover the pan and cook on low-to-medium flame for about 2-3 minutes. You may put multiple slices together if your plan is wide enough. Covering would help cook it faster.
• Once you see that spice layer is crusty and brown, flip the slices to cook the other side again for 2-3 minutes. 
• Your Begun Bhaja is ready now and would look like in the pic below. Take it out on a tissue paper. Tissue paper would absorb extra oil.
• Serve it alone with tea or your favorite drink or with rice and yellow dal.