Bengali Begun Pora/ Roasted Eggplant Bharta

Some call it the melancholy fruit, some call it without any “gun” (talent). I call it Begun, Bengali for Eggplant or Aubergine or Brinjal.

All around the world this talentless eggplant is cooked in many ways- batter-fried, crescents fried in oil called begun bhaja, roasted, broiled or boiled and mashed. Making it one of the most congenial “fruits”, probably second only to the potato.

Come winter, India is flooded with plump, dark purple eggplants. In some parts of the country, the large, round variety of eggplants are also called Bhanta. 

That’s what my Mother uses for Bengali Begun Pora (Bengali Baingan Bharta). Since eggplant oxidizes very quickly, make sure you cut an eggplant just before you are ready to cook it.

Ingredients for Bengali Begun Pora are:

1 eggplant, slit lengthwise, make sure you keep its stem on
Handful of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
1 medium red onion, slivered finely
Few green chilies, broken from the middle
Generous drizzle of mustard oil
Salt

Smoke or roast the eggplant. Hold the eggplant over a low open gas flame. Rotate frequently. I used my stove-top rack on my cooking range.

You will see that the skin of the eggplant will gradually darken, it will start to sag, and you will notice a pleasant smoky smell. Its time to turn the kitchen vent on!

In the meantime, keep all your other ingredients ready.

After about 20 minutes (or half an hour depending on the size of the eggplant), when the skin is completely charred, remove the eggplant from the flame. Allow the eggplant to cool, then discard the skin. Mash the eggplant with the back of a fork or use your hands.

Add the onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, mustard oil and salt and mix well.

The smoke-kissed Bengali Begun Pora is now ready to be eaten with ruti (chapati).