Doi Begun / Dahi Baingan

My blog has some silent visitors ... who are silent here ... but do give their feed back either by calling me or through mails. They are my best critics ... 'they did not like this' ... 'it could have been better this way' ... 'is this the actual way when you made it for us' ... etc etc.
Helps a lot. Thanks guys. :-)

One silent visitor is our good friend and hubby's colleague H. He loves my cooking and is always very frank with his opinions ... which I appreciate greatly. His favourite is the Doi Begun or dahi baingan. It is brinjals in a sweet gravy of curd. When he did not find it in my blog he promptly wrote to me .... insisting that 'his heart is breaking'. :-)

So when Mr. & Mrs. C came over for dinner last weekend and I made this dish .... amongst other things .... I made sure to take a snap and post it pronto.



This is a slightly sweetish dish ... and the salty taste is given by the brinjals.

After I learnt to make kadhi, I started using the same process of adding besan to the curd so that it does not curdle. Helps everytime.

Need :
Brinjals / Aubergines / Eggplants ... cut into thickish roundels and marinated with salt and turmeric / haldi powder,(you can chop them up too )
2 cups Curd / Yoghurt,
1 tsp besan,
Mustard oil to fry the brinjals - around 1 tbsp
1 tsp of any white cooking oil,
1 tsp of mustard seeds,
Whole dry red chillies,
Around 2 tbsp sugar.

How to :

Heat enough oil ( preferably mustard oil ) and deep fry the brinjals .
This Begun bhaja or fried brinjals can be had as a side dish to a meal too.
You can stir fry them in a little oil, with some salt,  if you are using them chopped ... just cover and cook till they are done, then raise heat to give them some colour.

Mix the besan with the curd and add a pinch of haldi powder to it. Mix well with a little water till smooth. Add the sugar too.

Heat the cooking oil in a different kadhai / wok and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies.

Now add the curd and cook on a low flame till it comes to a boil.

Keep stirring till you get the desired consistency ( it should not be too watery) and add the fried brinjals.

Cook for some more time.

Keep aside to cool and then keep in the fridge. This is usually eaten cold ... as a side dish with a meal of rice and other stuff.

Updated : I just remembered that we can make this with Kaddu / pumpkin too. Just cut them into not too thick slices and grill with a pinch of salt (no deep frying here).