About this Recipe...
Begun Pora/Bharta or roasted eggplant mash is one of traditional bengali recipe which is made very frequently in every bengali household. It is very similar to Punjabi baigan Bharta recipe, because in both case the eggplant is roasted first, and then the other ingredients are mixed with the eggplant. I already blogged about the Punjabi baigan Bharta so this time it is something about a recipe which I loved from my childhood days. In our home, in winter, my mom makes this dish very frequently for our lunch or dinner, when the fresh eggplants are available in the market.
The basic difference between the Punjabi baigan bharta and bengali begun Pora is that the former is roasted in open flame and then cooked with all the spices. But begun Pora is roasting the eggplant in open flame & mash it and all the ingredients & spices are mixed with it and consume it like this.
Here in USA, we have electric cooking ranges, so roasting the eggplant in the stovetop is bit difficult. But begun Pora without the rustic smokey flavor is incomplete, so I wrapped the eggplant with aluminum foil and then roasted in the stovetop. You can do it like this or you can roast the eggplant in oven also. In that case preheat the oven on 450F and keep the eggplant in a baking tray and bake it for 20 minutes, after 20 minutes flip the other side and again bake it for 15 minutes. Your eggplant will roast nicely. I have tried both the method but the later will take more time so I prefer to do it in the stovetop. You can do it either way and enjoy this lovely eggplant dish.
The basic difference between the Punjabi baigan bharta and bengali begun Pora is that the former is roasted in open flame and then cooked with all the spices. But begun Pora is roasting the eggplant in open flame & mash it and all the ingredients & spices are mixed with it and consume it like this.
Here in USA, we have electric cooking ranges, so roasting the eggplant in the stovetop is bit difficult. But begun Pora without the rustic smokey flavor is incomplete, so I wrapped the eggplant with aluminum foil and then roasted in the stovetop. You can do it like this or you can roast the eggplant in oven also. In that case preheat the oven on 450F and keep the eggplant in a baking tray and bake it for 20 minutes, after 20 minutes flip the other side and again bake it for 15 minutes. Your eggplant will roast nicely. I have tried both the method but the later will take more time so I prefer to do it in the stovetop. You can do it either way and enjoy this lovely eggplant dish.
Ingredients
- 1 Medium size round eggplant
- 1 Medium size potato boiled(optional)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 Cup Finely chopped onion
- 1/4 Cup Finely chopped tomato
- 3 Green chillies finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp Mustard oil
- Finely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
- 1/2 tsp Aamchur powder (optional)
Directions
- First of all wash the eggplant and pat dry it with paper towel.
- Now make some slit on the skin of the eggplant and insert the garlic cloves.
- Now rub the eggplant with mustard oil and wrap it with a aluminum foil and roast it in your stovetop.
- Rotate it and roast all the sides of the eggplant, it will take approximately 20-30 minutes to roast the whole eggplant.
- Now remove it from the flame, keep it on a plate and let it cool down.
- After few minutes when the eggplant becomes cool down, remove all the skins from it and transfer it to a mixing bowl.
- Now add the boiled potato to it and with the help of a masher or fork mash the eggplant and the potato nicely. The garlic cloves will also mashed in this mixture.
- Now add the chopped onion, tomato, green
chillies, mustard oil, salt, aamchur powder and coriander leaves to it
and mix everything properly.
- Your Begun Pora or Bharta is ready to eat, enjoy it with rice or roti.
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