Eggplant, brinjal, aubergine, begun – what ever you call it, the beautiful purple vegetable with its firm, plump and meaty flesh and glossy skin is versatile. From Italian, Middle Eastern, American, Chinese to South Asian; in pastas, dips, seafood items, burgers, and vegetarian favorites. No matter how many types of eggplant dishes you have savored before, be ready to be blown away with this simple yet irresistible Bengali posto begun, a vegetarian eggplant side with poppy seed.
Posto(পোস্ত) or Poppy-Seeds is a popular ingredient for Bengali cooking. Posto is the same poppy seed you find in many baked goods and desserts.
Eggplant with poppy seed paste is a simple and delicious vegetarian side best served with piping hot rice. This is a very traditional recipe. Some like it with turmeric, some without. I use a little turmeric, you are welcome to skip if you like.
- 8-10 small eggplants
- ½ cup poppy seed
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2-3 green chilli, slit
- 2 tablespoon mustard oil
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste
- Soak the poppy seed in little water.
- Slit the eggplants into quarters keeping the stalk intact. Allow the eggplant to sit in water for about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, make a runny paste of poppy seed, turmeric powder and green chili.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the eggplants until the skin turns a darker shade of purple.
- Pour in the paste and stir well to evenly coat the eggplants
- Add the sugar. Season with salt and add about a cup of water and cook covered till the eggplants are tender.
রেসিপিঃ পোস্ত বেগুন
উপকরণঃ
৮-১০ টি ছোট বেগুন
১/২ কাপ পোস্ত দানা
১/২ চা চামচ হলুদ
২-৩ টি কাঁচা মরিচ, ফালি করা
২ টেবিল চামচ সরিষার তেল
লবন, স্বাদ অনুযায়ী
প্রস্তুত প্রণালীঃ
১. পোস্ত অল্প পানিতে ভিজিয়ে রাখুন।
২. বেগুন গুলোকে চার ফালি করে কেটে পানিতে ১০ মিনিটের মত রেখে দিন।
৩. এর মধ্যে পোস্ত দানা পিষে, হলুদ এবং মরিচ দিয়ে পেস্ট তৈরি করুন।
৪. একটি প্যানে তেল গরম করে বেগুন গুলোকে ভাজতে থাকুন যতক্ষণ না বেগুন গুলো কালচে বেগুনি রঙ হয়।
৫. পোস্ত দানার পেস্টটি বেগুনে দিয়ে ভাল করে বেগুন গুলোকে নাড়ুন।
৬. চিনি, লবন এবং ১ কাপ এর মত পানি যোগ করে ঢাকনা দিয়ে বেগুন গুলোকে নরম না হওয়া পর্যন্ত রান্না করুন।
প্রয়োজনিও কিছু টিপস্ এর জন্যে দয়াকরে আটির্কেল অথবা ইংরেজি রেসিপির নোট সেকশনটা একটু দেখে নেবেন।
The photographs of the raw ingredients are simply phenomenal! Totally gorgeous my dear friend!
Thank you, Henna. It is very hard to photograph cooked eggplants, so compensating by taking ingredient photos. I am so glad you love them. Thanks a lot.
Love how beautifully the eggplants fried up – your photos are gorgeous!
Thank you, Shashi. This posto eggplant is a keeper. Thank you for stopping by.
I have never tried this before, often don’t eat eggplant even in curry! Got to show my mum your recipe 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I never ate eggplant at your age either Uru 😉 I hope you’ll come around to eggplant someday. I also hope your mom like the recipe. Thanks a bunch for sharing!
so yum! Thanks for the eggplant inspiration 🙂
The pleasure is mine, Liz. The eggplant is irresistible! Thank you, my friend.
Water mouthing! ha ha ha…
Ha..ha..haa….! Thank you!
i have never really used poppy seeds in cooking..lovely looking eggplant dish there.
Thank you, Dixya. Poppy seed is a very common seed/spice for Bengali cooking. I hope you’ll give this a try sometimes.
I would definitely add turmeric like you did. This is more than a side dish for me… I could eat it everyday!
I hear you! I can also eat this delicious posto begun everyday. Thank you, my friend.
Your photos are gorgeous….especially those beautiful eggplant in your top photo! And your dish must taste amazing!!! Time to buy some eggplant 🙂
Thank you so much, Liz. The post begun tasted divine. I hope you give the recipe a try with the eggplants you are about to buy. Thank you, my friend.
Love the smokiness of eggplants. Never heard of poppyseed paste, but looks delicious.
Poppy seed is a very common ingredient in Bengali cooking. You may come across poppy seed in baked goods especially on muffins and bagels in Europe and North America. We love it. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the recipe! Can this dish be made with slices of eggplant?
Yes, off course you can make it with sliced eggplant. Glad you like the recipe. Thank you for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.