We all love aubergine! But what about aubergine dipped in chickpea flour and deep fried until so crunchy outside but soft inside? Yes, we call it Beguni – fried Aubergine in gram-flour batter!

You basically need purple color aubergine, either round big one or long thin ones, salt and gram-flour or chickpea flour. You can find this special kind of flour in any Asian shop. If you don’t have it at home now, you can use flour and pinch of turmeric to give it right color. However, if you want to get the traditional taste of Beguni, you must try it with gram-flour batter.

Slice the aubergine thinly. Usually for Beguni, we slice it as thin as half a centimeter or less. If you slice it thicker, it tends to get soggy and does not get cooked inside. Also if you slice it too thin, you will only taste the fried batter. So better, if you make half a centimeter slice and you will have an amazing taste of fried yet soft aubergine!

Now, it is important to make the batter properly. The batter for Beguni is made with gram-flour or chickpea flour, which raises and gets smoother if you beat it for a while. You can rely on baking powder instead of beating it. However, the end result might not look the same. So, grab your gram-flour, add salt and little baking powder and pinch of turmeric and add enough water until the batter looks runny like your pancake batter.

Tips 1: Beat gram flour batter for 10 minutes to make it extra crispy

Now, when batter is in perfect consistency, grab your hand or electric beater and beat it for minimum 10 minutes. You will see the difference in looks, it will feel lot smoother and little raised.
Its time to dip the aubergines in batter and fry. To fry them perfectly, you need to warm the oil for couple of minutes. Warming oil in low medium heat for a while helps in frying perfectly without burning your food. So while you are beating your batter, you can start warming your oil in medium low heat. By the time your batter is fluffed and smooth, your oil is ready to fry!

Take your batter and dip your aubergine slices in it so both side is equally covered. If your batter stick to aubergine thinly but does not run off, it means you have done a good job!
Now easy part, fry them good. It takes couple of few minutes to fry them until they look golden brown on both sides.

When done, place it on paper towel to soak extra water. Serve them warm but if you wanna serve them later, you can keep in on your oven under 50 degree to keep it warm.

You can eat them with ketchup or Tzatziki sauce or any other favorite sauce of yours!

Recipe: 4 Serving Prepping time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: Vegetables Half of a big round Aubergine Half a cup Gram flour (aka Chickpea flour, or Beshon) – Alternatively use plain wheat flour 1/2 tsp Baking powder Spice and Condiments 100ml Vegetable Oil (any neutral taste oil will do) 1/2tsp Turmeric powder Minced green chili and coriander leaves (optional)

Instruction 1. Slice aubergine no thicker than half a centimeter. 2. Meanwhile, heat your vegetable oil in low medium heat for 10 minutes. 3. In a big bowl, take gram flour, salt, baking powder, turmeric and other condiments and mix them well. Add water gradually until they have consistency of pancake batter. 4. Dip sliced aubergine in batter and fry in low medium heat. 5. Fry until golden both sides and take it out of the pan and put it on paper towel to absorb extra oil. 6. Serve warm with your favorite dips.