Doi begun recipe | Niramish begun recipe | How to make doi begun

The name Doi begun is a Bengali name where ‘Doi’ means yogurt or curd and ‘Begun’ stands for eggplant or brinjal or aubergine, whichever you prefer to call it.

Eggplants play a vital role in Bengali culinary. Whenever it comes to a Bengali recipe, whether its vegetarian or nonvegetarian, eggplants are always there to play the prime role. It is used to prepare many recipes like simple fried or delectable veg curries or in fish recipes and many more. But the combination of eggplant and yogurt is not limited in Bengali cuisine. In fact, this combination is used in multiple cuisine and they have their own version of Doi Begun.

Dahi Baingan is a hugely popular recipes for eggplant curry throughout India and is prepared in different varieties in different states of the country with their own regional flavour and style of cooking. North Indian Dahi baingan, Kashmiri Dahi Baingan, odia Dahi Baingan are the few popular variations of the iconic curry other than Bengali Doi Begun.

I have already shared north Indian style Dahi baingan recipe with you in my previous post where I had mentioned about Bengali style Doi begun recipe. So here we go. Today I have come up with the authentic Bengali recipe Doi begun which is hugely popular during Durga puja season.

As a Bong, I always had Doi Begun since childhood. My mom used to prepare this Bengali delicacy on Saturdays because it is a niramish aka meatless day in my parents’ house. For a Bong, niramish day means no onion no garlic day. The usage of onion and garlic is completely prohibited during those days. Doi begun is a perfect fit for those niramish days.

Earlier, my mom used to prepare Doi begun recipe during winter season when fresh fleshy eggplants are easily available in market. But now a day’s eggplants are easily available all throughout the year and people can enjoy this healthy delight any time.

Doi begun is a very simple and easy recipe and gets prepared very quickly. It is a full proof recipe and there are minimal chances of it getting wrong. In fact, according to me, it could be a perfect dish to cook for a novice. To prepare this palatable dish, very limited and easily available ingredients are required. I have learnt this recipe from my Mom, and she got this recipe from her mom. So, you can easily consider it a 100 years old recipe. Isn’t it interesting?

Whenever I talk about doi begun recipe, I always feel nostalgic. I have so many good memories are with this recipe. The first time, I prepared this recipe was on my first Durgashtami after my marriage. It was a vegetarian day and I was not an expert cook by that time. I asked my mom over the phone to suggest me an easy recipe. She advised me to prepare Doi Begun. After preparing the recipe, I was quite nervous to serve it to all. But everyone loved the preparation. Since then Doi begun has become part and parcel of our life. Whenever I have yogurt and eggplants in my fridge, my husband always asks me to prepare Doi begun recipe.

Reason behind the popularity of Doi Begun

Doi begun recipe with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the “Instructions” section. But before jumping into the recipe, I would like to share few interesting facts about the hero ingredients of the recipe.

Health benefits of Eggplant

How to resist Yogurt to curdle during cooking

To prepare a yogurt curry recipe, it is very important to add Yogurt in correct way to stop curdling. Here I am sharing few other tips and tricks for yogurt-based gravy.

How to make doi begun?

For the doi begun recipe, first wash the eggplants and pat them dry with kitchen tissue. Trim the edges of the stem and cut them length wise into four pieces. I always prefer to cut them with the stem.

Then marinate the eggplant pieces with salt and turmeric powder for at least 10 minutes to let it release moisture.

On the other hand, to prepare the yogurt mixture, take the yogurt into the small jar of mixer grinder. Add besan or gram flour, cumin powder, coriander powder, sugar and pulse it for few seconds. Then keep the yogurt mixture aside. Addition of besan will resist the yogurt to curdle during the time of cooking.

Bengalis prefer little bit sweet and tangy gravy for doi begun recipe. So, I have added generous amount of sugar into the yogurt mixture.

After that, take a pan and add enough oil to shallow fry the marinated eggplant pieces. Once the oil is hot, fry the eggplant pieces over medium flame evenly till golden brown and tender.

Eggplants are just like sponge. They can soak plenty of oil. So, it’s always better to shallow fry them rather than deep frying. It makes the dish much healthier without impacting the taste. After frying, keep them on a tissue lined plate to absorb the excess oil.

In the same pan, add some more oil and wait to the oil become hot. Add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamoms, bay leaf for tempering and let them crackle.

Add green chillies and finely chopped ginger and cook them in low flame until the raw smell of ginger disappears.

Then add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and mix the spices nicely and cook for some time before adding the yogurt mixture.

Pour the yogurt mixture into the pan and cook it in low flame for couple of minutes and then add water into the mixture. Let the gravy simmer for some time.

Add Bengali garam masala powder into the gravy and mix it nicely for flavouring. Bengali garam masala is the combination of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves powder of equal proportions.

Add the fried eggplant pieces into the gravy and cook it in low flame for some time. Then switch off the flame and put the pan down.

Note: Always pick the eggplant pieces from the stem to keep the shape of the eggplant pieces intact.

Ingredients:

• 1 large Eggplant, cut lengthwise into 4 pieces
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• ¼ teaspoon Sugar

• ½ cup Yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Besan or Gram flour
• ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
• 2½ teaspoons Sugar

• 1 tablespoon Ginger, finely chopped
• 2-3 green Chillies
• ¼ teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 4 Cardamoms
• 4 Cloves
• 1-inch Cinnamon stick
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon red Chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon Bengali Garam masala
• ½ cup Water for Gravy
• Salt to taste
• Oil for cooking

1. Wash the eggplant and pat it dry.
   

2. Trim the edges of the stem of eggplant. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 4 pieces with the stem.
   
   

3. Take the pieces on a plate.
   

4. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and ¼ teaspoon sugar over the pieces.
   

5. Rub them evenly on the eggplant pieces and allow the pieces to marinate for at least 10 minutes.
   

6. On the other hand, take ½ cup yogurt into a jar of a blender.
   

7. Add 1 teaspoon besan (gram flour), ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, 2 ½ teaspoons of sugar, one by one into the jar of the grinder.
   
   
   
   

8. Put on the lid of the jar and pulse it for few seconds to mix all the contents evenly. Keep the yogurt mixture aside.
   

9. Put a pan on flame and allow it to dry completely.
10. Add Oil into the pan for shallow frying the marinated eggplant pieces.
    

11. Once the oil is hot, add eggplant pieces (Step 5) into the pan.
    

12. Fry the skinny side of the pieces in medium low flame for 2-3 minutes and then turn the other side.
    

13. Fry them in low flame for another 2-3 minutes.
14. Transfer the eggplant pieces on a plate lined with kitchen tissue. The kitchen tissue will absorb the excess oil.
    

15. Add some more oil in the pan if required and put the flame in high till the oil is hot.
16. Add bay leaves, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon stick into the pan and let them crackle.
    

17. Add finely chopped ginger, green chillies into the pan and cook them in low flame for a minute until the raw smell of ginger disappears.
    

18. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder into the pan and mix it nicely. Cook it in lowest flame for few seconds.
    

19. Add the yogurt mixture (Step 8) into the pan and give a nice stir.
    
    

20. Cook the yogurt mixture for 1-2 minutes in low flame until the raw smell of besan and spices disappear.
21. Add water and give a nice stir.
    

22. Cover the pan and put the flame in high until the gravy simmers.
23. Put the flame in low and add Bengali garam masala into the pan. Mix the masala nicely.
    

24. Add the fried eggplant pieces (Step 14) into the pan and dip them into the gravy.
    

    Note: Always pick the eggplant pieces from the stem to keep the shape of the eggplant pieces intact.
    

25. Cook them in low flame for a minute.
    

26. Switch off the flame and put the pan down.

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