Crispy Spicy Aubergine Slices

Now Brinjal or Aubergine, like it is stylishly called now a days even by people who have called it Brinjal all their lives ,is something that as a child I was forced to eat by my mother. She cooked it in all possible interesting ways but even then it was something that I dreaded eating.It made me go green in the face. One fine day she made these crispy brinjal slices and told me to imagine that I was eating fried fish(which was my favorite) and then eat them. But clever and smart (read over-smart) that I was , I asked her whether she would eat fried fish imagining that it was brinjal (she is a pure vegetarian) . My mother, if I remember correctly, just left the room. But that was then. Slowly as a teenager and later in my 20s I developed a liking for this vegetable though still not in all its forms. But it was only after my marriage when I ate similar slices made by my MiL that I really began loving this dish and now I prepare it quite often .Hope you guys like it too.

Simple Ingredients:

1 large brinjal sliced(1 brinjal makes about 8/9 slices), 1 cup chickpea flour (besan), 1 cup fine semolina, 2 tspn cumin-coriander powder mix, 1 tspn chilli powder, 2 tspn salt, 2 tspn powdered sugar, 1/2 tspn Hing (asafoetida), 1/2 tspn turmeric powder. Increase the spice and chilli level according to taste.

Procedure:

1. Slice the Brinjal into thick slices and drop them in a large bowl of lightly salted water. This will keep the brinjal from discolouring.

2.Mix all the above ingredients and check the taste. Add more salt or spices if needed.

3 Heat a tawa (Skillet) and coat it generously with oil.

4. Thickly coat the brinjal slices one at a time in the besan mixture and place on the tawa. Shallow fry only 4 slices at a time. Cover the slices with a lid so the brinjal cooks through and through. Turn them once over . Now do not cover. Remove them onto a plate. They are ready to eat. If making them for guests you can prepare them ahead and only pop them into a moderate oven for 5 mins before serving.

5. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve on a bed of crisp shredded cabbage leaves

quick snacks