Spicy Brinjal Roundels

I never would have thought that I would start my first Food Blog with a vegetable I used to hate as a kid. My mom's oft-repeated line - Wait till you grow up and get married, then you will start liking everything - used to pretty much fall on deaf ears. But now I have to agree - mothers always know!

Honestly, I'm still not a huge fan of Brinjal or Eggplant in any form. But dont mind the occasional Bharta. Especially this amazingly yummy version with milk and cream that a friend's husband once made! But that's for another day.

These Spicy Brinjal Roundels are my version of the Oriya "Baigan Bhaja" my mom used to make during our growing up years in Bhubaneshwar. Its really easy to make and my husband loves them :)

Ingredients:

1 large Brinjal (Bharta variety)

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Chat masala or garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Mustard oil - 1 tsp

Sunflower/vegetable oil - to shallow fry

Wash and cut the brinjal into thin roundels. Put all the pieces into a vessel alongwith the turmeric, salt, chilli powder, garam masala and mustard oil and mix well. Each roundel should be evenly coated with the mixture.

Take a non-stick frying pan and pour in about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot enough, put in 5-6 of the roundels and make sure they are evenly spread out. Fry them for about 2 min and turn them over on the other side for another 2-3 min.

If your slices are slighly thicker, you might need to cover the pan for a little while. Fry all the roundels in batches and you have crispy, spicy brinjal fry ready in munutes.

PS - Apologies for the bad pictures taken on my phone. Promise to take better ones with a proper digicam from next time.