I started looking for a basic Begun Posto recipe online and found a bunch of poser recipes, which annoyed me. Basic begun posto is simple to prepare and absolutely delicious if you like begun (eggplant) and posto (poppy seed paste prepared Indian-style). Now a little bit of history: My grandparents were all originally from East Bengal - which is now Bangladesh. There is a big difference between the recipes in Hindu and Muslim homes. I find the Hindu recipes use more of the local ingredients, and the Muslim recipes try to incorporate ingredients frequently used in North West Indian or Arabic cuisine.
This recipe is a Hindu recipe. Which boils down to this: there is no need for onions or garlic to be deep fried or sauteed at the beginning of everything. (How refreshing.) Because the big problem with that method of cooking is: everything ends up tasting exactly the same. Meat, chicken, fish, vegetables... all taste the same. On the bright side, if you wanted to make a big bag of fried onions and garlic ahead of time, you can add that to any and all dishes.
Here's the Begun Posto recipe.
2-3 cups of Eggplant
2 Tbsp white poppy seeds
1-3 tsp red chilli paste or green chilli paste
1-2 Tbsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 Tbsp mustard seed oil
If you are using a large eggplant, cut it into 2 inch cubes. If you are using the little round "Indian" eggplants, cut it into halves. Wash and set aside.
1. Add salt and turmeric to the eggplant.
2. Heat a little bit of the oil in a pan and cook the eggplants just so there is some colour to the cut sides. I don't like to deep fry my food, so I sometimes just spray the eggplant with cooking spray and cook it till it has colour on the sides. The eggplant need not be cooked through.
3. Dry grind the poppy seeds (I use a coffee grinder). Add the chilli paste (I cheat and use sambal paste). Add about 2 tsps of water to make a paste.
4. Heat your pan and add the oil. Set the heat to medium and wait for the oil to heat up. Add the poppy seed paste and salt and stir. The mixture will be dry so add 1/4 cup of water to keep it to a moist consistency. At this point you can make the dish as dry or wet as you like. But you want to eat this with rice, so keep it to a custard-like consistency. If it gets too dry while cooking, don't be afraid to add 1/4 cup of water at a time. If it's too wet, cook it a little longer.
5. Once the poppy seed paste has been warmed up and starts to cook, add the eggplant.
6. Cover the pan with a lid, make sure there's enough water that it won't burn, and walk away.
7. Stir occasionally and cook till the eggplant is done. Taste for salt and you're done.
Serve with hot rice.
This dish is so incredible.
On a side note: Don't eat this dish the day before getting tested for drugs. This dish is 90% poppy seed and you will test positive for opiates. :) I find this fun fact hilarious!! I'm not saying that I or any of my readers are in an environment where they'll be tested for drugs frequently BUT if you work in a security sensitive environment (like Oil&Gas premises or Govt research facilities) then keep this fact in mind.
