Bengali Aubergine Fry (Air Fryer and Oven Baked)

This Bengali aubergine fry, also known as begun bhaja, brinjal bhaja, or begun bhaji (in Bengali) is incredibly satisfying to make and eat! The thick batter gives this a perfect crisp when deep or shallow fried or cooked in the air fryer. A perfect vegan and vegetarian side dish or snack.

I must admit, I didn’t fully appreciate this dish until I introduced it at one of the cooking workshops I delivered. I remember scrambling to develop recipes in time for the workshop, while also balancing work and other commitments and I thought, “ok let’s make a super simple and easy dish, that everyone can eat, (vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free people!)” and ta’da, it was such a hit in the class, it caught me off-guard. One class participant said to me, “I have no idea why you didn’t like this as a child, it’s so delicious!”.

I had it so often as a child, that it almost got boring, but I’m falling in love with it again! As I get older, it totally makes sense why this was one of my mother’s go-to’s, it’s quick, it’s inexpensive and easy.

Growing up, it was super rare that we didn’t already have some sort of dhal and rice made, so often, it was just about frying these and voila, you had a meal for the family. In India, it’s also super popular to pair with khichuri (a rice-based, lentil curry).

Outside of pairing this with a lentil curry, you could also pair it with a steaming karak chai and I have no doubt in my mind that it wouldn’t send you to a temporary Bengali heaven. It’s a bit of a chameleon, in that I can’t really think of anything you wouldn’t be able to pair this with. I even ate it as a side with my Bengali chicken curry. Another popular indian snack are my paneer pakoras (that you can also have with chai!).

If you want more vegetarian recipes, head over to my recipes page and filter by ‘vegetarian’.

What are the different ways to cook this recipe?

So, while I was researching this recipe, I had no idea how varied it was. South Asians have admirably learned how to take a plain aubergine and run with it! Another popular Bengali fried aubergine dish is Beguni, which is a vertically sliced deep-fried aubergine snack, popular in Kolkata. You can find a great recipe here on Bong Eats.

Separately, some recipes also call for marinating the egg-plant in some spices before dredging it in rice flour. This is an excellent way to flavour the aubergine also.

My recipe instead calls for placing the spices in the flour you have on hand, and creating a crunchy and spicy batter.

For that extra crisp and crunch, I use a hearty amount of poppy seeds in my recipe. It gives the aubergine fry an extra pop of colour. Ensure that your eggplant is cut into thick slices.

What other flour alternatives are there?

The good news is that this popular vegan and vegetarian recipe can be made gluten-free! You can use this recipe using gram flour instead. I used plain flour here though.

Generally speaking, as long as you can make a nice thick batter with your flour of choice, you should be ok! Plain white gluten-free flour could also be a great option.

Another flour I have used, primarily because it was in my pantry and accessible, is self-raising flour.

Actually, in the cooking class I delivered, I used whole-meal flour as a healthy alternative and this flour could be great to introduce to households trying to practice a healthier lifestyle!

How can I cook this with less oil?

Traditionally, this recipe calls for deep frying, but in our new health-conscious age, we are understandably looking for new and alternative ways of cooking!

I personally am trying to encourage my parents to make more use of my air fryer and they are slowly but surely coming around. Below I have outlined how to make this using the air fryer and baking.

Please note though, you won’t receive the same results texture wise, if you choose to air fry or bake. They will be delicious, but perhaps not as crispy as the shallow / deep fry can give you!

Air frying your begun bhaja:

Air Fryer: If you want to make this recipe in the air fryer and with less oil. I would follow the following steps:

1. You can still go ahead and follow the recipe below to create the thick batter using your preferred flour (gluten-free or not).
2. Once you have dredged the aubergine in the batter, give it a couple of shakes to ensure that there is no excess batter left on.
3. Rest on a rack, with a plate underneath to ensure that there is no excess batter.
4. Line up your air fryer with baking paper, and drizzle around 1 tsp and a half of oil on to the baking paper.
5. Place your sliced aubergine in the air fryer, initially on the bake function at a temp of 160°C for twenty minutes. Cook this until your aubergine is completely cooked through.
6. (Optional) Drizzle a little bit more oil over the aubergine, so they crisp up nicely.
7. Once the aubergine has cooked through, you can place this on a higher heat (on air fryer mode at 200°C for a further 10 minutes.)
8. Once your aubergine has crisped up, you can now rest this on a rack, occasionally flipping it so that both sides of your fritters can dry up. Pat with a paper towel if necessary to absorb the excess oil.

Oven baking your begun bhaja:

Oven: If you want to oven bake this recipe, using less oil. I would follow the following steps:

1. You can still go ahead and follow the recipe below to create the thick batter using your preferred flour (gluten-free or not).
2. Once you have dredged the aubergine in the batter, I would give it a couple of shakes to ensure that there is no excess batter left on.
3. I then would rest it on a rack, with a plate underneath to ensure that there is no excess batter.
4. Line up your oven tray with baking paper and add around one table spoon of oil.
5. Place it in the oven at 180°C for around 25 minutes, flipping it halfway through, until the aubergine is cooked through.
6. Once the aubergine has cooked through, you can place this on a higher heat (at 200°C – 220°C, for around 10 minutes) and let the aubergine crisp up. To ensure that both sides of the aubergine crisp up, flip once on each side, and ensure that both sides have a crispy outer layer.
7. You can now rest this on a rack, occasionally flipping it so that both sides of your fritters can dry up. Pat with a paper towel if necessary to absorb any excess oil.

Feel free to check out my tik tok and Instagram videos where I explore south-asian hidden gems from my mums kitchen.