I had never heard of this dish. In fact, it had never occurred to me that eggs could be blended with eggplant. However, with lockdown, we came across several useful, easy to make and frugal recipes. Tanusree, our friend from Forktales made a video of this and I was totally intrigued by it. Anindya went back in a time capsule to this Nani bari (his grandmother’s home). Apparently, he had eaten beguner khagina quite often in winter during his childhood but he knew it by some other name.

Easy way to make Beguner Khagina

Is deem begun the same as beguner khagina?

After I saw Tanusree make this, I looked into my old Bengali cookbooks and a few of them had Deem Begun. Anindya has always had this recipe and he knew it as deem begun. However, the books suggested that deem begun has eggplants cut into small cubes, fried along with scrambled eggs. Beguner khagina is a whole other deal.

Well, what’s in a name. There are hundreds of recipes of the same dish with different variations. Having said that, this is how I learnt to make beguner khagina from my friend and it is a big hit at our dinner table during winter.

Here are some Begun recipes which you will enjoy making . Click on the picture for the recipe.

Easy way to make Begun Bhaja
How to make Doi Begun -2

How to make it?

One of the easiest recipes, all you have to do is roast the brinjal or eggplant first. Just like begun pora, roast it, remove the skin and the head and mash it. Then taking mustard oil in a kadai, add chopped garlic, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, ginger juliennes, salt, turmeric powder and chopped green chillies. Once they have cooked, add the mashed eggplant into this and then, cook till all the spices have blended with the eggplant. Make a well in the centre and add a couple of whisked eggs into this. Now keep the heat low and scramble the eggs with the eggplant. It takes a few minutes for the eggs to get cooked and all creamy with the eggplant mash.

Finally when it is done, garnish with chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves and a little more ginger julienne in you like.

Serving suggestions

Beguner khagina goes best with roti or paratha. However, it is equally good with steamed rice too. Serve it immediately, pan to plate.

You can also check out some amazing Bengali recipes in our youtube channel – Cook with Pikturenama 

 

Do try this recipe and share your feedback. You can reach out to us at our social media handles InstagramFacebook or any of our personal Facebook (Madhushree and Anindya) and Twitter profiles. Post a picture and tag us.

Pin this on your recipe board? You can find some awesome recipes at Pikturenama recipes in Pinterest

Beguner Khagina for Pinterest -1

Easy way to make Beguner Khagina

Beguner Khagina | Eggplant scrambled with eggs

A winter classic recipe of roasted eggplant scrambled with eggs.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Breakfast, Egg Recipes, Main Course, Non Vegetarian
Cuisine Bengali
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large eggplant/ brinjal
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 inch ginger
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1.5 tbsp mustard oil
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
  • salt to taste
  • coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Cut long slits into the brinjal by keeping the head and the bottom intact. Check if there are any insects inside the brinjal or not. Then keep the brinjal or eggplant over a wire rack on an open flame to roast it.
  • Using a tong, turn it around to roast it evenly on all sides. So, once it is completely soft with charred skin, turn off the heat and let the brinjal cool down.
  • While it is cooling down, finely chop onions and garlic cloves. Julienne the ginger, chop the green chillies and the coriander leaves.
  • Peel off the skin of the brinjal and discard. Then cut the head and with a masher or a fork, mash the roasted brinjal/eggplant.
  • Break one egg in a bowl and whisk it and keep aside.
  • In a kadai, heat mustard oil and add chopped garlic. Let it get a light golden colour. Add the onions and keep frying on medium to high heat.
  • Once the onions have softened and have started turning golden, add the chopped tomatoes.
  • Sprinkle salt and turmeric powder and keep stirring. Then add chopped green chillies (if you have a high tolerance for spice) now or else you can add green chillies in the end. Also, add only half of the ginger now to cook with the tomatoes.
  • In case anything is sticking to the bottom of the kadai, sprinkle some warm water and keep stirring.
  • Once the tomatoes have softened, add the mashed eggplant. Mix everything thoroughly and stir for a couple of minutes.
  • Make a well in the centre of the kadai, and add the whisked egg.
  • Reduce the heat to a minimum and scramble the egg with the brinjal, while stirring continuously. It takes 4 to 5 minutes for the egg to completely cook with the brinjal. It becomes creamy with the roasted eggplant.
  • Season if required. Sprinkle coriander leaves, green chilies and the balance ginger julienne and turn off the heat.
  • Serve beguner khagina with steaming hot rotis or rice or even paratha.
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