Bengali Neem Begun - Stir fried Brinjal / Eggplant with Neem - Healthy Vegan summer / spring recipe

Neem in India traditionally considered to be the antidote of a lot of diseases. It is also a good detox agent. The benefits of Neem can be found in https://food.ndtv.com/health/benefits-and-uses-of-neem-a-herb-that-heals-1231051

Bengalis use Neem leaves and eggplant to prepare a healthy side dish for the season of spring and summer. This preparation is supposed to do away all the effects of sudden temperature change from winter to summer. It also restores the appetite and helps digestion during hot and dry weather. Though this dish has a bitter taste but my recipe tries to reduce the bitter taste as well as keeping the balance between being healthy and tasty. BTW, I forgot to mention that this vegan recipe is very easy and takes no time to prepare.

Preparation Time: - 5 min

Cooking Time: - 10~15 min

Servings: - 2~3 persons (varies according to the tolerance of bitter taste)

Ingredients:- 

1. 1 small or ½ medium bunch of Baby neem leaves
2. 1 small or ½ large eggplant. In fact there is no fixed proportion of Neem and Eggplant. You can use more Neem leaves if your taste permits or more eggplant for mild bitter taste
3. 1 tsp Turmeric powder
4. 2 silted Green Chilli
5. Salt to taste
6. 2 tbsp Mustard oil (I prefer mustard oil but you can use Sunflower or Canola oil if you do not like the pungent smell of mustard oil)
   

Preparation:-

1. Wash the neem leaves well and pluck them from the bunch.
2. Dry them on a kitchen napkin, chop them and keep aside.
3. Wash and cut the eggplant into cubes. Place them in a large bowl and fill up the same with water. The idea is to submerge the eggplant pieces in water so that they soak a lot of water. This will reduce the amount of oil needed to fry them.
4. Rub salt to the eggplant cubes and keep aside for few minutes.
5. Take a kadai / frying pan and heat 1 ½ tbsp mustard oil in high heat.
6. Put the eggplant pieces in the frying pan and reduce the heat to medium.
   
7. Add turmeric powder and shallow fry the eggplant till they turn brownish. This should take about 5 minutes. Stir continuously so that they do not get stuck in the bottom.
   
8. Remove the brinjal pieces and keep aside.
9. Add the chopped neem leaves, sprinkle a little salt and fry them in the same oil in low heat. At first a lot of water will emanate from the leaves. Wait till the water evaporates and the leaves turn slightly crispy. Now pour ½ tbsp. oil and continue frying until the leaves turn fully crispy.
   
   
10. Switch off the burner and then add already fried eggplant. Mix well with neem leaves.

Now your healthy spring / summer dish is ready to consume. You can drain the extra oil by putting the dish on kitchen towel. This should be served with hot steamed rice. You can add a bit of Ghee on top of the rice if you like. The side dish should be the first item of your typically Bengali summer lunch.

  

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.