Happy Aubergine to you!

The Bengali word for Aubergine or Eggplant or Brinjal is 'Begun' (pronounced as Bay-Goon). When literally translated, it means 'without quality'. That's what I always thought of that vegetable. It had nothing going for it. As a child, I thought its appearance was hideous. The more varieties my mother introduced to me - long and pale ones, fat and glossy ones, stubby striped ones - the more I recoiled. It was slithery, caused my throat to itch and was just plain odd. It is a known fact that all children and even a lot of adults around the world dislike aubergines, so I had no problem citing examples of other agonized souls like myself and trying to make a convincing argument at home for not consuming the darned vegetable. I was always unsuccessful and frequently found myself trapped at the dinner table with a brinjal dish staring at me.

When I started to live and cook by myself at 17, a lot of things changed. I craved variety and soon understood that cooking with just the five kinds of vegetables I bought every week - beans, peas, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower - was rather limiting. Also, two of these are seasonal! So gradually, in came pumpkin, turnip, gourds and drumsticks. I think aubergine was really the last entrant. I tried to understand what the love sonnets my mother sang about brinjals were really about. Slowly, I discovered its versatility - you can fry them, bake them, broil them, even stuff them! And although I happily eat brinjals in any form today, I know that it is one of those foods whose taste and consistency varies dramatically depending on how it is cooked and prepared.

Last weekend, I came across a recipe for stuffed aubergines with ground meat. Although I haven't tried making that one yet, I know its an ingenious idea. But I did try a vegetarian version that the husband and I absolutely loved. It was creative, easy and not time consuming at all. I think you can make any stuffing you wish and serve it with chapatis, rice, bread, mashed potatoes or just a fresh salad on the side. I served mine with some burnt garlic rice and broccoli salad. Below is the recipe I used. Go on, make yourself a happy aubergine dinner tonight.

Ingredients:

1. 1 big aubergine, washed and cut lengthwise into half
2. 2 medium potatoes, boiled and diced
3. 1 cup corn kernels, boiled
4. 1 medium onion, sliced
5. Cumin and coriander powder, a teaspoon each
6. 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
7. 2 tablespoons oil
8. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Scoop out the flesh from the aubergines, leaving just a thin layer (say 1/4th inch) of the flesh behind. Coat the skin and the hollow inside with 1/2 teaspoon oil and a pinch of salt. Leave aside

2. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions until translucent. Add the potatoes and corn along with the diced aubergine flesh and cook until the aubergine flesh is soft. Add salt, spices and chilli flakes. Sprinkle a little water to avoid any burning

3. Take off heat and fill the aubergines with this stuffing. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon oil on the tops

4. Place the stuffed aubergines onto a baking tray and into a 200 degrees C oven. Bake for 30-40 mins taking care to reduce the temperature if the aubergines or the stuffing start to char.