Piyaju vs Beguni

There has always been a debate at our house on which is better? The Piyaju or the Beguni. Deep down, I'm sure we think it's both because no Ramadan day is complete without iftar that doesn't include these both. Beguni is deep fried battered eggplant and Piyaju is sort of the Bengali pakora made with Lentils and onions. They are both friend and are extra crunchy...And ofcourse by no means are they healthy...But come on! We all know that anything unhealthy is very tasty! So here we are sharing these recipes of two iftar delicacies. Of course there are more to come!!

Beguni (Deep fried Eggplant)
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, thinly sliced
Oil to fry

Batter Recipe:
Besan (aka Gram flour or chickpea flour)
salt to taste
.25 tsp of turmeric powder
.5 tsp of red chilli powder
.5 tsp of cumin powder
.5 tsp of baking powder
salt to taste
water

Procedure:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Slowly add water to make the batter smooth and semi thick consistency.
3. Dip the eggplant and coat in batter
4. fry in oil over medium heat until light golden brown

Serve hot

Piyaju

Ingredients

.5 cup of Masoor Daal (Lentils), soaked for 3-4 hrs in hot water, you can soak overnight as well
1 Onion, thinly sliced
3-5 green chillies, sliced
.25 tsp of turmeric powder
.5 tsp of red chilli powder
.5 tsp of cumin powder
.25 tsp of ginger powder
.25 cup corriander, thinly sliced (optional)
salt to taste
Oil to fry

Procedure:
1. Blend lentils in a blender to make a paste. You made add a little bit of water to make loose.
2. in a bowl, combine all ingredients and let sit for 5 mins
3. Make small flattened balls and fry in oil over medium heat until golden brown
4. Pat on tissue paper and serve hot.




Photo Credits:
Picture of Piyaju was found on wikipedia.com
Picture of Beguni was found on kichukhonn.blogspot.com