Deem Begun (Bengali style eggplant & egg dish)

Peel the skin of the eggplant and chop it into tiny pieces. The smaller you cut them, the faster they will cook.

Put them in a large bowl and sprinkle about 1 tbsp of salt and mix well. Keep this aside for 30 min. The salt will draw out the bitter moisture from the eggplant. Rinse them well before using and pat dry. Skip this step if in a hurry.

Finely chop the onions. Again, the smaller the size, faster they will cook.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions. Once they become translucent, add the eggplant. Add turmeric, chilli and salt and mix well so the spice coats everything evenly. Cover and cook on medium flame for about 10 min.

After 10 mins, the eggplants will also become translucent. Mash them with the ladle. You can also use a potato masher here if you are fancy. Cover and cook for another 10 mins.

The onion and eggplant should have cooked down to one homogeneous mass by now. Beat 1 egg lightly with a pinch of salt and add to the pan. Stir the egg evenly through the eggplant.

Cook for another 10-15min stirring the mix occasionally. How long you do this is really up to you. The egg will be cooked within 5 mins and it will be ready to eat. But I like to cook it longer to get a darker color.

Serve it with steamed rice or hot chapatti.