Baked Chingri Begun

This is a side dish made with prawns and brinjal. Though the wet paste made with mustard seeds and other ingredients are commonly used in Bengali dishes to make Jhal, Paturi, Bhapa etc, and even brinjal is a common ingredient used along with fish to make curry, here I have tried out the recipe in a bit different way... 

This dish can be made with other small fishes. 

You can serve this dish with steamed rice.

Ingredients 

1 medium size Bharta Baigan / Brinjal 

10 to 12 medium size  Prawns cleaned and deveined
1 small Onion or 1/4 part of the Onion

4 to 5 Garlic Cloves 

4 to 6 Green Chillies as per the spiciness you require 

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tbsp Fresh or Desiccated Coconut  

1 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Poppy seeds

1 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped 

2 tbsp + 1 tsp Mustard Oil 

2 tbsp Curd (Optional)

Method 

Take the brinjal, cut the brinjal from the center horizontally leaving the end tail part of the brinjal intact. Scoop out the inner part of the brinjal on both the sides. Keep it aside. Now chop the scooped flesh of the brinjal and keep it aside. Take a grinder, add the onion, green chillies, garlic, mustard seeds, poppy seeds, coconut, turmeric powder and salt. Add little water and 2 tbsp of curd (optional), make a smooth paste. Rub little salt on the inner and outer parts of the brinjal.  Take a bowl, add the prawn, chopped brinjal flesh, coriander leaves, 2 tbsp mustard oil and the paste. Mix all the ingredients together. Now stuff the prawn stuffing on one side of scooped brinjal. Cover it with the other side of the brinjal. Tie up the brinjal with a thread. Keep the stuffed brinjal in the refrigerator for an hour, Remove the brinjal from the fridge.  Place the brinjal into a baking tray, pour the remaining mustard oil, and apply the oil on the brinjal. To bake, you can either bake it in a preheated OTG at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the brinjal after 10 minutes to cook it evenly or to bake it on a gas stove, take a wok, place a pressure cooker stand into the wok, cover the the wok for 5 minutes on medium flame. Open the lid, place the tray on the cooker stand. Cover the lid and bake for 10 minutes on medium low flame, after 10 minutes turn the side then continue to cook for another 20 minutes with the lid covered. Remove the baking tray from the wok. Remove the thread, place the brinjal on a serving plate and open one side of the brinjal. Pour in the liquid of the baked brinjal and prawns. Garnish with coriander leaves and green chillies. Serve the dish with hot steaming rice.