Neem and Eggplant - traditional Bengali cuisine for heath benefits

‘Neem’ is accepted worldwide today for its medicinal qualities but it was our ‘Ayurved’ that invented its benefits in ancient times. Traditionally Indian kitchens have always used medicinal herbs, roots and plants in regular cuisines like neem, turmeric, ginger, garlic, mint, cinnamon, and Brahmi. The list is long but neem, for its extremely bitter taste, was never popular.

In our traditional Bengali kitchen, our grandmothers and their mothers were aware of the qualities of neem. In the olden days, Pox was a dreaded disease in Bengal and the whole of India. Neem has the medicinal qualities of killing this virus. Just after the winter was over, with the onset of the spring, Poxvirus was a common disease, sometimes it turned fatal. During this very time, the neem trees shed their leaves and new leaves start blooming. As if a natural medicine to cure the Poxvirus.

Our mostly illiterate women in the kitchen those days knew the marvellous qualities of the Neem through traditions and to prevent the virus attack made it mandatory to begin the lunch with ‘Neem Begun’ - a simple dish, presented today.

Ingredients:

Baby Neem leaves – 2 twigs, fresh

Egg-plant, brinjal – 1 medium

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar – ½ tsp

Mustard oil – 2 tbsp

Instructions:

Wash the neem leaves thoroughly and pluck them separately from the twig.

Cut the eggplant into small cubes and apply salt with turmeric.

Dry roast the neem leaves on a wok on low heat for a minute and set them aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the eggplant cubes coated with salt and turmeric.

Fry them on medium heat until the eggplant is cooked soft.

Add the neem leaves and mix well with the eggplant.

Add the sugar and stir a little gently. Adjust the salt to taste.

When the oil starts to release from the eggplant, take off the heat.

Serve with rice. It goes well with little ghee or kasundi but it's optional.