Brinjal or Eggplant or Aubergine - What's in a Name?

Brinjal or Eggplant or Aubergine

This vegetable of the Nightshade family is known by different names in different parts of the world: Aubergine in France, Eggplant in North America, and here in India we know it as Brinjal. Brinjal is native to India and there are nearly 2500 varieties of Brinjal grown here. They can be white, green, purple, round, long, huge, tiny, striped, etc. So when I sourced my brinjal seeds from the local nursery without knowing the variety, there was much suspense about the kind of fruit I would get. Nearly three months later I found out that my brinjal is the small, round, purple variety. 

Brinjal Bounty

Before cooking brinjal, one is advised to salt, rinse and drain it, to rid it of its slight bitterness. Raw Brinjal, in fact, can’t be eaten as they are somewhat bitter; the reason is that they contain minute amounts of nicotine. Here’s a fun fact sourced from Wikipedia: Nine Kgs of brinjal contain a cigaretteful of nicotine. But once brinjal is cooked, its flesh turns succulent, almost melting, with a rich, slightly meaty flavour. This vegetable is extremely versatile and there are a mind boggling number of recipes that one can choose from around the world. Very often, the brinjals in my kitchen find their way into sambhar, vangi bhaat (brinjal rice) or a tomato brinjal curry. Yet, Deep-fried Brinjal slices (Sicilian style) and Baba Ghanoush are my favourites.

A Recent Harvest

Salted Brinjal Slices: To be Rinsed and Drained

Baba Ghanoush is a wonderful Middle Eastern dish, in which baked brinjal is mashed and combined with olive oil and seasoning. There are many more mouthwatering brinjal recipes. Like the Turkish Imam Bayildi (brinjals stuffed with tomato, garlic and onions and simmered in olive oil). Imam Bayildi literally means the “Imam (Muslim Priest) fainted”; he fainted after eating the dish as it was so good. Now, with an interesting name like that, one is strongly urged to try it out.

 

Let me sign off with the story of an unusal  experiment. An Indian farmer from Chattisgarh has grafted Tomato and Brinjal into a single plant and is getting good results. Since both tomato and brinjal belong to the same family, such an experiment is possible. Here is the link to the video. Can we further this logic and grow all Solanaceae species in the same plant. Can we have a “potato, tomato, chilly, capsicum and brinjal all-in-one” plant? Somehow, I find the idea disagreeable, even if it is to bear fruit (pun intended).

Good News From My Garden

There’s some good news! A crow couple, which lives adjacent to my building, is expecting triplets.  They have a nest atop a coconut tree, which I can peek into from the stair case landing of the third floor. The would-be parents are guarding the eggs round the clock. But on this rare occasion, the parents were away and I managed to take two good photos of the pale green eggs in their nest.

Three Crow's Eggs

Nearly Hidden From View

Despite the scorching heat in the afternoon, the evenings are often cool and pleasant. Occasionally we even have a spell of rain. Early in the week, when it was about to rain, this Kingfisher seemed rapturous. It went about shrieking “Kee Kee Kee Keeeee”, almost begging me to take a picture of it. So I obliged.

White Breasted Kingfisher

In my earlier post, Birds from My Window, I’d mentioned the rare sighting of the Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker. Well, I recently spotted it for the second time. It was right above me, but I didn’t have my camera handy. By the time I went up and down three floors for my camera, the bird had moved away, thanks to the crows. But here is a zoomed in, long shot of the beauty.

Lesser Golden-Backed Woodpecker

Coming to the flora in my garden. The suspense with regard to my brinjal is over.  And it is…. it is the small, round, purple variety. It was delicious, almost melting, as I had it in my sambar yesterday.

Purple Brinjal Drenched in the Rain

Let me sign off with pictures from the balcony garden and the garden downstairs.

Pomegranate Blooms

Bunches of Pink Ixora flowers

Spotted Leaves and Floor: Caladium Plant

Brinjal and Other Blooms

My Brinjal plant has bloomed for the first time this season and I'm really excited. Not knowing what variety of brinjal I've planted, I've been waiting for the fruit for a while. I'll soon get my answer.

Brinjal Flower

Brinjal Bud

Here are my ladies finger blooms wishing me "Good Morning!". It's the second season. And though the earlier ant infestation has diminished on its own, the fruits are markedly smaller this time.

Ladies Finger Flowers

A Beetle on this Flower

The papaya tree in our shared garden is blooming.

Papaya flower

It's been planted too close to the wall and I was afraid that it wouldn't survive. Yet here it is, and it's fruiting.

Papaya Tree

 I'll sign off with a picture of my purple heart flowers in the balcony garden.

Purple Heart