It took me a while to love aubergines. As a child, my palate couldn’t appreciate my mum’s begun bhaja, a simple Bengali preparation of fried aubergines with turmeric and salt. “They’re too slimy!” I’d wail as she rolled her eyes and served them to less ungrateful members of the family. Years later, I rediscovered them through the myriad ways they appear in Middle Eastern food: stuffed and grilled and turned into delicious dips. And, in cooking them myself, I learned to love them in Indian cuisine, too – even the dreaded begun bhaja of my youth.
