Eggplants, or, as they are called in everyday life, blue ones, arrived on the territory of our country in the distant 19th century, although they came to Europe even earlier - in the 15th century. People did not immediately appreciate the oriental vegetable, but when they did try it, they began to prepare from it so varied dishes that you wonder! Fancy and difficult to prepare dishes is full, but preferable to taste for many - simple fried eggplant. Recipes with photos in this article will make it clear that sometimes the best is the simplest and most affordable. Detailed step-by-step explanations of the cooking process and recommendations will help even a novice cook to cope with the task, and a delicious ready-made dish will make you reconsider your attitude to this wonderful vegetable.
Preliminary preparation of the main ingredient
Any dish based on fried eggplant begins with the preparation of the vegetable: you should choose slightly unripe fruits without formed seeds inside. If this moment is ignored, then during frying pieces of eggplant, cut into strips or circles, can lose their integrity.
Another important point: after cutting the eggplants, they must be lightly sprinkled with salt, mixed and left for half an hour at room temperature, and then washed under running water. Thus, the bitterness inherent in the fruit, which often spoils the taste of the finished dish, is removed from this vegetable. It is because of this bitterness that many people don’t like the taste of the prepared eggplant, although it has nothing to do with it, it’s rather the fault of the cook who does not know the technology of pre-processing.
How to fry eggplant slices and slices?
Traditional fried eggplant such slices are used for cooking various snacks in combination with hot sauces and vegetables. To make the blue ones delicious, you must adhere to several rules:
- Cut pieces no thicker than one centimeter.
- It is good to warm the oil in a pan, but at the same time make sure that there is not too much of it: this is not deep-frying, but the usual frying until it is rosy.
- If you want a crispier crust and even color of fried eggplant, you should roll in flour before putting it in the pan.
- Spread the finished vegetables on a paper towel to remove excess fat, which makes the finished dish less tasty and completely unattractive in appearance.
"Mother-in-law's tongue"
Photos of fried eggplant in the form of rolls with tomato and herbs look appetizing and prompt to realize a culinary masterpiece in your kitchen. After all, this simple appetizer is very tasty both in warm and in cold form. It is prepared as simple as possible: in the traditional way, fry the sliced eggplants in a small amount of vegetable oil, let them cool slightly on paper.
Prepare the sauce: for every hundred grams of mayonnaise add three to four garlic cloves chopped in a mortar, a pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. You can also add a little dried oregano. Stir the sauce thoroughly and spread on each plate of eggplant. On the edge, put half a mug of fresh tomato and fold the eggplant in half, laying on a serving dish.
Options for the design of the dish
Another way of forming such fried eggplant with tomatoes and garlic is roll, that is, a layer of vegetable smeared with sauce is rolled up with a roll, placing a piece of tomato in the center. At the same time, you can sprinkle it with finely chopped parsley, which will give the dish a more elegant, festive look.
The easiest option for molding “Mother-in-law's tongue” is circles. To do this, the eggplant for frying is cut not in slices, but in circles one centimeter thick. Fresh tomatoes are selected fleshy, equal in size to the diameter of the eggplant. A circle of tomato is placed between two halves of fried vegetables, coated with mayonnaise. Top of the snack is sprinkled with parsley or cilantro.
Korean carrot rolls
Fried eggplant with garlic is prepared in the same way, which is mixed with Korean carrots, pre-cooked at home or purchased in the cooking department. For this appetizer, it’s important to choose sturdy little dark vegetables. In large and light eggplants, the flesh inside is filled with small seeds that will spoil the taste.
Cut the vegetable into plates, pretreat, remove the bitterness, fry until slightly discolored. Lubricate each layer with mayonnaise and garlic sauce, spread Korean carrots on the surface of the whole slice with a thin layer, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and roll it, if necessary, chopping it with a wooden toothpick or canapé skewer. Give a snack to brew for two to three hours, and then serve with the main course, garnished with greens.
With homemade sour cream
Such fried eggplant with garlic is very good with boiled rice or buckwheat porridge for dinner: a light but hearty meal without extra calories. For its preparation, it is necessary to prepare the following products:
- three large eggplants;
- one hundred grams of hard cheese;
- one onion;
- two cloves of garlic (if you want to be sharper, you can add more);
- five tbsp. spoons of sour cream;
- two tbsp. tablespoons of flour;
- spices to your taste: coriander, black pepper, dried oregano.
Cut eggplant into cubes, sprinkle with salt and leave for half an hour, then rinse with clean water and squeeze lightly with your hands, removing excess fluid. Heat three tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan, place slices of vegetable there and fry, stirring, for several minutes. Finely chop the onion together with garlic, add to the eggplant and fry until the little blue ones become soft. In a bowl, mix sour cream, flour and spices so that there are no lumps, and pour this mixture to the vegetables. Stir and simmer for another three minutes. Grate the cheese, add to the stewpan, mix thoroughly and serve immediately. You can also sprinkle with dill for more flavor.
Eggplants are delicious like mushrooms
An unusual comparison for this vegetable is really appropriate, since the taste of the finished dish is actually very similar to the taste of fried mushrooms. In appearance, it is also not immediately possible to distinguish them, if during the cooking process slices of vegetables are cut very carefully.
In order to cook this hot dish, you need to stock up on the following ingredients:
- four eggplant;
- two onions;
- four raw eggs;
- one hundred grams of vegetable oil;
- a pinch of coriander, black pepper, salt to taste.
Those who have achieved mastery in the preparation of this dish, recommend taking fruits with a dense structure, unripe and necessarily remove the skin. Then cut them into even pieces and, slightly sprinkled with salt, leave for ten minutes. Next, rinse the slices under running water, dry with a paper towel and place in a wide bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs with spices to a uniform consistency and pour eggplant on them. Leave for an hour, stirring them every ten minutes. This is necessary so that the vegetables absorb the egg mixture evenly with all the pieces.
In a pan with thick walls or a saucepan, heat the oil, pour the eggplant in it and fry until it is rosy. Chop the onion into small pieces and add to the saucepan, mix thoroughly and fry until cooked under the lid. Be sure to let the fried vegetables stand for ten minutes under the lid, but without fire, so that they reach the necessary subtlety of taste.
With spicy honey sauce
Those who find the recipe for fried eggplant with garlic too banal and want a more sophisticated look of the finished dish, you can cook this vegetable in a spicy honey sauce, thanks to which the food will resemble Asian cuisine.
List of required ingredients:
- two medium-sized eggplants;
- one onion;
- a small bunch of feathers of green onions;
- 3 tbsp. tablespoons of honey and soy sauce;
- 1 tbsp. a spoon of white wine;
- a pinch of nutmeg, black pepper and salt;
- 3 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil;
- 1 teaspoon light sesame.
How to cook?
Cut eggplant into neat cubes two centimeters high, sprinkle with salt and let them stand, then rinse, let dry on a paper towel, and then fry until rosy in two tablespoons of oil. Cut the onion into thin half rings, fry in oil until transparent, add the green onion, which is cut into large strips (each feather into three or four parts). When it becomes soft, add fried eggplant, honey and soy sauce, spices and wine. Put out no more than three minutes. When serving, sprinkle with sesame seeds, previously fried in a dry pan until a nutty flavor.
With pepper and tomato
This recipe for fried eggplant with vegetables is very popular in the south of Ukraine and in Moldova, where it is often served as a separate dish or as an additional side dish in the summer. This dish is good in that it can be eaten warm, cold, and even the next day. There is even an option that housewives use for harvesting for the winter. The ratio of ingredients is arbitrary, on the palate, which gives another plus to this delicacy, which is prepared simply:
- Eggplant, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes are cut into medium-sized pieces and fried alternately in a small amount of vegetable oil until a slight color change.
- Mix vegetables in a saucepan, put on medium heat and add salt and black pepper to taste, 120 grams of warm water and hot cayenne pepper (again, focusing on your taste preferences), simmer the mixture until the vegetables are soft.
- Grind a few cloves of garlic in a press and add to vegetables, steam for a few more minutes under a lid and turn off. Let the dish brew for ten minutes.
Despite the seeming simplicity, such fried vegetables are delicious even just with bread, but if served with rice, mashed potatoes or potatoes in a rustic way, you can get a wonderful light lunch without substances that debilitate the digestive system and extra calories.