You know what they say; all that glitters is not gold. Take for e.g., Rakhi Sawant. You think the woman looks good, and her jhatkas and matkas are quite entertaining. But the moment you hear her voice, you want to shoot yourself in the ears and fall dead.
The eggplant belongs to the same category. A very pretty vegetable to look at, great shape and colour. But it can be extremely slimy and unappealing in a curry. There is only one way to treat such people and vegetables – and that is the rough way. Deep frying eggplants takes the slime away and improves them a lot. Don't take my word for it, try it out.
Recipe:
(Adapted from Goan Spiced Aubergines recipe on Indian Food Made Easy)
You will need:
I medium eggplant, cut into half cm round slices (The eggplant I used yielded 15 such slices)
For the batter: 6 tablespoons chickpea flour + 1 tablespoon wheat flour + 1/2 tablespoon red chili powder + 1/2 teaspoon garam masala + 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds + salt, to taste + a pinch of sugar + 1 tablepoon lemon/lime juice
1/2 cup cold water
1 sprig curry leaves
Lemon wedges, to serve
Oil, to deep fry (I used sunflower oil)
Method:
Sprinkle some salt over the eggplant slices and place a heavy pan over it to press out excess moisture. After half an hour, rinse the eggplant slices and pat dry.
Mix together all the ingredients for the batter. Add water little by little, mixing well till the batter has the consistency of single cream.
Heat oil in a small wok to deep fry the eggplants over medium flame. You know the oil is ready when a drop of batter dropped into it rises to the surface immediately. Dip eggplant slices into the batter and place carefully into the oil. Fry the eggplants in batches without overcrowding the wok. Each side would need around 2 minutes, or till it is crispy and golden brown. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil on paper towels.
After frying all the eggplant slices, fry curry leaves in the hot oil till it crisps up. Remove with slotted spoon.
Serve the eggplants with curry leaves and lemon wedges immediately.
This was a great snack and it completely changed my opinion about the eggplant. I only wish deep frying could have improved certain people as well, without killing them, that is.
Enjoy!
I love fried eggplants and yours look divine! The photographs are stunning, bright and very clear. Is it a macro lens?
ReplyDeleteLovely fried eggplants,had tried these using bread crumbs sometime back..this is perfect bhajji!!
ReplyDeleteCook in any recipe with Cilantro/Cumin as one of the main ingredients & rush it in my EP Series-Herbs n Spices
Erivum Puliyum
its taken a while for me to love these slimy veggie.. this bajji is quite common in our households though.. love the clicks esp the cut one :)
ReplyDeleteOngoing Event : I'm The Star
I also agree with you... Beautiful clicks !!!
ReplyDeleteperfect color..
ReplyDeleteActually, I love eggplant... Great recipe :)
ReplyDeleteCracked up; Rakhi Eggplant, haha. Good one that was. I love your photos now. You've been taking better care now. Those pieces look so delicious.
ReplyDeletei donot think rakhi is good looking, but these eggplants look terrific! what a great idea... i love eggplants in any form but the husband is very finicky bout them.. maybe this he will like
ReplyDeletemmm, yum! the pics are just fabulous... perfectly done...
ReplyDeleteMaha
Lol ! Rakhi Samantha whewwwwww..
ReplyDeleteBrinjal looks good!
deejuzzz@yahoo.com
ReplyDeletehello cheff, this is my first visit to ur site and i jus love ur recipes like anything :) wish there is som feature to save dis recipe for future reference like in ' www.foodspunched.com ' . why dont you submit your blog with them so that people like me can come to your recipes in future also!! and the best thing about 'foodspunched' is that u have to submit ur blog only once. and they will fetch ur feed when ever you make new posts. u can submit ur blog through 'Punch yourself' page in main menu after u register with them.
any way good job. expecting wonderful recipes like this in future also :) all the best for your blog :)
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hello,
ReplyDeletePlease collect your Liebster blog award from http://tanzifsrecipenotebook.blogspot.in/p/my-blog-awards.html
i belong to the same category of people who dont like brinjal in curries...but i love it when mom fries it like fish fry...i loved this recipe too..will try this
ReplyDeletethis simply looks yummy! i make something similar but this is like a pakoda... looks damn neat & tempting!wonderful.. i am a new blogger and am loving every bit of it. do drop by!
ReplyDelete