Eggplant slices soaked in a spiced umami rich marination and pan-fried golden brown.
This is a Goa, Indian recipe that my husband's family taught me, and I thought you guys would appreciate this fun dish.
TL;DR
Paul's family has been making these skillet fried eggplants (aubergines).
They are special because the eggplant slices are left to infuse in a marination and the result is nothing like anything you have come across in the world.
I don't know if this recipe is very common, but they serve these flavored fried eggplant slices with rice and curry. I like them as a snack.
Ingredient Notes
For the Marination:
- Egg — Helps to bind the marination when the eggplant slices are fried, and it adds flavor.
- Soy Sauce — A main flavor-giver, and it's salty, so you won't need to add more salt. Soy sauce is high in sodium, and if you can get low-sodium soy sauce bottles if you need to follow a specific diet. I used a simple Japanese Kikkoman soy sauce, alternatively you can try this recipe with a Thai mushroom soy sauce or any other liquid soy sauce.
- Ginger Garlic Paste — A thick paste prepared with a 1:2 ratio of ginger and garlic. You can purchase this paste or make ginger garlic paste at home. Alternatively, you can use a ginger paste and a garlic paste separately, but stick to the 1:2 ratio (it's always more garlic than ginger) or grate ginger and garlic fine. It needs to a paste so that it mixes into the marination.
- Vinegar — A flavor neutral vinegar, such as white wine vinegar or white distilled vinegar (most commonly available and cheap). In Goa, they use coconut vinegar, which is lovely, by the way.
- Turmeric — Makes it slight yellow and adds some flavor.
- Black Pepper
- Cumin Ground & Coriander Seeds Ground — to season and compliment the other seasonings.
You will also need:
- Eggplant — I used a Graffiti Eggplant (it's called that way) but you can use any other eggplant variety to make this. It might be easier to get larger eggplants in stores, but I prefer my eggplant slices smaller. The choice is up to you.
- Lemon Juice — Freshly squeezed. We toss the freshly sliced eggplant in lemon juice to halt the naturally occurring darkening process.
- Oil — A neutral flavored oil such as vegetable oil, canola oil or sunflower oil.
Process Overview
Step 1
Prepare the marination by combining all marination ingredients.
Step 2
Cut the eggplant into thick slices and toss them in lemon juice.
Poke into each eggplant with a fork on both side.
Step 3
Place eggplant slices into a shallow dish and cover with the marination.
Leave to marinate for 20–40 minutes and flip them in between.
Step 4
Heat a skillet with the oil and slide in the first batch of eggplant slices carefully (oil will jump!).
Fry both side golden brown, take out and place on a kitchen paper lined plate to remove excess oil. Serve up hot.
📖 Recipe
Pan-Fried Spiced Eggplant Slices
Ingredients
Marination:
- 1 Egg
- 3 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- ½ Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste or grate ginger and garlic fine
- 1 Teaspoon Vinegar
- ¼ Teaspoon Turmeric
- Black Pepper pinch
- ¼ Teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground
To prep Eggplant:
- 1 Large Eggplants
- 1 Lemon Juice
To Fry:
- 4-6 Tablespoons Oil vegetable, sunflower, or canola oil
Instructions
- Combine all the marination ingredients in a bowl. Keep aside.1 Egg, 3 Tablespoon Soy Sauce, ½ Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste, 1 Teaspoon Vinegar, ¼ Teaspoon Turmeric, Black Pepper, ¼ Teaspoon Cumin, ¼ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground
- Cut off the eggplant stem end and slice your eggplant into ⅕ inch thick slices (½ cm).1 Large Eggplants
- Place the eggplant slices immediately after slicing in a bowl and pour and toss the lemon juice over the eggplant so that they don't brown that quickly.1 Lemon Juice
- Place the eggplant slices on your cutting board and poke into each multiple times with a fork to create tiny holes so that the marination infuses them better. Flip them and poke into the other side too.
- Place eggplant slices into a shallow dish (I use rectangular baking dishes) and pour the marination over the slices. Make sure they are all covered with the marination.
- Leave the eggplant slices to marinate for 20–40 minutes so that they get infused with flavors. Flip them in-between.
- Line a plate with kitchen paper towel and keep aside. You will be placing your hot pan-fried eggplant slices on the paper to soak in excess leftover oils.
- Heat a skillet with the oil and keep over a medium-high heat setting. Wait for the pan to get hot. Test if it's hot enough by dropping a marination drop into the oil, if it's sizzling, you can place your first batch of eggplant slices into the skillet. Shake off excess liquids from your slices and slide them slowly into the pan. Be cautious, hot oil drops will jump up! Don't overcrowd the pan and regulate the heat.4-6 Tablespoons Oil
- Fry the eggplant slices on both sides, golden brown. Keep an eye on the heat and reduce or increase wherever needed (don't move from the stove).
- Take out the first batch of fried eggplant slices and place them next to each other on the paper lined plate. Place them on another serving plate after 1–2 minutes. Repeat the frying process with the second batch.
- Serve up hot.
Notes
Equipment
- Large Skillet
- Plate Lined with paper kitchen towel to soak in excess oil
- 8" Chef Knife
Nutrition
Tips
In Goa, they add a few drops of a special local sauce known as Bancal sauce. It's like a liquid version of a Worcestershire sauce, and you can add some of that to the marination ingredients for an extra flavor kick.
Don't cut the slices too thin or else they will break apart during the frying process. Besides, thick slices simply taste better because they soak in all the marination like a sponge.
When you cut the eggplant into slices, you will notice that they turn brown almost instantly. That's why we toss them in lemon juice to halt the darkening process. I do that before I poke the eggplant with the fork because the eggplants turn quickly brown.
Be careful when placing the marinated eggplant slices into the hot oil. The liquid from the marination will jump up in the hot oil. Reduce the heat if the pan is too hot and don't move away from the pan, keep an eye on the frying process.
Serving
Typically, these go well as a side dish or main dish with rice and curry. For example, in Goa, that would be a sorak curry or a shrimp curry with cooked plain rice and some optional vegetable side dishes.
You can make these too with other Indian dishes, such as South Indian sambar or a North Indian Dal Makhani.
I like these pan-fried eggplant slices as an afternoon snack too.
Storing
These pan-fried spiced eggplant slices can be prepared in advance. Just slice them and keep them to marinate. You can leave them overnight too.
When you are ready to cook them, fry and serve hot straightaway.
Leftovers can be left in the fridge for up to 5 days, but I don't recommend that because they turn a bit chewy. They are best eaten when they are still hot.
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