The love of eggplant dishes has taken me across borders and I am surprised, how eggplant has fitted so well in almost all cuisine across the world.
All for the love of eggplant. One of my favourite vegetables. The love of eggplant dishes has taken me across borders and I am surprised, how eggplant has fitted so well in almost all cuisine across the world. Whether you can it Bhangan Bhurta ( Mashed eggplant mixed with yogurt) or Baba Ganoush (Middle Eastern Eggplant Salad), eggplant fits in well with vegetarian as well as meat recipes.
Here is my culinary journey in South East Asia and a number of interesting cooking styles I have come across. Across Malaysia, Nyonya food has several eggplant dishes. You can try a mix of Sambal and deep-fried eggplant commonly called Bringal and Sambal. The deep-frying preserves the original taste of eggplant. A fiery sambal sauce accentuates the flavour and leaves a tangy flavour on your tastebuds.
One of my favourite restaurants in Eastwood, Sydney called Ginger and Shallot serves eggplant and beef hot pot in a sizzling sauce with preserved prawns. The taste is to die for. The dish is served with steamed rice. The tender beef is deep-fried and cooked in a hot pot. The beef stew flavour complements the juicy eggplant sliced in length.
Down the road in Greenacre, Al-Aseel, a middle eastern restaurant prepares deep-fried sliced eggplant without spices and serves with garlic sauce. This is a side dish and goes well with vegetarian as well as meat dishes.
Another interesting dish I tried in Canton restaurant in Katoomba is eggplant with minced chicken. This is a relatively dry dish served with rice. A good mix of spices brings the best flavours out of the eggplant.
In Pakistani and Indian society the eggplant is cooked in a variety of different dishes, ranging from Eggplant Bhurta, where the eggplant is charred over the flame and cooked in onion and tomato sauce and mixed with yogurt. This makes a great dish to go with wheat bread and rice.
I love eggplant cooked to perfection with goat meat or beef. A good dash of ginger and garlic added a great taste to any meat dish. These dishes are very popular in Punjab. Make sure the eggplant is properly mashed when cooked with meat.
The eggplant pakora is one of my favourites. Here is my personal recipe for this amazing dish, which I cook almost every second day. The gram powder helps lower blood sugar levels. Deep friend Eggplant dipped in gram powder paste is a healthy snack for diabetics.
Eggplant pakoras are popular snacks in Pakistani Cuisine
A popular Iraqi dish involved cooking stuffed eggplants and meat stew cooked over low heat. Sumac spice is used in this dish. Similar dishes are cooked in Moroccan in tangerine ( clay pot). I mix of Moroccan spices and meat brings amazing flavours to this dish.
Eggplant has great nutritional value. Eggplants are rich in copper, manganese, B-6, Thiamine and antioxidants.
