Fried Eggplant / Baingan

Living on a tight budget means looking for deals and coupons and buying things as cheap as possible. When we moved to the US, we learnt to do exactly that - live on a budget. The weekend newspaper carried coupons for grocery, food, daily needs, etc. and we cut the coupons we needed. We had a store nearby that was almost like a farmers market with fresh produce coming from the farms around. We always visited the store on Wednesdays because it had a sale on that day when they dropped the price of produce and seafood. And sometimes the prices dropped to a few cents and we were happy to buy it and put it in the freezer. In seafood we stuck to either tilapia or prawns but many times it wasn't on discount and we wouldn't buy it. During those weeks, I racked my brain to make a fry of some sort and this eggplant fry was the outcome of those experiments.

Since we missed fried fish so much, I tried to make the eggplant as similar to the fried fish and used the spices to marinate the eggplant slices before frying it. Actually, frying is a misnomer because it requires only a couple of spoons of oil and it is grilled on a griddle. Use a ridged griddle like I did and you get nice lines on the eggplant slices. For this recipe use the big round eggplant that is used for baingan bharta and eggplant parmesan. This fried eggplant can be made in two different ways - one with wheat flour and the other gluten free. Both the versions taste good but I prefer the wheat flour coated one for its powdery crispness.

Version 1 - Fried eggplant with wheat flour
Ingredients
Eggplant / Baingan
Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp
Red Chilli pwd - 2 tsp
Coriander pwd - 1/2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
for garnishing
onion rings - 5 to 6
julienned carrots - 2 tbsp
Slice the eggplant into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slices and keep the slices soaked in salted water till the other ingredients are mixed and ready. In a bowl mix the wheat flour, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and then spread it on a platter. Drain the eggplant slices and prick all over with a knife or fork. Dip it into the powder mix and coat both the sides. Heat the griddle and add the oil, use a spatula or brush to spread the oil all over. Once the griddle is heated lower the heat and put the eggplant in a single layer. Turn the slices over and cook for 5 minutes before flipping it over again. Try and place the slices just like before on the same ridges. Slowly press down the slices with a spatula so it cooks well and do the same for the other side.
Take it off the heat and serve with sliced onions and julienned carrots.

Version 2 - Gluten free Fried eggplant
Ingredients
Eggplant / Baingan
Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp
Red Chilli pwd - 3 tsp
Coriander pwd - 1 tsp
Oil 1 tsp
Lemon jce - a few drops
Salt as per taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
for garnishing
onion rings - 5 to 6
julienned carrots - 2 tbsp
Slice the eggplant into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slices and keep the slices soaked in salted water till the other ingredients are mixed and ready. In a bowl mix the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, lemon juice and oil. Drain the eggplant slices and prick all over with a knife or fork. Apply the masala mix on both sides of the slices, rubbing it in. Keep the slices aside for 15 minutes.
Continue with cooking the eggplant slices like in the previous version.