Best Smoky Eggplant Recipes

These are two recipes on the same theme: one Indian, the other middle eastern. The first part is the same.

STAGE 1

1. Place two eggplants on a barbecue grill.
2. Turn regularly until the skin is crisp and the eggplant is heavy and soft.
3. When cool, peel the skin off the eggplant and discard. Roughly chop the eggplant pulp and place into bowl.

MARK'S BABAGANOUSH RECIPE
Ingredients
2 large eggplants
Lime or lemon juice
Garlic (preferably organic)
Tahini
Salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method
4. Place all ingredients into bowl (except olive oil) and puree with stab blender, until smooth and fluffy. Adjust ingredients to your taste.
5. Place in serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil.


PUNJAB EGGPLANT PUREE RECIPE
(Adapted from a Charmaine Solomon's very old - circa 1978 - "Indian - Cooking for Pleasure")

Ingredients
2 large eggplants
Oil
1 large, or 2 small onions
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cummin seeds
3 dried red chillis (omit for children) with seeds removed
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes (skinned, seeded and chopped)
Bunch fresh coriander
3 spring onions (optional)
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional)

Method
4. Prepare eggplants as above.
5. Heat oil in large cast iron fry pan or pot, and fry onions over a low heat until well cooked (soft).
6. At the same time, dry roast coriander, cummin seeds and chilli in fry pan and pound in mortar and pestle.
7. Add spices to onion mixture and cook for around one minute, then add tomatoes and eggplant and cook for around 5 to 10 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates.
8. Add coriander, springs onions, salt and garam masala and simmer uncovered for around one minute.

Serve warm with rice. A great accompaniment to an Indian vegetarian meal, for example with vegetable kofta or palak paneer.

(A variation is to replace onions with asafoetida)

Eggplant - To Salt or not to Salt

Eggplants seem to have a long season, and recently I have purchased some lovely small thin local eggplants. And no, you don't need to salt them.
The matter of whether or not to salt, seems to be uppermost, on the matter of eggplants.
I still salt large eggplants (other than for recipes such as Babaganoush or Punjabi Eggplant puree), particularly those with lots of seeds. Small eggplants do not need salting.
Salting eggplant takes out excess water and the bitterness of the eggplant.

HOW TO SALT?

1. Slice or cut your eggplant as per your recipe. Sprinkle or rub salt into the eggplant. (You don't need to use good quality salt.)
2. Places slices on top of each other in a colander.
3. Put a sheet of plastic film over the eggplant, and place a large heavy object on top. I use a very heavy mortal and pestle. Place on a sink. (Sometimes the metal can react with the eggplant, so I always put plastic between.)
   
4. Brown liquid should gradually come out.
5. After around a half hour, take off the weight.
6. At this point I quickly rinse off the salt and put the eggplant into a tea towel and sqeeze it tightly to take out any excess liquid.
   
7. The eggplant should look half cooked.
8. Now you are ready to cook with them, the easiest dish of course is to brush with olive oil and bake in the oven.