Fried Eggplant With Chickpeas and Mint Chutney

Name: Fried Eggplant With Chickpeas and Mint Chutney
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2 to 3 servings as a main course, 4 to 6 as a side dish
Ingredients: 2 pounds baby or small Italian eggplant, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; Fine sea salt, as needed; 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed; 1 large white onion, halved and thinly sliced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala; 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne; 1 pound ripe tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups); 1 3/4 cups (one 15-ounce can) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned; 1 cup mint leaves; 1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems; 1 serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and roughly chopped; 1 scallion, cut into 1-inch lengths; 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped; 2 teaspoons lemon juice, more to taste; 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste; Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)

By Melissa Clark

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 5(1,703)
Comments: Read comments

In this gently spiced vegetable dish, baby eggplant slices are first fried until golden, then braised with chickpeas, tomatoes and garam masala until soft, velvety and richly flavored. A quickly made fresh mint chutney adds a complex, herbal, spicy note thanks to the jalapeño in the mix. Serve this over rice or with flatbread as a main course, or on the side of grilled meats or fish.

Featured in: The Great Eggplant Question: To Fry or Not to Fry?

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Ingredients

Yield:2 to 3 servings as a main course, 4 to 6 as a side dish

For the Eggplant

2pounds baby or small Italian eggplant, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
Fine sea salt, as needed
3 to 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
1large white onion, halved and thinly sliced
2garlic cloves, minced
1½teaspoons garam masala
½teaspoon sweet paprika
¼teaspoon black pepper
⅛teaspoon cayenne
1pound ripe tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)
1¾cups (one 15-ounce can) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned

For the Mint Chutney

1cup mint leaves
1cup cilantro leaves and tender stems
1serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1scallion, cut into 1-inch lengths
1garlic clove, roughly chopped
2teaspoons lemon juice, more to taste
¼teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

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Step 1
Season eggplant slices all over with salt. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat until it thins out in the pan. Add enough eggplant slices to fit in one layer without overlapping. Cook until the bottoms are browned, then flip and continue to cook until well browned and soft, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Add more oil if needed. Transfer cooked eggplant to a plate lined with paper towels, and repeat with more oil and eggplant until all the eggplant is cooked. Taste eggplant and add more salt if necessary.
Step 2
Heat another tablespoon of oil in pan, then add the onions. Cook until softened and golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add spices and cook for 1 minute, then add tomatoes, chickpeas and 2 tablespoons water.
Step 3
Partly cover the pan and let the mixture simmer until tomatoes start to break down, 10 to 15 minutes. Add eggplant to the pan and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until sauce thickens.
Step 4
While the eggplant cooks, combine all the ingredients for the chutney in a blender with 2 tablespoons water. Blend until puréed, about 1 minute. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt, or both, if needed.
Step 5
Serve the eggplant topped with the chutney and yogurt if you like.

Ratings

5 out of 5

1,703 user ratings

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Comments

Elaine7 years ago

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dilip7 years ago

I see a lot of folks challenged by the amount of oil required to fry the eggplant here! The trick I learnt from my mum is to soak the eggplant pieces in water for 10 minutes, then to squeeze them out slightly before frying or braising. This way they soak up a lot less oil. Of course, if you want crispy slices this will not work, but for a soft curry like this one it will be fine.

Finally, a pinch of turmeric is de rigueur in any Indian-style curry, but that's a niggle - Melissa Clark rocks!

KatrinaG7 years ago

Really delicious. I too opted to roast diced eggplant, tossed with olive oil, at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, rather than pan frying it. Terrific blend of flavors, although I overcooked the tomatoes. I had trouble getting the chutney ingredients to puree in the blender, so added about a tablespoon of yogurt which helped.

CHN2 months ago

This is very clearly a riff on an old (and excellent) Martha Rose Shulman recipe, and I'm disappointed that Melissa Clark does not reference it. It's called something like Sweet and Sour Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpeas. It's a common food combination, but I don't think this is a coincidence. Shulman roasts the eggplant (a much better alternative, IMO) and adds pomegranate molasses to the dish for the "sweet/sour" element. Clark uses the chutney instead. Nice changes, but credit the original.

alex2 months ago

This recipe tastes good. However, as many other people have noted, the amount of oil described in the recipe is ridiculously inadequate to fry the eggplant. In the video it appears that there is at least 1/3 cup of oil in the pan being used to fry the eggplant

LesG4 months ago

I did follow the pan fry method and the dish was delicious but I will brush with olive oil and bake the eggplant next time since I don't like pan frying.

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