Griddled Eggplant Salad

So simple, yet so delicious, this griddled eggplant salad is flavorful, garlicky and very much more than the sum of its few parts.

If you’ve been reading this space for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about how much I hated eggplant as a child. The texture, the flavor (or lack thereof), the ugly inside color. None of it appealed. 

Until one summer when I was introduced to homemade eggplant parmigiana, my gateway dish to loving eggplant. Now I like it all the ways! I first saved this recipe back in 2004, scribbled in a notebook while watching Nigella Lawson make it on her show Nigella Bites. Later I transferred those notes to a Word doc but I never got around to making it. 

Yep, saved for 20 years, it resurfaced recently when I search my own computer for eggplant ahead of this Sunday FunDay event. I thought I might have a recipe already made that I could use but when this popped up, I figured it was a sign that I should finally make it. Why did I wait so long! It’s lovely. And so easy! 

Griddled Eggplant Salad

This recipe is adapted from one in Nigella Bites: From Family Meals to Elegant Dinners - Easy, Delectable Recipes for Any Occasion. Extra garlic oil should be stored in a clean jar in the refrigerator. It is excellent in salad dressings or homemade mayonnaise.

Ingredients

For the garlic oil:

1/2 cup or 120ml olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

For the salad:

1 medium eggplant

2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil, plus more to serve

2 green onions

Flakey sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon

Method

Slice the eggplant into circles and put them in a colander. Sprinkle the slices with salt and leave to sweat and drain for about 15-20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, finely slice the garlic and put it with the olive oil into a small pot. 

Gently heat the oil till it is warm then leave it to simmer gently for about five minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Strain out the garlic and put the oil in a clean jar to store. (I saved the garlic and added it to another dish and so should you.)

Lay the eggplant slices on paper towels and use more to dry with them. 

Place the garlic oil in a small bowl and brush it on the eggplant slices. Turn them over and brush the other side. 

Preheat the griddle or stove top grill pan and then place each eggplant slice onto the grill and press down gently. Do not crowd the pan. 

Cook about 3-4 minutes per side. 

I like to turn them so that I make hashed griddle marks. Remove the grilled eggplant slices to a platter and repeat until they are all cooked. 

Drizzle with more garlic oil. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Sprinkle on the snipped green onions.

 

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it’s another Sunday FunDay! We are sharing recipes with eggplant, prolific in everyone’s garden this time of year. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the links below.

• Air Fryer Eggplant Pizza (Aubergine or Brinjal Pizza) from Cook with Renu
• Brinjal and Tomato Chutney from Sneha's Recipe
• Dahi Baingan from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Eggplant Gratin from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Griddled Eggplant Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Burrata Platter from Culinary Cam
• Melitzanosalata (Greek Eggplant Dip) from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Szechuan Eggplant from Palatable Pastime

 

>We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Griddled Eggplant Salad! 

 .

Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing

Spicy and delicious, this Cajun chicken eggplant dressing can be a side dish or dinner! Either way, if you like eggplant, you are going to love it. 

This was one of my mom’s favorite dishes and one I absolutely detested growing up. For too many years she’d make me put some on my plate, just to try it, until she suddenly said, “Hey, the more for me!” and quit forcing me. Hallelujah! 

When I finally learned to love eggplant through the Italian gateway dish/drug of eggplant parmigiana,  I started cooking Mom’s old eggplant-based favorites and, sur-PRISE, sur-PRISE, sur-PRISE, as Gomer Pyle used say, I loved them all!

Side note to my overseas/younger readers: Gomer Pyle was a character in a terribly hokey 1960s tv show I watched as reruns when I was a kid in the '70s. One of his standard lines "Sur-PRISE, sur-PRISE, sur-PRISE" - emphasis on the last syllable - was always uttered with a big wide eyes, possibly followed by another of his favorite interjections: SHAZAM! He was innocent, easily amazed and we loved him. In case you want to look it up, he was on The Andy Griffith Show.

If you love eggplant like I love eggplant, you might like to try my Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls, my Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant or Mom’s other huge favorite, Cajun Shrimp Eggplant Casserole. All delicious but the Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant is especially lovely if you need a pretty main dish for the vegetarians in your life. 

Isn't it amazing how our taste buds and aversions to texture can change as we grow up? 

Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing

You can make this dressing with your preferred chicken parts but know that chicken with skin on and bones helps make the dish more flavorful. If you choose bigger pieces, like thighs, just make sure you cook them till they are tender. On the cooked rice, I like long-grained basmati rice but my Cajun grandmother would have used short grained, grown locally in southern Louisiana. You do you. 

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs or 1134g chicken wing parts (use the tips to make stock!) 

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

ground cayenne

1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil

1 medium onion, peeled and finely minced

1 medium bell pepper, de-seeded, stem removed, finely minced

2 stalks celery, finely minced

2 medium eggplants (about 2 lbs or 900g in weight)

3 cups or 400g cooked rice

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon cayenne (use less if you don’t like things spicy), plus more to taste 

Freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Optional: chopped parsley for garnish

Method

Season the chicken with salt, black pepper and a good sprinkle of cayenne then pan-fry in the canola oil, uncovered, in your Dutch oven until golden brown on all sides. Remove to a plate and set aside. 

Add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the pot and sauté over a low heat until the vegetables are soft and the onion is translucent. I find putting the lid on helps this go faster but don’t forget to stir frequently. 

Peel the eggplant in strips, leaving some peeling on for color, then cut them into cubes. You can leave all the peels on but the color of the dish will be markedly darker. My mom used to say that when her grandmother made it, the eggplant turned even the chicken kind of black. I cannot verify this as I always peel mine thusly. 

Once the onion mixture has softened, return the golden chicken pieces to the pot. (For the eagle-eyed, I just removed the pot from the stove for photos. My stovetop doesn't have great lighting.)

Pile the eggplant cubes on top and season with the salt, cayenne and a few generous grinds of black pepper. 

Add a half cup or 120ml water to the pot and put the lid to your Dutch oven on snugly. Cook over a high heat for a few minutes, until you start to see a little steam trying to escape, then turn the heat down to simmer. 

Cook for about an hour, checking periodically to see if you need to add a little water, if it looks dry. With a proper tight-fitting lid, the eggplant releases enough liquid that this shouldn’t be necessary but best to check. 

This is after about half an hour. 

This is after a full hour. You will notice that I did not stir so the chicken remains submerged. 

Take the lid off the pot and add in the cooked rice. Now you should mix well. 

Cook, covered, for about five minutes or until the rice is heated through. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t start to stick to the pot. 

Taste the dressing and add more salt, cayenne and black pepper if needed. Mine is usually good for salt but we like more pepper. Again, you do you. 

Pile the dressing in a serving bowl and garnish with a little chopped parsley for color. My grandmother would never have missed this step! Every savory dish she cooked was finished with a little parsley. 

Enjoy!

Welcome to the fourth installment of our Alphabet Challenge for 2024. Today’s recipes are brought to you by the letter D. Many thanks to our challenge creator Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm. 

• Sneha’s Recipe: Dill With Chana Dal & Potato 
• Culinary Cam: Dark Chocolate-Juniper Panna Cotta 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Dark Chocolate Mousse 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Durum Wheat Sesame Bread 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Devil’s Food Cake Mix Cookies 
• Blogghetti: Deviled Egg Crostini 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Dangella | Tawa Handvo 
• Magical Ingredients: Dates Walnut Paratha 
• Food Lust People Love: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Italian Deviled Eggs with Heart-Shaped Tomatoes
• Palatable Pastime: Durkee’s Famous Sauce

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far:
A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs
B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly
C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw
D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing - This post!

Pin this Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing!

 .

Spicy Sweet Soy Eggplant Tofu Quail Egg Stir-fry

This recipe is a mouthful in more ways than one! Spicy Sweet Soy Eggplant Tofu Quail Egg Stir-fry will fill your belly and please all your taste buds.

Once upon a time (back in the late ’80s) we lived on the island of Borneo in the small oilfield town of Balikpapan. Borneo is owned by three countries. The tiniest bit in the northwest corner belongs to the Sultanate of Brunei and the rest falls under the jurisdiction of either Indonesia or Malaysia. Balikpapan is in the Indonesia section called Kalimantan. I had tried sweet soy sauce aka kecap manis before but that is where I fell in love.

Kecap manis, pronounced kuh-CHOP MAH-nees, is a must-have in so many Indonesian dishes. It’s soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar so it makes sense that the name translates to “sweet sauce” in English. 

In most Indonesian restaurants, a small bowl of kecap manis and chopped bird’s eye chili peppers will be on every table, just in case what you ordered didn’t have kecap manis in it but you want to add some. I usually did. 

I have hauled bottles of the ABC brand sauce in my luggage all over the world! I love it that much. It’s the key ingredient in my spicy sticky wings and my Bali spicy grilled fish.  

I came across this recipe online while searching for something to make with eggplant and tofu. As soon as I saw kecap manis in the ingredients list, I knew I had to make it. It reminded me a bit of my braised pork and egg dish and I adore that! 

Spicy Sweet Soy Eggplant Tofu Quail Egg Stir-fry

This recipe is adapted from one I found on Cookpad. The author is from Bandung, Indonesia, which is on Java, the same island as the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.  You can find kecap manis, fresh quail eggs, and fried tofu at most Asian markets. Check the refrigerated section for the latter two. 

Ingredients - serves 4

2 eggplant (approximately 1 2/3 lbs or 740g total) 

fine sea salt 

1 small onion – about 3 1/2 oz or 100g

4 cloves garlic

4 fresh red chili peppers

7 oz or 200g fried tofu - cut into cubes (I used already seasoned with lemon grass and chili) 

2 tablespoons canola or another light oil

1/3 cup or 80ml kecap manis aka sweet soy sauce

12 hard-boiled quail eggs

chopped cilantro – some for pan and some to garnish

To serve: cooked white or brown rice 

Method

Cut the eggplant into cubes (no need to peel) and put them in a colander, lightly sprinkling on sea salt as you add the cubes in layers. Set the colander in a sink (or over a large bowl) to drain. 

Meanwhile, make the onion, garlic and red chili peppers into a paste in a small food processor or mortar and pestle. Set aside.

Dry the eggplant with paper towels then fry it in batches in large nonstick skillet until the pieces are golden on all sides. Sometimes a little drizzle of oil helps this process. It depends on your non-stick skillet. 

Set the browned eggplant aside on a large plate. 

Cut the fried tofu into bite-sized pieces and repeat the pan-frying process in the same non-stick skillet. When the tofu is golden on all sides, pop it on top of the eggplant. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add in the onion/garlic/chili paste. 

Fry over a medium heat for a few minutes, until fragrant. That is to say, until it no longer smells sharply of onion and garlic. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and let it simmer for a few minutes more. 

Add in the sweet soy sauce and cook over a low heat till it’s a bit sticky looking. Stir often so it doesn’t burn. 

Add the tofu and eggplant back into the pan, along with the boiled quail eggs. 

Fold gently to coat them with the sauce and cook for a few minutes more until everything is heated through again.  Sprinkle with some chopped cilantro and stir it in gently. 

Top with more cilantro to serve. I serve this over cooked white or brown rice and put my habanero sauce on the table in case anyone would like it spicier than it already is!

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay again and our featured ingredient is the incredible edible egg! Check out the recipe links below. Many thanks to our host, Rebekah of Making Miracles!

• Ajitsuke Tamago (Ramen Eggs) from Palatable Pastime
• Baked Eggs with Parmesan and Chives Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Beet-Marbled Eggs with Feta from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Dosa Egg Sandwich Sneha's Recipe
• Egg, Ham and Cheese Crepe Pockets from Making Miracles
• Huevos Rancheros from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Huevos Rancheros Verde from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Ramen Bowls with Spinach & Poached Eggs from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Spicy Sweet Soy Eggplant Tofu Quail Egg Stir-fry from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Spicy Sweet Soy Eggplant

Tofu Quail Egg Stir-fry!

 .

Golden Briami Tart

This golden briami tart features eggplant, onion, tomatoes, bell pepper and, of course, garlic, pan-fried till golden then baked in puff pastry crust.

Some of the best advice about growing older and still keeping an active mind is the recommendation to learn something new each day. A few days ago, the new word and dish briami was mine. I came across it while searching for Greek recipes. 

Many recipe sites called briami Greek ratatouille so I knew we would love it. Ratatouille is one of our favorite dishes, although I don’t roast my vegetables, preferring to brown them in a hot pan rather than turn the oven on. It takes a little longer but the result is so worth it!

Since I was being untraditional with my cooking method, I decided to go one step farther and bake the briami in puff pastry. It turned out so pretty and delicious as well. 

Golden Briami Tart 

Traditional briami also has potatoes but I didn’t have any on hand. If you want to include a few new potatoes or cubed potato in the vegetable line-up, those would be a lovely addition. 

 

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry (8.6 oz or 245g)

1 large eggplant

1/2 large onion

18 cherry or grape tomatoes

1/2 green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic

Extra virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

For garnish, if desired:

Chopped green onion tops

Method

Trim the stem off of your eggplant and cut it into chunks. No need to peel it if the skin is not hard or bitter. 

Heat a non-stick skillet and cook the eggplant in batches in the hot pan, turning the pieces occasionally till they are browned on all sides. 

Drizzle in a little of the olive oil and fry for a few minutes more until the eggplant is a deeper brown and the oil has all been absorbed. Tip each batch of cooked eggplant into a large bowl when it’s done and season with a sprinkle of salt and a few grinds from a black peppermill.  

Cut the onion into thick slices, making sure to have a little of the core in each slice to hold the layers together. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut it into slices as well. 

In the same hot skillet you used for the eggplant, brown first the onions and then the bell pepper, adding a drizzle of olive oil to each when done. Put the onion and bell pepper on a plate to cool. 

Finally, add the small tomatoes to the pan and cook them for a few minutes, until they are a little scorched all round. Tip them into the bowl with the seasoned eggplant, add the garlic and stir gently. Leave all the vegetables to cool. 

Cut a large enough piece of baking parchment to line a large baking pan. 

When the vegetables are cool, unroll the puff pastry sheet onto the baking parchment and gently use a rolling pin to stretch the pastry till it’s about 10 x 14 inches or 26 x 36cm. Move the baking parchment to your baking pan. 

Fold the edges of the pastry in once and try to get the sides to stand up by pinching the corners together. 

Use the tines of a fork to dock the base of the pastry. Spoon the eggplant and tomatoes onto the puff pastry.

Distribute the onions and bell pepper around decoratively. 

Pop the whole pan into the refrigerator to chill while you preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C (convection) or 425°F or 218°C (normal oven.) 

Bake the tart in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the puff pastry is risen and golden. - Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before cutting to serve. Sprinkle on some chopped green onions for garnish, if desired. 

This makes a lovely lunch or dinner for six, if you add on a side salad.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday - hurrah! -so that means my Sunday FunDay group is sharing recipes again. This week the theme is Greek food! Check out the list below. Many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy’s Cooking Adventures. 

• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Greek Cabbage Roll Rice Bowls
• A Day in the Life on The Farm: Makaronia me Yiaourti
• Palatable Pastime: Spanakopita Bites
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: A Polarizing, Perplexing Greek Wine + Kouneli Stifado
• Sneha’s Recipe: Greek Hot Dogs
• Food Lust People Love: Golden Briami Tart

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Golden Briami Tart!

 .

Toasted Eggplant Crust Mini Pizzas

These Toasted Eggplant Crust Mini Pizzas are as delicious as they are adorable with quick tomato sauce and toppings baked on toasted eggplant slices.

We went through a phase a while back of attempting to eat keto, that is to say, without carbs or very low carb. It did not go well. I didn’t lose any weight, for one, and I can’t imagine the increased fat in the cheese, meat and bacon I consumed did my cholesterol any good. Nevertheless, I did create a couple of recipes we loved so I’ll call that part of the experiment a win. 

The first used leftover pork roast slices and eggplant to make stuffed cheesy rolls covered in a rich tomato sauce then baked. Seriously, so good! Most canned tomatoes are not considered keto because of the added sugar so the secret appears to be making your sauce from scratch with fresh tomatoes. 

The second recipe was for rice-free cabbage rolls made with both beef and smoked sausage. I don't know that I'll ever make traditional cabbage rolls again because the smoked sausage adds so much flavor and who needs the rice really?

These toasted eggplant mini pizzas were the third keeper. They kind of remind us of our favorite eggplant Parmigiana but with a lot less trouble. Also: pepperoni - always a welcome addition in my book. 

Toasted Eggplant Crust Mini Pizzas

These would be a great appetizer for any crowd, with the added bonus of being naturally gluten free and keto-friendly.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant (about 19 oz or 535g, but a little bigger or smaller won't matter too much.)

fine sea salt

For the fresh tomato sauce:

2 ripe medium sized tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt 

Suggested toppings:

Mozzarella or your favorite pizza cheese, shredded

Pepperoni (get the mini ones if you can, so cute!)

Black olives, pitted and sliced

Sliced jalapeños

Anchovies

Crushed red pepper 

To garnish after baking: fresh basil

Method

Trim the stem of your eggplant and cut it into 1/2 in or 1 cm slices (I got 16.) If you look closely, you'll see the little pokes of the knife I made at the appropriate intervals using a measuring tape because I'm anal like that. Eyeball it if you want to. 

Sprinkle the eggplant slices lightly with salt and stack them in a colander and set aside in your sink or on a plate to catch any liquid that drips out so it doesn't make a big mess.

Peel your tomatoes. I find the easiest way to peel tomatoes is to cut a cross in the skin with a sharp knife and then use a fork to dip the tomato into just boiled water for about 10-15 seconds. The skin will then slip off easily. 

Core and finely chop the peeled tomatoes.

Combine them in a pan with the minced garlic, oregano, baking soda and salt. 

Cook over medium heat for about 17-20 minutes, or until the tomatoes and garlic are softened and most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool. 

By this time, your eggplant should have released some juice. Dry the slices off with a tea cloth or paper towels. 

Toast them on a non-stick griddle pan over a medium high heat until they are browned on both sides. This takes just 4-5 minutes a side. Unless you’ve got a really large pan, this is going to have to be done in batches. 

Keep a careful eye on the eggplant slices so they don’t burn, especially if you’ve cut some of them a bit unevenly and some edges are thinner than others. I use a spatula to press them down occasionally, to make sure the eggplant and the pan are making a good connection and shift them around the griddle so they brown evenly. 

When one batch is golden on both sides, remove it to a dry tea cloth or layer of paper towels on a clean work surface. The slices should be laid on in a single layer. If you stack the eggplant slices, they’ll continue cooking and steaming. We want them to cool off once they are toasted. 

At this point, if you are ready to bake the mini pizzas, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Place your toasted eggplant circles on a baking pan lined with baking parchment or a silicone liner and top them with a small spoon of the tomato sauce, cheese and your favorite other toppings. I made one pan of 12 and the other of four.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and bubbling, just 6 -7 minutes. 

Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve with extra crushed red pepper, if desired. Enjoy!

It’s high summer now in the northern hemisphere so tomatoes and basil are flourishing in gardens everywhere. To celebrate the season, my Baking Blogger group has chosen to showcase tomatoes and basil for today’s theme. Check out all the recipes below. Many thanks to our organizer and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Baked Gnocchi With Tomatoes and Basil by Magical Ingredients
• Baked Feta Pasta by Sneha's Recipe
• Savory Cherry Tomato, Basil, & Feta Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Sourdough Pizza "Baked" on the Grill by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Thai Tomato Basil Baked Chicken by Palatable Pastime
• Toasted Eggplant Crust Mini Pizzas by Food Lust People Love
• Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts by Karen's Kitchen Stories

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Pin these Toasted Eggplant Crust Mini Pizzas!

 .

Baby Eggplant Curry (Instant Pot)

This baby eggplant curry is spicy and warming, the perfect dinner on cold night or even a hot one! Serve with brown or white rice to complete the meal. 

It was my birthday last month and one of my gifts was the cookbook Instant Pot Asian Recipes for the Pressure Cooker (<affiliate link) by Patricia Tanumihardja. My husband and younger daughter know how enamored I have become of my Instant Pot – and we all love Asian cuisine - so it was an excellent choice. If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can make this recipe in a traditional stovetop pressure cooker. 

The recipes are pan-Asian with dishes from Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Korea, Indian, Japan, China and, not to get political but also Taiwan. There are even a handful of desserts. I’ve bookmarked several recipes to try so stay tuned to see which one I’ll adapt next. There are so many that look tasty! 

Baby Eggplant Curry

As mentioned, this recipe is adapted from one in Instant Pot Asian Recipes for the Pressure Cooker. The original called for 2 tablespoons of brown sugar but it was just slightly too sweet for us so you will see that I put 1 tablespoon in the ingredients list. It was still delicious regardless but next time I will use only the one tablespoon I recommend below. 

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g baby eggplants 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric 

2 teaspoons salt, divided 

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil 

1/2 large yellow onion, halved and cut into thin crescents 

3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced 

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 

2 teaspoons ground cumin 

2 teaspoons ground coriander 

1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne

Zest 1 lime

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar 

1/2 cup or 120ml water

1 can (13.5 oz or 399ml) unsweetened coconut milk

For the cornstarch slurry: 

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

To serve:

Toasted sesame seeds

Chopped cilantro

Optional: sliced hot red chili peppers

Method

Trim the baby eggplant of their stems. If they are as small as mine, you can cut them in half lengthwise. If they are bigger, quarter them. 

Put the eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with the turmeric and 1 teaspoon salt, and toss to coat. Let the eggplant sit in the colander over the sink for 30 minutes.

Slice the onion into thin crescents. Peel and mince the ginger and garlic. Measure out your spices and sesame seeds so they are ready to use when needed. 

Turn the Instant Pot on to sauté and add the oil and heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and stir and cook until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. 

Add the sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, cayenne and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, till the spices are fragrant. 

Add in the lime zest, lime juice and brown sugar. Stir well. 

Give your colander a shake to get rid of any excess liquid then tip the eggplant into the Instant Pot. Stir well to coat them with the spices and sauce.

Add in the 1/2 cup or 120ml water. Set the Instant Pot on manual for 2 minutes and make sure the valve is in the sealed position. When cooking time is up, carefully release the pressure by covering the valve with a cloth towel and turning the valve to vent.

Combine the cold water and cornstarch together in a small bowl to make a slurry. Remove the lid and add the coconut milk into the Instant Pot. Sauté on medium for 2-3 minutes. 

When the sauce just begins to bubble, quickly stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens. 

Serve with a sprinkling more of toasted sesame seeds, cilantro and sliced red chili peppers, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It's MultiCooker Monday so my friends and I are sharing recipes cooked in small appliances. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the links below. 

• Air Fryer Creamed Corn Vegetable Toast from Sneha's Recipe
• Baby Eggplant Curry (Instant Pot) from Food Lust People Love
• Bacon-Wrapped Scallops in the Air Fryer from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Chicken Nuggets in the Air Fryer from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hearty Instant Pot Beef Stew from Making Miracles
• Instant Pot Cowboy Beans from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Instant Pot Veggie Dal from Magical Ingredients
• Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash from Palatable Pastime
• Toaster Oven S'mores from Veggies First Then Dessert

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group. 

Pin this Baby Eggplant Curry! 

 .