Fried Eggplant Recipe

Salatat Bathinjan
an easy and quick eggplant appetizer

This fried eggplant recipe is common in many Middle Eastern countries. But before we get into the actual recipe, here are some bits of info about eggplants…

Eggplant, often called "the poor man's meat" or "the poor man's caviar," is one of the staple foods of the Middle East, valued for its great versatility. There are all kinds of recipes for eggplants, including fried eggplant recipe, which is popularly known as Salalat Bathinjan in Arabic.

Eggplant are native to the general SouthEast Asian region of India and modern day Pakistan and was first domesticated there over 4000 years ago, especially in the vicinities of Burma and Assam…

In its home region, the Eggplant is used in many local dishes and carries a wide range of names in Bengalise, Hindustani, Urdu, Sanskrit and other local languages. In fact, the Eggplant's true species name "Melongena" is an ancient name for Eggplant in Sanskrit. Within its home region, the purple fruited Eggplant was the first to be domesticated…

In time, Eggplant soon spread into neighboring China by about 500 B.C. and became a culinary favorite to generations of Chinese emperors.

From India and Pakistan, the Eggplant soon spread west into the Middle East and into the Lower Stans regions, as far west as Egypt and northward into Turkey. Arabic records of Eggplant exist from the 9th, 10th and 12th centuries and Eggplants are an important part of Arabic, Turkish and Persian cuisine…

The Turks alone are believed to have over 1000 native recipes calling for the use of Eggplant in varying ways. In the 4th through 7th centuries A.D., the Moors introduced the Eggplant to Spain and the vegetable soon spread throughout Europe.

Coming back to this fried eggplant recipe, it is very easy to make and you can have it on its own, with bread or salad!

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, peeled and thickly sliced
salt
8 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 medium hot pepper, finely chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt. Place in a strainer or colander, top with a weight, and allow to drain for 45 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then add the eggplant slices and fry on both sides until they are golden brown. Remove the eggplant slices, dice them, then set aside in a bowl.

3. Mash the garlic cloves with salt. Add to the diced eggplant along with the hot pepper and lemon juice. Chill slightly and serve.

From "From the Lands of Figs and Olives" by Habeeb Salloum and James Peters

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