Having eaten aubergines a few times before dipped in egg and fried; they were my least favourite vegetable. Last year we gave the purple vegetables another chance. They've been a regular in our shopping basket ever since. This is my preferred way of cooking aubergines as a snack, side or starter.
Ingredients:
1 big aubergine
Mixed herbs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Gruyère cheese
Greek Yoghurt Garlic
Mint
Calamata olives
Method:
Cut your aubergine into 1cm thick slices and set your pan on a medium heat.
Make a 'dressing' with olive oil, salt, pepper and the herbs to baste your slices with.
Put one or two layers of oil on each side of each slice.
Put a little oil in the pan and fry the first few slices (only one layer, so no overlapping).
In about 5 minutes you can turn these slices and they should have brown spots (from the frying) on them and have changed to a darker colour (they will be much softer too). Cook the new side until done and remove from the pan.
Add the next few slices.
Once they are all done, you can top them with the grated cheese and serve with calamata olives. To make the dip a bit moreexciting, you can mix chopped garlic, mint and some additional olive oil into the yoghurt.
Tip: If you want the brinjal to cook quicker, you can steam the slices a bit by putting on a lid (they aren't going to be crispy anyway because they have too much liquid).
