Pan Fried Eggplant with Curry Powder

I'm sure all of you know by now that eggplant is my favorite vegetable. This is one of my favorite method of cooking eggplant. Its Jaffnese method i.e. northern Sri Lankan way of cooking eggplant. Typically I grew up eating this with Pittu for dinner. Pittu is made with red rice flour and steamed with grated coconut. It looks like couscous but in brown color. In North we also use Sri Lankan sesame oil to cook this dish. Sesame oil has a very strong nutty flavor that gets infused to eggplants. Some may not like strong flavor of sesame oil in which case you can use canola or sunflower oil. I would say it is an acquired taste.

Roasted Vegetables Pasta

My relationship with baking is similar to meeting a good old friend after a long break. I have childhood memories of mom's baked goodies. She would bake buns, cookies and cakes. I still remember mom's lemon cake aroma gradually enveloping the whole house. We would just wait till the oven bell rings to grab and eat.

Few years later, I started baking and became an avid baker of eggless cakes. But when we started moving, we never wanted to incur additional expense to buy an oven. However here I got an inbuilt oven in the kitchen. Its only been 3 months since I started baking, but I already feel like I cannot cook without an oven.

Baingan Bharta (Roasted eggplant with Indian spices)

My love affair with this vegetable began more than two decades ago. It was introduced to me as "katharikai Poriyal" i.e. stir fried eggplant. Since then I'm in love with this vegetable and our affair continues with many new experimentations ;)

Stir Fried Eggplant in Spicy Chilli Sauce

Eggplant is my all-time favorite vegetable. There are variety of ways to cook them. You could make smoked eggplant salad, fried eggplant, eggplant gravy, mashed eggplant curry (North Indian Baigan Bartha) and this one is Chinese style. Even though I’ve tried similar style eggplant in Singapore Chinese vegetarian restaurant; I never bothered to try it at home.

But once I saw it demonstrated by Kylie kwong in Masterchef Australia, I immediately noted it down and tried it no sooner I got all the ingredients. We can call it Ami’s twisted version, because I made small modifications in steps as well as ingredients. My DH’s reaction to this dish is “Superb”. Eggplant’s taste is relatively bland that’s why it easily blends with any type to spices or gravy. Fried eggplant has a mild sweetness and when it is mixed with a spicy hot and sour sauce, eggplant absorbs and blends well with this aromatic tangy sauce. It’s a “must try” for all eggplant lovers like me.

How often do you get inspired by cooking shows? I always do. Some of my favorite chefs on TV are Michael Smith, Jamie Oliver, Chef Wan (Malaysian), Anna Olson, Nigella Lawson and Laura Calder. These are some of the other celebrity chef inspired recipe creations in my kitchen.

Michael Smiths Red Bean & Rice Stew

Jamie Olivers Chickpea Soup & Vegetarian Spaghetti

Nigella Lawsons Pumpkin & Chickpea Soup

My Favorite Fried Eggplant Recipe

Fried eggplant is my all time favorite food. Recently it was featured in "My Grandma's Recipe"column in The Hindu, India.

It's a must try dish for all eggplant lovers, let me know how it came out in your kitchen.

Eggplant Curry (Roasted Eggplant Chips in Hot and Sour Curry Sauce)

This popular dish is served in all Sri Lankan celebrations. Fried eggplant in hot and sour spicy gravy goes well with rice, but it can also be served with rotis or similar breads. Another similar dish called Brinjal Moju (pickle) is also popular. It’s made with fried eggplant, fried onion and chilies tossed in spicy vinegar dressing.