I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – I’ve recently fallen in love with eggplants. I used to loathe them as I child. But, a couple of years back I tasted them in an Eggplant Fatteh (find the recipe in my Recipe Index) at my friend’s house and thats how the story began. Ever since I purposely look for recipes to incorporate them or better yet make them the star of the meal.
I have found that they taste really well with pomegranate seeds and anything green. Mix those three ingredients with a special yoghurt sauce and you’re good to go. Eggplants also look beautiful grilled and grilling them actually brings out their flavor.
So I made this vegetarian dish, it can be served as an appetizer or as a light dinner or snack. I honestly loved the medley of flavors. I also kept the skin on the eggplants in this recipe because I have found out that the skin is very rich in a number of nutrients and some dietitians actually call it “brain food”.
There is a secret to avoid bitter tasting eggplants whether cooked, grilled or even fried. I always do this when I want to cook the eggplants just to stay on the safe side. Once I have cut the eggplants (in this recipe we slice them into sheets), I place them on a tray lined with kitchen tissues and sprinkle salt on both sides and then I cover them again with kitchen tissues and place something flat and a little heavy on them (a pot can do the job) and I leave them for at least two hours. This step allows the bitterness to seep out of the eggplants and get soaked onto the kitchen tissues. Then I sprinkle whatever spices on them and leave for 30 M and then I cook.
I am in love with the colors :).
Grilled Eggplant with Mediterranean Yoghurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large Eggplant
- 1 TB salt
- 2 TB olive oil
- Yoghurt Sauce:
- 1/2 cup greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 2 large TB chopped parsley
- 1 large TB chopped thyme
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- Garnish:
- Yoghurt sauce (above)
- 3 TB feta cheese cut into small cubes
- 1 TB chopped parsley
- 2 TB pomegranate seeds
- 16 mint leaves
- 2 Red Chili Pepper sliced finely
Directions
- Step 1 Wash eggplant from the outside and dry really well.
- Step 2 Cut off top only and slice the eggplant into vertical long sheets about 1 cm thick.
- Step 3 Sprinkle salt on both sides of the eggplant sheets and rub in well. Place kitchen tissues on a tray and lay the eggplant sheets on them. Cover again with kitchen tissues and place heavy pot on them and leave for 2H.
- Step 4 In the meantime prepare the yoghurt sauce using all ingredients, cover and place in fridge until serving time.
- Step 5 Heat grill pan (we use a grill pan to ensure that char grilled lines appear on eggplants) and drizzle one side of the eggplants with olive oil. Place that side on the pan and leave around 2-3 min (once you poke the center there should be no resistance and at same time they shouldn’t be too soft). Make sure they are cooked well and drizzle olive oil on the side facing up and flip over. Make sure char grilled lines have shown.
- Step 6 Remove and place on serving plate and garnish with yoghurt sauce, feta cheese, chopped parsley, pomegranate seeds, mint leaves, and chili.
- Step 7 Serve straight away.