Oven Fried Eggplants

Oven fried eggplants are kinda like oven fried chicken. It tastes like fried eggplant but is actually baked.

Fried eggplants or “begun bhaji” is a staple in Bangladesh. Nothing beats a simply seasoned eggplant dish that goes so seamlessly with flavored rice and lentil mixture commonly known in Bengali as khichuri. Although eggplants absorb flavor very easily it also soaks up all the oil you can throw at it.  So the only way you can enjoy fried eggplants is to not fry it at all.

Here I baste the slices in a little oil and bake at a high temperature. These perfectly seasoned baked eggplants come out soft but not so mushy as to be unappetizing. It reminded me of “begun bhaji” my ma used to make only they are not the least bit oily. I ask you, what could be better? :)

You can use a large eggplant for the recipe or multiple small ones. Be aware the smaller eggplants will have more densely packed seeds. Either way this a delicious dish without the guilt of calories that come with fried food.

Recipe

5 small eggplants or 1 medium sized one

Salt- 1/4  teaspoon (use 1/2 teaspoon if you like your food salty)

Red chili pepper- 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric- 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin- 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar- 1/8  teaspoon

The small eggplants are usually available at Indian grocery stores. The greener the stem is the fresher the eggplants are going to be.

After cleaning slice the eggplants into ¼ inch thick slices.

Here’s another shot of the sliced eggplants.

Now sprinkle the spice mixture on top.

Mix it all up.

Pour oil and give a quick toss so all the slices have a light coating of oil.

Spread out  evenly on a baking tray making sure the pieces don’t overlap.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or till the slices are soft.

Serve with a side of lightly fried dried red chilies and enjoy with rice or khichuri.