Home » Appetizer » Eggplant Fritters (Μελιτζανοκεφτέδες)

Eggplant Fritters (Μελιτζανοκεφτέδες)

IMG_6502About a year ago, I was surprised but also pleased to see another example of overlap occurring in different cuisines. Jenn, The Leftover Queen shared a post about her mother-in-law’s exquisite cooking, which included eggplant patties from Sardinia.

Greeks also make eggplant fritters and these are remarkably easy to make and they are long on flavour, easy on the budget. You need roasted eggplants (either in the oven or on the grill). I prefer my eggplants to be char-grilled/blackened on the grill so that I get that wonderful smoky flavour.IMG_6508

I served these with a cool, refreshing avocado Tzatziki which was basically strained Greek yogurt mixed with minced garlic, chunks of avocado, lime juice, seasoned to taste and a pinch of cumin for a warm undertone.

Eggplant FrittersIMG_6504

Approx 2kg. of large eggplants

1 cup of mild grated cheese (Graviera or a Gruyere)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. of baking powder

4 Tbsp. of chopped fresh parsley

2 scallion, finely chopped (or equivalent in chives)

2 cloves of garlic. minced

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup of day-old bread, processed into bread crumbs

(not dry breadcrumbs)

salt and pepper to taste

flour for dredging

vegetable oil for frying

  1. Poke your eggplants with a fork (all around) and either pre-heat your oven broiler or your gas/charcoal grill. Char/blacken the skins of the eggplants (turning frequently). Remove from the broiler/grill and allow to cool until safe to handle.
  2. Cut your eggplants lengthwise in half and using a spoon, scoop out the flesh and place in a large bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients (beaten eggs, cheese, scallions, garlic, baking powder and parsley) and stir to incorporate.
  3. Season with salt and pepper and gradually add your bread crumbs until you have a soft but pliable mixture. Dredge the patties in flour and reserve.
  4. Form into patties and dredge in flour. You are going to shallow-fry these fritters, so you need enough vegetable oil to fill your pan about 1/2 inch deep.IMG_6511
  5. Fry off your eggplant patties in batches until golden-brown on both sides. Allow to blot on a tray covered in paper towels.
  6. Serve warm or room temperature with some Tzatziki.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at  https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis

Share the love
Related

40 Responses

  1. Crunchy and golden brown on the outside, soft and mushy on the inside…it does not get any better than this, Peter! Still having a great time???

  2. I always love visiting your blog… there’s always something tasty and something that I want to try someday! These fritters look super!

  3. I have been enjoying fritters of all sorts this summer and eggplants sounds like a good one. The avocado Tzatziki also sounds really creamy and good!

  4. There definitely are overlaps between Greek and Italian cuisine and your eggplant fritters exemplifies it at its best. They look like something I want to bite into and enjoy soon. I’ll be trying that avocado tzatziki too.

  5. I love avocado, so making that tzatziki would be a nice change from the guac I always make or the traditional tzatziki.
    My cousin makes these, but she usually uses zucchini instead of eggplant. I prefer them over the meat keftedes! But I’ve never had eggplant ones… If her eggplant would just grow in the garden, I’m sure she would have made those too! I know the zucchini ones are good, so these have to be too, right?

  6. You know, there’s a Lebanese eggplant fritter which is really similar as well! This is why I love global cuisine. There’s more variation between kitchen to kitchen then there is between country to country!

    Hope you’re enjoying your vacation!

  7. Those look exceedingly tasty. I must try them and I do love the accompliment. I roasted aubergine yesterday to put in soup. Wish I had seen this post first :)

  8. These look so delicious. I’m finally branching out with eggplant recipes (made an Indian recipe last night that was possibly my new favorite eggplant dish). This one looks great.

  9. I know what’s for dinner this weekend! Just started the new semester so no time for any fun cooking right now but my eggplants meet Mork the grill this weekend! Something to look forward to. Thanks
    σε ευχαριστώ (hope I spelled it right.)

  10. Peter, these sound amazing, I cannot wait to add them to our weekly menu! We both love eggplant and I am always looking for new ways to cook it beyond the grill …. thanks for this fantastic recipe!

  11. Made these exquisite morsels last night to celebrate father’s day here in Australia. My father told my mother to get the recipe off me- a real compliment let me tell you!

  12. Maybe by now you know of my eggplant weakness… these look so great! I’m sitting here, showing your website to my mom, we’re both drooling over this recipe!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Cookbook

My latest!

While your daily tasks are different from that generation, you’re busy and one pot cooking is going to help you in the kitchen! Read book details. Barnes & Noble book purchases here.