About 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.
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 Fritters
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fry off your eggplant patties in batches until golden-brown on both sides. Allow to blot on a tray covered in paper towels.
- 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
40 Responses
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???
Mmmmm! They look divine! I’m off to buy eggplants…
This looks great! My garden is overflowing with eggplant right now, so I’m grateful for this delicious sounding inspiration.
I always love visiting your blog… there’s always something tasty and something that I want to try someday! These fritters look super!
Eggplant fritters sounds wonderful especially with avocado tzatziki, definitely need to try!
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!
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.
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?
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!
Those fritters looks wonderful and toothsome! With tzatziki they must taste terrific!
Cheers,
Rosa
oh Peter you know I love my fancy sauces and this avocado tzatziki is absolutely fabulous. I mean seriously I must try this.
These look amazing! I admit deep frying is not something I ever do, but maybe I need to start!
I adore all kinds of -keftedes and these look so crispy and juicy at the same time! Still in Greece, Peter?
oh, those innards are so creamy! that lusciousness combined with the crispy fried outside would just be a pleasure to eat. :)
Lovely, lovely. I adore eggplant and now crave these.
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 :)
Delicious, Peter! I agree, chargrilling the eggplants definitely lend more complex and delicious flavors! Now that we have a bigger place, and can FINALLY have a grill, I will be doing this next time!!!
They look so juicy inside!!
Delicious!!!
All things eggplant are always good.
Thanks for another great eggplant recipe. I look forward to trying it.
Anything fried is for me! And with a nice cool sauce, even better
I have a hard time getting my family to eat eggplant, but these fritters might be just the thing to get them to change their minds.
peter, finally i’ve done a successful ribs dish! thanks for the tips…eggplant fritters? and there’s cheese involved? i’m on board
Those look so good! Great pairing with that sauce too.
LL
Oh yummy! These fritters would be perfect for lunch today. A great way to eat more eggplant.
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.
flavorfully unique. We do the fritters, but just slice the eggplants & fry them in batter.
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 ευχαÏιστώ (hope I spelled it right.)
Believe it or not, I have never had melitzanokeftedes in Greece!
Your fritters look crunchy and delicious, and I love the idea of an avocado tzatziki!
loving the fritters but, to me, the star is that tzatziki with “chunks of avocado” – love that addition!!
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!
Yes! I have an eggplant on my counter and had run out of ideas! Thanks for helping me with dinner Peter!
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!
wonderful keftedes, and beautiful presentation! bravo peter! i also liked the avocado enriched tzatziki!
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!
Wow, these look good! I really wish I liked eggplant. I keep trying to. Maybe this will do the trick.