How to Cook Creole Eggplant
Serves: 8
Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients needed to make Creole Eggplant:
- 3 large eggplant, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 canned (1 lb 12 oz) cherry tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tbsp sweet paprika
- ¼ tbsp hot paprika
- ½ tsp light brown sugar
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 8 lime wedges, for serving
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped for garnishing
Cooking instructions for Creole Eggplant:
- Pour a couple of tbsp olive oil in a pan and heat it over moderate flame.
- Throw in the chopped garlic, onions well as peppers and saute them for about 3-4 minutes, or until they soften; keep stirring them often.
- Pour rest of the oil in a separate pan and heat it over moderate flame.
- Add the diced eggplants and fry them in batches, for about 5-7 minutes or until they turn brown evenly.
- Transfer them to a plate, with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
- Sprinkle the hot and sweet paprika, as well as the ground cumin into the first sauteed mixture and continue to stir fry for another minute or until the spices gives out a pleasant, warm aroma.
- Empty the can of cherry tomatoes into the mixture, followed by the fried eggplants as well as sugar and stir them all together to mix thoroughly.
- Season the veggies with a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and pour in 12 fl oz of water.
- Give it a nice stir and continue to heat the mixture until it begins to boil.
- Reduce the gravy to a simmer and continue to do so for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are cooked through and the mixture thickens considerably.
- Spoon the mixture into a serving bowl and top it up with chopped parsley.
- Decorate it with lime wedges and serve with crusty bread.
- It makes a great side dish with sweet and mild main courses.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
