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Salad with crispy eggplant and tomatoes in Georgian style

Georgian Salad with Crispy Eggplant and Tomatoes

Healthy, delicious, and simple! It's both a salad and a great side for meat. This unusual, easy-to-make Georgian salad with crispy eggplant and tomatoes is perfect for anyone who likes their salads without mayo. Deep-fried eggplant, ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs, and an intriguing dressing — a gourmet's dream.

Maria

Recipe author

Salad with crispy eggplant and tomatoes in Georgian style

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Eggplant

Tomatoes

Cream cheese (plain, unflavored)

Chili sauce (sweet)

Mint (2-3 sprigs)

Cilantro (2-3 sprigs)

Basil (2-3 sprigs)

Olive oil

Sesame oil (can substitute olive oil, but the flavor will change)

Starch

Sunflower seeds

Sesame seeds

Vegetable oil (approximately, for deep-frying)

250

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 4 % 2 g

Fats 83 % 38 g

Carbohydrates 13 % 6 g

368 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 40 min

Step 1:

How do you make a Georgian salad with crispy eggplant and tomatoes? Gather your ingredients. Choose a large, firm eggplant that isn't soft or shriveled, with taut, glossy skin.
Step 2:

Wash and dry the eggplant and cut it into large cubes. Put the pieces in a bowl, salt them, and let them sit for 5-7 minutes. Then drain off the liquid they release and pat the eggplant dry.
Step 3:

While the eggplant is salting, prep everything else. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces. Choose ripe, juicy but firm tomatoes. Soft ones don't hold their shape — they'll break down into mush as you cut and toss them, and spoil the look of the dish.
Step 4:

Wash all the herbs, dry them, and chop them coarsely.
Step 5:

Toast the sunflower and sesame seeds separately in a dry skillet until golden. If your sunflower seeds are already roasted, there's no need to toast them again. You can swap in a ready-made salad seed mix, or just use one — either sesame or sunflower seeds.
Step 6:

Coat the eggplant pieces all over in starch. A plastic bag makes this easy.
Step 7:

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan and deep-fry the eggplant in batches until crispy and golden. Stir now and then so the pieces don't stick together and cook evenly. It's important to fry the eggplant at the very end, once everything else is chopped — you want to serve the salad warm, while the eggplant is still hot and crisp.
Step 8:

Transfer the fried eggplant to paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Step 9:

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, olive and sesame oils, and chili sauce, and toss gently, trying not to crush the tomatoes. Dress the salad just before serving, or the eggplant will go soft.
Step 10:

Transfer the salad to a serving platter or bowl. Top with small quenelles of cream cheese. Sprinkle everything with the sesame and sunflower seeds. Serve right away, while the eggplant still has its crisp coating. If the salad sits for 15 minutes or more, the eggplant will turn soggy. Enjoy!

Since everyone's sense of salty, sweet, bitter, spicy, sour, and hot is different, always season to your own taste. And when you're trying a seasoning for the first time, remember that some — chili pepper, for one — are especially easy to overdo.
Use an oil with a high smoke point for frying! Every oil is only good up to a certain point — its smoke point, where it starts to burn and form harmful compounds, including carcinogens. Unrefined oils, with few exceptions, have a low smoke point: they're full of unfiltered organic particles that scorch quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. Whenever you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, reach for a high-smoke-point oil. The most common ones are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed.