Deep fried eggplant in tahini sauce

If you follow Smoke Salt and Fire on Facebook or Twitter you'll know that chef Dominic and I are pretty much carnivores, but sometimes you need to cook for friends or family that are vegetarian or (horror) even vegan. Just because you're not cooking with meat is no reason not to make delicious   food.

Ingredients

1 Eggplant sliced into discs
2 cups general purpose flour or corn meal
2 table spoons garlic powder
2 table spoons onion powder
1 cup soy milk(unsweetened, unflavored)
3-5 cups vegetable oil
1 package of tortillas
parsley, chives, salt, pepper
Tahini sauce
Sriracha or the hot sauce of your choice



Start by putting your oil on to heat up over a medium heat, I usually use a wok for this, but a deep pan or pot will work too.  While the oil is heating up cut your eggplant into discs less then a centimeter (half inch) thick.
Now it's time to set up your breading station, you'll need to bowls for this, dump your flour or cornmeal, into a bowl and add the onion and garlic powder and mix thoroughly. Cornmeal makes a crispy delicious gluten free breading option. Fill the other bowl with the soy milk for your wash, if you're not cooking for vegans you can substitute an egg wash here. Dip each eggplant disc into the wash, making sure it's wet all over, then into the breading bowl. Make sure the eggplant is covered all over with breading mix.

Now that you've applied the breading mix it's time to check if your oil is hot enough for frying, if you're an experienced fryer you should be able to tell if your heat is right by holding your hand about an inch above the the oil, but if you're new to frying an easy way to tell is to take a pinch of the flour or cornmeal you're using for breading and toss it into the oil, if it starts to bubble as soon as you put it in the your oil is hot enough.
Using a pair of metal tongs, drop your breaded eggplant gently into the oil, allow to fry for about 90 seconds then use your tongs to turn the eggplant discs over and fry for 90 more seconds.
Use you tongs to remove the eggplant from the oil, hold each disc above the oil until it stops dripping then place on a plate or baking sheet that has been covered in paper towel.  Cover to cooked eggplant with more paper towel, this will help to wick away some of the excess oil.
Now you're ready to plate, put you tortilla on the plate and add a couple of pieces of breaded eggplant, drizzle with tahini sauce, this is now available at most grocery stores but I will be doing a follow up article on how to make your own at home from tahini paste.  Finally add salt and pepper to taste then sprinkle with chopped parsley and chive, splash with your chosen hot sauce and your done.