Greek fried eggplants - Melitzanes tiganites

Along with crispy fried zucchini, Taramosalata and Tirosalata, fried eggplant - Melitzanes Tiganites (μελιτζάνες τηγανητές) is part of nearly every menu of a Greek restaurant, being one of the favorite Greek mezedes. Meze is not just an appetizer you order before the main dish. Close to the Spanish tapas, this is a dish, which accompanies a glass of alcohol - tsipuro, ouzo or just Retsina and people can spend hours enjoying meze and having long talks without moving to heavier dishes. 

One of the most important things while preparing eggplant is not to let it soak too much fat - so there are some important rules, which shall be kept.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants, sliced into 1/6 -inch (4 mm) circles
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup soda water
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Put eggplant slices into a bowl or colander and sprinkle with salt. Allow them to 'sweat' for about half an hour and pour off liquid. Rinse off well and put on a kitchen towel.

Sift flour, place into a plate and add slowly soda water and salt. Mix well to avoid forming of lumps. The batter coating the eggplant slices will prevent them from soaking too much fat.

Put vegetable oil in a heavy skillet and bring to high heat. High heat is the second most important part for obtaining crispy fried eggplants.

Dip eggplant slices into the batter and make sure they are covered both sides. Place slices into the hot oil. Fry eggplant slices in batches – not more than 4 slices at once, otherwise the temperature of the oil will go down and the eggplant will absorb more fat. Fry for 2 minutes until slices get lightly golden, turn and fry for additional 2 minutes. 

Take out the fried slices of eggplant with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towel to absorb any excess fat. Arrange eggplant slices on a platter, season with freshly ground black pepper and serve with some Tsatsiki  (cucumber-yogurt dip) or just with some spoons of yogurt.