Stuffed Indian Eggplant
I’ve been to many Indian Restaurants and I like their food. But today, I made something out of an Indian Eggplant but not an Indian traditional recipe. I stuffed the eggplant with barley, tomatoes, and seasoned them with smoked paprika. I know it doesn’t sound like Masala – but I always like tweaking recipes and making it my own. As a Healthy Cooking Instructor – my students always ask if it’s enough to just have the recipe to learn how to cook – or learning the cooking methods are the way to really have good meals all the time. Of course, my answer would be – learning the cooking methods is the best way to create flavorful dishes and plus you’ll have the consistency of how you want your foods to turn out all the time.
The Lean Bellas Kitchen Healthy Cooking School is now open for registration – but let’s make this recipe first, then you’ll learn more about my cooking classes at the end.
Let’s get cooking!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 small Indian eggplants, halved (they're purple in color)
- 1 cup cooked barley
- 2 medium Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon 21 seasoning salute
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Juice of one lemon
- a handful of cilantro, for garnish
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Use a grapefruit spoon, scoop the meat of each eggplant, and set aside.
- Drizzle the eggplant boats with 2 tablespoons oil, place them on the pan skin side up. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Set aside.
- Chop the eggplant meat. Heat a pan with the remaining oil, saute garlic and onion. Add tomatoes and eggplant, stir to mix. Season with smoked paprika, basil, 21 seasoning salute, salt, and pepper, stir to mix, cover, simmer for a minute or until the eggplant is tender.
- Add the barley and tomato paste, stir, add the lemon juice stir to mix well, cook until well heated. Remove from the heat. Fill each eggplant boat with the barley mixture. Bake for 5 minutes, remove from the oven, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
Cut the eggplant in half – scoop the inside meat
Drizzle with oil, place the eggplant boats on the pan skin side up. Bake for 15 minutes
Cook the stuffing, stuff each eggplant boat with the barley stuffing
I know there are few steps to making these stuffed eggplant but it’s worth the effort.
Get your FREE New eCookbook today!
