This recipe I have modified from the original Cypriot recipe, in order to make it healthier and lighter. My mother and all Cypriot women would fry the potatoes and eggplants and they would then sauté the onion in the oil. Apart from fresh ripe tomatoes they would also add tomato paste as well as all the other ingredients in the frying pan to make the sauce, which they would pour on top of the potatoes and eggplants. That was also delicious but too oily and fattening.
Melitzanes giahni (aubergines or eggplants in tomato sauce)
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 3
4 medium eggplants
3 medium potatoes
1 big onion
8 slices of garlic
5 ripe tomatoes or 1 can of whole tomatoes, blended
1 cup of parsley
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Peel and wash the potatoes and cut into round slices, about 1 cm thick.
Heat the oil in a skillet and fry potatoes on both sides, but not entirely cooked. While potatoes are being fried, wash eggplants and peel, leaving some stripes of skin on. (As I did not know what this type is called in English, in Greek they are called Tsakonikes, they are not bitter and therefore they do not have to be soaked in water with salt to remove the bitterness. I checked it out and they seem to be called Japanese Eggplants. As they are very thin, cut them in the middle, make a slot and place a piece of garlic inside.
Remove potatoes in a sauce pan and then fry eggplants on both sides.
Remove into the saucepan and sauté the onion until it caramelizes.
With a slotted ladle remove onion into saucepan and you can see in the picture that they did not absorb much oil.
Peel and blend the tomatoes and pour on top of the eggplants, add the parsley, salt and freshly ground pepper and enough water to cover potatoes and eggplants.
Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for an hour, until potatoes are soft and the sauce is thick.
Eggplants are seasonal and cost about 1 Euro a kilo, potatoes cost around 0.65 to 0.70 cents a kilo, ripe tomatoes cost around 0,60 cents, and adding up the cost of olive oil, this light and very tasty dish does not cost more than five Euros.
Considering that this light and tasty dish definitely costs less than 10 dollars, even if we add the cost of feta and bread, I am submitting this recipe to Frugal Fridays, created by Jerry and co-hosted by Ben, of What’s Cooking.
Tags: Nistisimo, Traditional, Vegetarian
July 24th, 2008 at 2:04 am
This is one of my all time favourite dishes Ivy. I like the “healthy” version you posted too. A friend of mine does something similar except he grills the eggplants and potatoes. You def need lots of bread for this one!
July 24th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Axx Ivy, these dishes are superior in Greece because of the better produce over there. How else to explain these dishes tasting so good even at room temp?
Good to see you wiping the plate.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:29 am
That sounds so aromatic and delicious!
July 24th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Peter, I do that (grilling) for moussakas but here you will need some oil anyway to make the sauce, so instead of making sauce with oil, I take advantage of the little amount absorbed by the eggplants, for the sauce to thicken.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Peter M, we are really blessed to have such good produce because that is what gives the final result. Those hairy hands are my sons’.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Guess what? I love eggplant. It looks really, really good.
I can’t believe how much you cook! I can’t keep up.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Great dish… we too prepare this with all our indian spices in it
I love your healthy dish
will bookmark this to try !
July 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Emiline, see these tags: family, hungry, five, three men. That says it all (lol).
July 24th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Vani, I would certainly like to make it with Indian spices. What should I use?
July 25th, 2008 at 7:39 am
This is a lovely version of an aubergine dish..aubergines are one of my favorite veggies..You can make so many dishes with them..
Will try your way very soon :))
July 25th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
If you have a recipe or a link you can send me, maybe I must try the Indian version.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I would need some good bread to sop up all the juices too:D
July 26th, 2008 at 5:33 am
There’s a middle eastern restaurant near me that makes an eggplant and tomato sauce appetizer/side - it’s like heaven. I’m so happy to see recipe for something that looks quite similar. Absolutely delicious.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I lurv eggplant Ivy - this looks like a great way to serve it.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Hi Ivy,
The aubergines you used were the long ones? In my country, we have several types of round, long and slender and of course Japanese eggplant called Nasu. Nasu is very small about 6-7 inches in length compared to the slender ones which could reach 12-18 inches long. Japanese are peculiar, cos if their vegetable is like that they always maintain the same size and color. Round ones about the size or slightly bigger then tennis balls and in several colours from light green, cream to pruple zebra species. The less common in my country is the European Aubergine with dark purple skin and looks like giant purple pear!
In fact, I bought Nasu 2 days ago… thinking of grilling it with Feta cheese
July 26th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Sounds like a lovely dish. I rarely cook with eggplant, but I have come across some very tempting dishes lately, including this one.