Fried eggplant, or fried aubergine, is featured in dishes of many different cuisines.

Regional varieties

Spain

Spanish cuisine Spanish cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices from Spain. Olive oil (of which Spain is the world's largest producer) is heavily used in Spanish cuisine. It forms the base of many vegetable sauces (known in Spanish as ''sofrit ...

, this dish takes the form of a '' tapa''. In the province of Córdoba it is usually made with honey.

Turkey

Fried eggplant ( tr, Patlıcan kızartma or ) is found in

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. It is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern Eur ...

. It is such a common dish during summer months that this season used to be called (fried eggplant months) in Ottoman

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, where this generalized frying caused huge fires and destroyed entire ''

mahalle is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or " neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social i ...

s'' due to the abundance of old wooden houses. The dish is usually eaten with a garlic

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

tomato sauce Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...

Middle East

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and

Israeli cuisine Israeli cuisine ( he, המטבח הישראלי ) comprises both local dishes and dishes brought to Israel by Jews from the Diaspora. Since before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and particularly since the late 1970s, an Israel ...

s, fried eggplant is typically served with '' tahini''. In Israel, it is used to make ''

sabich Sabich or sabih ( he, סביח ) is a sandwich of pita or laffa bread stuffed with fried eggplants, hard boiled eggs, chopped salad, parsley, Amba (condiment), amba and tahini sauce. It is an Iraqi Jews, Iraqi Jewish dish that has become a stap ...

'', a popular sandwich of fried eggplant and hard-boiled egg in a pita.

South Asia

In India, fried eggplant is also known as ''brinjal phodi'' or ''vangyache kaap'' in the

Konkani language Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of ...

. Made with shallow-fried eggplant slices, this recipe is typically a Konkani and Maharashtrian dish, very similar to ''begun bhaja'' from

Bengali cuisine Bengali cuisine ( bn, বাঙ্গালী রন্ধনপ্রণালী) is the culinary style of Bengal, a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent encompassing Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura ...

References