Grill/Barbecue

Fried Vegan Polenta (Cornmeal) Crusted Eggplant

by:
July  5, 2013
4.5
2 Ratings
Fried Vegan Polenta (Cornmeal) Crusted Eggplant
  • Serves 3-4
Author Notes

“Eww…eggplant..so mushy…eww,” said young Karishma.
“Hmm…how can I make eggplant not so mushy,” said “chef” Karishma.

I used to HATE eggplant as a kid. Whenever my mom made anything with eggplant, I used to pick it out because I didn’t like the texture. But lately I’ve been giving it another chance and I actually don’t mind it at all. I made this when my mother-in-law was in town back in April (yes, this is a very late post). She loves trying new things so this gave me an opportunity to create a new recipe. —themessimake.com

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Yogurt Sauce
  • 1 cup vegan yogurt (or plain Greek yogurt if you don't care about this dish being vegan)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chopped dill (or any herb of your choice)
  • salt, to taste
  • black pepper, to taste
  • Polenta Crusted Eggplant
  • 1 long, Chinese eggplant
  • 1/4 cup Almond milk (regular milk if you don't care about this dish being vegan)
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 c cups polenta
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika (add more if you want it spicy)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped dill (or any herb of your choice)
  • salt, to taste
  • black pepper, to taste
Directions
  1. Yogurt Sauce
  2. Whisk all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  1. Polenta Crusted Eggplant
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 275º F.
  3. Cut the eggplant in 1/4 inch slices, sprinkle some salt and set aside for a few minutes. Dab the eggplant slices with a paper towel to remove excess water. This will help keep the eggplant crispy and not get mushy.
  4. Add the spices to the polenta.
  5. Dip the eggplant slices in flour.
  6. Dip the eggplant+flour slices in Almond milk.
  7. Dip the eggplant+flour+Almond milk slices in Polenta+spice mixture.
  8. Place the eggplant slices on a parchment paper lined baking pan.
  9. Bake for about 15 minutes, turn them over and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
  10. Serve with yogurt sauce.
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2 Reviews

noknok
noknok September 8, 2018
Made these last night and We’re the first pieces of eggplant to pass my son’s lips in 13 years. We all loved them! 275’F seemed too low, so bumped up the oven setting to 220’C (425’F). Sprayed parchment with olive oil & lightly sprayed coated eggplant slices with olive oil as well before they went into oven. They cooked quickly and crisped nicely, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the polenta crust stays on.
 
Hana
Hana April 20, 2016
I made these for a friend's birthday, and they were a hit! I seasoned the flour mixture MUCH more heavily (added coriander, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, chili powder, turmeric etc), and ended up needing to bake them for closer to 45 minutes total (but my oven is not the most consistent). This is a fun way to mix up eggplant preparation, but did take some time to assemble.