Vegan

Malabar Eggplant (Crispy Eggplant with Spiced Coconut sauce. gluten-free)

Malabar eggplant — crispy eggplant in a shredded coconut red chili curry sauce — is a delicious introduction to the deep flavors of South Indian Malabar cuisine. Serve it with naan or flatbread and some dal for a veggie-packed meal that’s also packed with flavor!

malabar eggplant in the pan with toppings next to it

Some veggies can be difficult to like when made simply. Eggplant is one of those. This Malabar eggplant is packed with flavor and texture and is very versatile. You can bake the eggplant or pan fry it. And you can even use other veggies instead, like cauliflower.

South Indian Malabar cuisine is a mix of multiple regional cuisines in Southern India. It’s heavily influenced by coastal and Kerala cuisine along with the many other nearby areas, because of the region being a major trade route. Kerala was considered “the spice garden of the ancient world,” because it produced flavorful spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, and pepper.

Trade, migration, and invasion brought influences from Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Malaysian, and other cuisines to Malabar region(north kerala region).

If you want to explore Malabar cuisine further, also check out my Malabar veggie curry

But back to this eggplant.

The other day I had lots of eggplant on hand, so I decided to make a Malabar-style eggplant , the sauce of which is inspired from crisp and spiced Malabar Chikin recipes. Usually I use cauliflower in this recipe, but you can basically use whichever vegetable you have handy. All of the flavor is in the batter, and that batter is super delicious. After battering and baking or frying the veggies, you toss them in this easy sauce and serve with some tofu curry or dal. You can also replace half the eggplant with tofu to ale this into a meal!

fork lifting up a bite of malabar eggplant

The sauce for Malabar eggplant is on the dry side. If you want to make the dish saucier, you can add in some coconut milk. The sauce can also be rather hot, so adjust as needed based on your heat preference.

???? Why You’ll Love Malabar Eggplant

melt-in-your-mouth eggplant coated in a flavorful, crispy-crunchy batter
incredibly shredded coconut curry sauce with option to make it even saucier!
versatile! Make it with eggplant or cauliflower or protein like tofu or seitan or soycurls and adjust flavors and textures to taste.
naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

More Eggplant Recipes

South Indian Eggplant Curry Casserole
Eggplant and Tofu in Soy Lime Sauce
Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
Baingan Bharta– mashed spiced eggplant

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Vegan

Baked Tawa Pulao – Indian Spiced Rice Bake

This Tawa Pulao – Spiced Rice casserole needs just 1 Pan and 1 step! Dump and done bake with veggies and warming Indian spices. Serve as a main with added chickpeas or as a side with your favorite curry. 1 step 1 pan dump and bake! Gluten-free. Nutfree soyfree

a white bowl with vegan baked masala rice casserole

Currently, I am obsessed with this Baked Spiced Rice Casserole aka. Tawa Pulao! Such an easy recipe that uses mostly pantry staples and can be made with frozen veggies, canned veggies or fresh ones. Use whatever you like and have available.

As for the spices – I know – the list is long but if you don’t have some of them, you can just use more of the others. Curry powder would be a great substitute for garam masala and paprika or cayenne pepper can be used intead of chili powder.