Monday, September 1, 2008

Baked Spiced Eggplants with Tamarind Dip


Are you a scary movie person?

Most of my friends aren't. They won't watch scary movies, even if theirs life depended on it. Sous chef is a huge scary movie fan and will watch whatever guaranteed to scare the crap outta him. I am half and half. I like watching scary movies, in broad day light (no fun, eh?), or late a night with a huge group of people....and...to be exact, I just watch the top right corner of the screen whenever a super scary scene is anticipated. If the scary scene is visible everywhere on the screen, including from the top right corner, I would simply close my eyes. HAHA. Yes. I am a timid little mouse with a tiger's taste.

I love classic scary movies involving mystery of spiritual world...and I hate aliens in scary movies (I stopped watching The X files when they started to blame everything on aliens). My favorite scary movie of all time is The Exorcist. I remember watching a rerun of the series on TV with my dorm friends in my uni days, after which around 6 of us would snuggle in one bedroom being scared. Hmmm...so far this post has not done anything to build up everybody's appetite, aye? LOL.

I simply wanted to share this as I just got back from scaring and sickening myself watching an early 10:35 AM scary movie screening at a cinema nearby. The movie is called REC, a little predictable but they've done a great job keeping everything so real. There's one thing I hated about this movie, which was the camera movement. Although I've closed my eyes 30% of the whole movie, it still managed to cause me motion sickness which lasted the whole day, I barely had any appetite, which is almost NEVER (haha). The movie was really not suitable to watch while eating...even pop corn.

But here's something I like to snack on while watching my favorite chick flicks ^_^

Baked Spiced Eggplants with Tamarind Dip

Recipe

The Baked Eggplants

- 1 long eggplant, sliced around 5 mm thick
- 5 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt, a dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground corriander
- 1 egg, beaten
- bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 200C. On a plate, mix flour with salt, pepper, sugar, cumin and ground corriander. In a bowl, beat an egg and on a separate plate, mix bread crumbs with a bit of salt and pepper. Grease an oven tray, dip eggplant pieces into flour, then egg, then bread crumbs, and lay on oven tray in just 1 layer. Bake until golden brown, flipping just once.

The Tamarind Dip
- 2 red chilli, sliced thinly
- 1 small clove of shallot, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 piece palm sugar
- fish sauce, light soy sauce

Dissolve tamarind paste and palm sugar in hot water, add chilli, shallot, fish sauce and light soy.


If you don't mind deep/pan frying, these taste even more fantastic fried. Hehe ;)

I am submitting this to Wandering Chopstick's event, Weekend Wokking. Hosted this week by Marija from Palachinka. Check it out more eggplants recipe!


Now let me think of a lame excuse not to attend next week's sickening scary movie screening. Any ideas? Hehe

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha! I dare not watch scary movies at all. That makes me a timid little ant? :) This dish will definitely be yummy fried!!!

Anonymous said...

LOL...sama Rit, aku jg suka nonton film serem. yg alien gitu gak serem, yg serem sebangsa the grudge, the eyes, dll. kagak berani nonton sendirian deh :D

ngeliat eggplant ini koq jadi kepikir gorengan ubi, singkong, dll ya? :D

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Aww, you do love me. I love the sound of this tamarind dip. Must remember to add tamarind the next time I make fish sauce.

I hate scary movies. I don't enjoy being scared.

Rita said...

10:30 AM session of scary movie?? Did I read it right?? I don't like scary movies, they give me nightmares. I never even watched The Exorcist.... But I LOVE eggplants...

tigerfish said...

I'm not a fan of eggplants but I don't think I ever tried a baked version. Maybe this version will change me.

Chibog in Chief said...

my hubby and i are both scary movie addict!! hehehe the more scary the more we love it!!

i have never tasted this before but looks worth trying! i love the idea of tamarind dip!!

daphne said...

If u give me that plate of eggplant, I will watch any scary movie...

Anonymous said...

rittt, aku yo seneng film serem :P, tapi jangan yang versi indonesia dwehh bener2 ga serem :P

btw, tak contek resep e, look yummy soale suka bingung kalo liat terong mau diapain selain di bumbu merah :P suwuunnn

Jin Hooi said...

.. Haha.. I am the same as u .Btw, my mum used to serve ikan goreng with this tmarind dip .. yummy!!

A.G said...

aku pilem horor sih ga patio senenng tp nek reallity show seneng neeeng kudu dikancani nontot :P

gorengan sapa sih yg mau nolak ;) mauuuuukk

Laura Paterson said...

I love the idea of the crunchy eggplant - and the tamarind sauce is a new one to me too...

I like scary movies... but hate gore... bleurgh!

glamah16 said...

I was looking over your last 8 posts in my reader. Damn girl you have been cooking up a storm! Everythinhg looks amazong, creative, and tasty. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

Rita, eggplannya renyah gk? gw demen yg di goreng2 heleh gk inget kolesterol nih gw hehehe

ttg film yg serem - biar di bayar gw ogah dah. (eh tergantung sih berapa dibayarnya LOL)

Unknown said...

what a great eggplant recipe idea... it looks so good... thanks for sharing... :)

Pam said...

I haven't eaten much eggplant (bad experience as a child) but I really want to try it again. I just may have to make this.

Lidia Sianturi said...

Rit...ono award buatmu ya...

KC said...

I never thought about eggplant and tamarind but it looks fabulous. Will have to try it soon.

Anonymous said...

i like scary movies but my husband is like a little girl about them (don't tell him i told you!). BUT, more importantly, I love this dish. I think i'm going to have to have this tamarind dip on hand often!

test it comm said...

Breaded and baked eggplant is good and that dip sounds really tasty!

Anonymous said...

Hi Rita!
Your eggplant looks delicious. I'll pass on the Excorcist. That movie kept me awake for most of my childhood! haha

pam said...

I love scary movies! Did you see The Ring?

Dragon said...

I still can not watch the exorcist. Too scary for me. :)

I love youre spice eggplants. Can't wait to try them.

CECIL said...

ooohh..will absolutely try this one! everything is fantastic when fried, isnt it? but this baked eggplant just looks so crispy!

Anonymous said...

I need some help, please!! I am having a Asian/ chinese Brunch Baby shower, and I really need help with my menu. Can anybody help me? I want it to be classy and elegant. Thank you! Judy

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I love this dish! I can just imagine biting into the crunchy batter into the soft eggplant. And dipping into that tamarind dip: doubly delish!

Scary movies? Don't enjoy it much these days. . .I guess I'm OLD.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Rita! These look so yummy!

Marija said...

Rita, the dish is fantastic! Thanks for sending this to the WW!

Anonymous said...

Cool recipe -- Looks crispy and the sour dip is sure to be delicious