Back when I was in middle school, my mom had a recipe for eggplant fritters in her weekly meal rotation. They were delicious, and I was very happy each time she made them. I haven't eaten them or thought of them for years (middle school being very far behind in my life's rear view mirror) until yesterday when I suddenly remembered them quite vividly and started to want them rather badly.
Luckily I had eggplant and my mom had a general idea of the recipe since we couldn't find it in any of the cookbooks she had used during my childhood. Her email directions (condensed version) were as follow: "Mashed COOKED eggplant, salt and pepper, and I suppose whatever other seasoning you might like, egg, baking powder ? ? ? and I think a teaspoon or two of ketchup. When you got all the gloop together you mixed in enough flour so it would stay together. Then fry."
It is always nice when something you remember as being really yummy still is years later and when you get the proper recipe right the first time. I served these over a baby kale salad with avocado and mushrooms and drizzled everything with a sorrel dressing.
None of this was necessary. These fritters were crispy on the outside and soufflé like on the inside and didn't really need any help to shine.
2 cups peeled eggplant, diced
1 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 Tbsps flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp ketchup
2 Tbsps olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Place the eggplant cubes in a steamer over a pan of boiling water. Sprinkle with the onion. Cover and let steam for five minutes.
Tip the eggplant and onion mixture into a bowl and mash well. Add the flour, baking powder, egg, ketchup and liberal amounts of salt and pepper to the mash and stir very well to combine.
Heat the oil until it is shimmering. Lower the heat to medium-low and dollop in the eggplant mixture. You can make any size fritter you would like, I considered small ones but ended up making three medium sized from the mixture.
Cook the fritters for three minutes on each side. They are delicate so I needed a spatula under them and a spoon to coax them along in order to flip them.
Place on a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess oil and enjoy, maybe with a green salad on the side.
