At The Corner of Happy And Harried

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Baked Parmesan Eggplant Fingers With Cilantro Tzatziki Sauce

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Oven Baked Crispy Parmesan Eggplant Fingers With Cilantro Tzatziki Sauce

Here, take a closer look at these beauties. I will wait till you ogle, drool and maybe whistle at these lovely things.

Oven Baked Crispy Eggplant Fries

These are eggplant/aubergine/brinjal finger ‘fries’ – thick slices of a fresh, plump eggplant coated with shredded parmesan cheese and baked in the oven till golden crisp. Aren’t they absolutely beautiful?!!

Oven Baked Crispy Eggplant Fries Served With Fresh Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt) Dip

I couldn’t decide what to pair them with. And while they were sunning in the oven, I got it. What better than a garlicky and cool tzatziki sauce? The sauce is made even more awesome by a bunch of cilantro leaves. So fresh!

Oven Baked Eggplant Fingers Served With Tzatziki Sauce

We start off with the perfect eggplant, firm and gorgeously aubergine colored!

Purple Eggplant

The eggplant is sliced thickly into fingers. They are then dredged, dipped and coated respectively in flour, egg and a mixture of finely shredded parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs. The key is to properly season the various coating ingredients. So, don’t forget to lightly salt the flour and eggs and also the final parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs mixture. You can make it more awesome by adding your favorite dried herbs and other seasoning. I used oregano and black pepper powder.

Oven Baked Crispy Parmesan Eggplant Fries

They are such fun to eat, crunchy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside, without being mushy. I loved it! And the cucumber-garlic-cilantro yogurt sauce was just divine. I just love tzatziki and I can’t get enough of it!

Tzatziki Dip {With Cucumber, Garlic And Cilantro}

On with the recipes now. These are really quick recipes and you can whip them up real quick whenever you have company coming over or when you fancy something slightly cheesy, crunchy, yet healthy.

Oven Baked Crispy Parmesan Eggplant Fingers With Greek Tzatziki Sauce

OVEN-BAKED EGGPLANT FINGERS

You will need:

  • Eggplant – 1 large
  • All purpose flour – as needed, taken in a shallow bowl for dredging lightly
  • Egg – 1 large, beaten with a teaspoon of water
  • Parmesan cheese – 1/2 cup, finely shredded
  • Breadcrumbs – 1/2 cup
  • Dried oregano – 1 tsp
  • Black pepper powder – 1/4-1/2 tsp (you can use red chili flakes instead)
  • Salt – to taste

How to:

  • Pre-heat the oven to 425 deg.F. Line a couple of large rimmed baking trays with foil and place wire racks on top.
  • Set up your work station first. Take three shallow bowls. Fill one with flour, the second with the beaten egg and the last one with parmesan, breadcrumbs, oregano and black pepper powder. Remember to season all three bowls with salt as needed.
  • Cut the eggplant into 1/4″ fingers. You can make them as long or as short as you like. But make sure all the fingers are almost the same size so that they cook uniformly. Lightly toss with a pinch of salt.
  • Coat each eggplant finger in flour first, shaking off the excess. Then dip it in the egg wash. Using a fork, transfer it to the cheese-breadcrumbs mixture and coat liberally on all sides. Set on the wire rack. Repeat till all the eggplant slices are used up.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes or till the fingers are lightly browned. Since we use a wire rack, the fingers get evenly browned on all sides. If you don’t have one, you can lay the fingers down in lined baking sheets and flip them over once halfway through the baking.
  • Once done, remove from the oven and serve with your favorite dip. The following tzatziki sauce is perfect for dipping.

CILANTRO TZATZIKI SAUCE

You will need:

  • Cucumber – 1, small
  • Garlic – 1 large clove
  • Cilantro leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
  • Greek yogurt or thick whole milk yogurt – 2 cups, whipped
  • Salt – to taste

How to:

  • Blend cucumber, garlic and cilantro coarsely. Strain to remove the liquid from the cucumber.
  • Mix in with yogurt and season with salt. Serve chilled.

Oven Baked Crispy Parmesan Eggplant Fingers

 Enjoy some crunchy eggplant finger fries, with none of the guilt! And, don’t forget the sauce!!

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Comments

  1. I love eggplant so this looks like a real treat! Featured you at our party this morning. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply

  7. Hey it’s you again, didn’t we just meet at the corner of happy and harried? 🙂 These fritters look marvelous! I am so tired of eggplant in stews and spreads, I must must give these a try! Once again thank you for blessing our table at the party today!

    Reply

  12. Our neighbor just gave us an eggplant from his garden. Now I know what to do with it (besides eggplant parm!)! Thanks! Hopping over from Between Naps on the Porch…

    Reply

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