Our quick and easy recipe for pan fried eggplant on baba ganoush with yoghurt, mint and sumac makes a delicious Middle Eastern style vegetable side dish or vegetarian main course. Eggplant spears are pan fried until smoky and charred, piled onto a bed of baba ganoush, showered with fresh mint and dill, topped with dollops of yoghurt and a sprinkle of sumac, or paprika or chill flakes.
Eggplants are so beautiful, affordable and in such abundance right now, I’ve been cooking with eggplants almost daily. If you’ve also been buying up those black beauties and big shiny globes, I’ll be sharing more eggplant recipes soon, from eggplant fritters from Calabria in Southern Italy to my grandmother’s marinated eggplant salad recipe from the Black Sea.
In the meantime, if you liked our smoky char-grilled eggplant tossed with fresh flat leaf parsley, pomegranate and sesame seeds spread over homemade creamy hummus, you’re going to love this pan fried eggplant piled onto baba ganoush, sprinkled with aromatic mint and spices. I’ve been alternating between sumac, paprika and chilli flakes and they’re all wonderful.
Like that char-grilled eggplant salad, you can serve this pan-fried eggplant dish warm or chilled, as a Middle Eastern mezze alongside muhammara and hummus Beiruti, with salads such as tabbouleh, fattoush, pearl couscous with pomegranate and pistachios, or a farmers salad, or as a side to shish tawook (garlicky chicken skewers), kofta kebabs, seven-spiced meatballs, and spiced rice for a Middle Eastern feast.
But before I tell you more about this pan-fried eggplant recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve cooked our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers or classic cookbooks for serious cooks; or booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith next time you take a trip.
And if you love Middle Eastern food as much as we do, we have lots of Middle Eastern recipes from our decade in the Middle East. Looking for more cooking inspiration? We have hundreds of recipes in our archives and you can save your favourites in a private account by clicking on the heart on the right of each post. Now lets tell you more about this pan-fried eggplant recipe.
Pan Fried Eggplant on Baba Ganoush with Yoghurt, Mint and Sumac
I’ve called this pan fried eggplant on baba ganoush with yoghurt, mint and sumac (or paprika or chilli flakes if you prefer), a Middle Eastern ‘inspired’ dish ,as I don’t recall seeing an eggplant dish exactly like this when we lived in the Middle East. But I’m sure someone probably makes it in the home somewhere in Beirut or Damascus or Amman.
It’s in that Middle Eastern style of dish of vegetables or meats piled on a creamy base, whether that’s baba ganoush, yoghurt, labneh, white bean purée, or hummus, like the classic hummus-based dishes, hummus bil lahme (spiced ground beef on hummus) and balela salad (a village salad spread onto hummus and chickpeas), or the Antalya-style Turkish piyaz, a salad of tomatoes and boiled eggs spread over butter beans purée.
If you find those dishes as deliciously addictive as I do, try our recipes for a cucumber salad on creamy white bean purée, a corn salad with bacon, pearl couscous, flat leaf parsley and fried shallots, smoky char grilled baby corn on creamy butter beans with caramelised shallots and crispy pistachios, roasted cauliflower florets in spiced oil on hummus, and grilled baby carrots on dill yoghurt with dukkah and fresh herbs.
I only have a few tips to making this quick and easy Middle Eastern inspired pan fried eggplant on baba ganoush with yoghurt, mint and sumac or paprika or chilli flakes.
Tips to Making this Pan Fried Eggplant on Baba Ganoush with Yoghurt, Mint and Sumac
Just a few tips to making this Middle Eastern style pan fried eggplant on baba ganoush with yoghurt, mint and sumac, or paprika or chilli flakes as it’s a cinch to make and comes together quickly.
The Baba Ganoush Base
Let’s start with the base: if you tight on tight you could use store-bought baba ganoush, otherwise, you could make our homemade baba ganoush eggplant dip ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it. It will keep well for a few days in the fridge.
When you’re ready to prep your serving plate, just scoop the baba ganoush out onto the plate and use the back of a big spoon to spread it out. I like to shower the baba ganoush with the fresh herbs so it’s not eggplant on eggplant.
Prepping The Eggplant
Use a big Globe eggplant or Black Beauty eggplant and cut the eggplant into spears or batons. I haven’t specified a size for those spears, but obviously the more narrowly you slice them the faster they’ll cook. Narrow spears are fantastic for piling into toasted Turkish bread.
After you slice the eggplant into spears, lay them out onto a tray or cutting board and sprinkle on a little salt and leave them to rest. The salt draws the moisture out of the eggplants. While you’re waiting for that to happen, you can prep your serving plate (see above).
Pan Frying the Eggplant Spears
First, use paper kitchen towels to pat down the eggplant batons and soak up any moisture that’s risen to their surface courtesy of that salt.
Use your largest frying pan or skillet and pour in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, just enough to lightly coat the pan. Heat the pan over medium-high and when the oil is hot and shimmering, use long tongs to transfer some of the eggplant spears to the pan.
Make sure to keep the eggplant spears separated and not over-crowd the pan, as they will steam rather than fry, which means you’ll need to fry the eggplant batons in batches. I use a tablespoon of olive oil per batch.
You’ll need to use those tongs again to turn the eggplant spears regularly so that they’re soft, smoky and charred on all sides, and as they’re ready transfer them directly to the serving plate.
To Finish and Serve
Once you’ve finished pan frying the eggplant spears and they’re all piled onto the serving plate, spoon on some dollops of Greek style yoghurt, sprinkle on a sumac, paprika or chilli flakes (they’re all delish), and garnish with more fresh herbs. I love fresh mint and fresh dill, but fresh coriander or flat leaf parsley also work.
You could drizzle on a little more extra virgin olive oil, if you’re as addicted to the stuff as I am. I also love sprinkling on some dukkah, the Middle Eastern pounded nut, seed and spice condiment. I always have dukkah on hand. If you don’t, try my dukkah recipe. You’ll need a mortar and pestle to make dukkah. (My favourite is the hand-crafted KROK mortar and pestle.)
Pop some lemon wedges on the side of the plate and in a dish for guests to squeeze on top and serve with toasted toasted sourdough or warmed pita if eating as a snack, starter or light lunch, or with an array of mezze or as a vegetable side for meatballs, skewers, kebabs, roast chicken, or grilled meats or fish. Lots of links above. Enjoy!
Pan Fried Eggplant on Baba Ganoush with Yoghurt, Mint and Sumac
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant - globe or black beauty, around 500-600 g, cut into spears
- 1 tsp salt
- 200 g baba ganoush - homemade or store-bought
- 2 tbsp fresh mint - leaves only
- 2 tbsp fresh dill - sprigs only
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil - divided, more if needed
- 8 tbsp Greek style yoghurt
- 1 tsp sumac - or ground paprika or chilli flakes
- ½ lemon - cut into wedges for squeezing on, optional
Instructions
- Lay the eggplant spears out onto trays or cutting boards, sprinkle very lightly with salt, and leave to rest.
- Scoop the baba ganoush onto a serving plate, use the back of a spoon to spread it around thickly, and shower with the fresh herbs, saving some for garnishing.
- Use paper kitchen towels to pat the eggplant spears to soak up the moisture that’s risen to the surface thanks to the salt.
- Pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a big frying pan over medium-high, just enough to lightly coat the pan. When hot and shimmering, use tongs to transfer some eggplant spears to the pan, keeping them separated. Fry in batches so the pan isn’t crowded, using a tablespoon of oil per batch.
- Fry the eggplant spears until they’re soft, smokey and charred on all sides, using tongs to turn them regularly. Use the tongs to transfer the spears to the serving plate as they’re done.
- Spoon some dollops of creamy Greek style yoghurt onto the eggplant spears, sprinkle on a little sumac (or ground paprika or chilli flakes), garnish with some more fresh herbs, and serve with lemon wedges for guests to squeeze on top.
- Serve with warmed pita or toasted Turkish bread if eating as a snack, starter or light lunch, or serve as a vegetable side for meatballs, skewers, kofta kebabs, roast chicken, or grilled meats or fish.
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our pan fried eggplant on baba ganoush with yoghurt, mint and sumac, as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.
Made this with hommus and it was soooo good, Lara, thank you!!!
Hi Miriam, so pleased to read this! Shukran habibti x
Another great recipe! Followed it to the T and it was fantastic!
Thank you for the kind words, Jackie. So pleased to hear this :)