Indian Eggplant Chips

I'm at home in CT right now with my parents, and I'm trying to pick up as many cooking tips from my mom as I can! She made one of my favorite Indian snack foods tonight, which I thought I would share. She used eggplant, or aubergine, as my British friend would say, or brinjal, as Indian restaurants like to use on their menus. I've always thought eggplant is a really hard vegetable to cook, but this dish isn't pretty foolproof. I have to say, somehow, my mom always makes all her eggplant dishes so well! She used the regular plump Italian eggplant, but this same dish could easily be made with the longer eggplant or the cute little heirloom eggplants.

Indian Eggplant Chips

I like to make them so they are crispy on the outside skin, but with a tender inner layer, just barely cooked through.

1. Wash eggplant. Cut into 1/8 inch slices. They don't have to be perfect, but the slices should be a medium width- if they're too fat, they won't cook through the inside; if they're too thin, they will stick to the pan or get too crispy all over.

2. Heat a non-stick pan (the big flat base ones) on medium heat and spread 2 tbsps olive oil over the bottom. I'm trying to stop using those non-stick pans, because I feel like cooking food on Teflon probably isn't the healthiest thing to do. But they're just so perfect for cooking this chips! I'm sure I could make the same chips on a regular pan just by using more oil.

3. Place eggplant slices on the hot pan. Don't overlap or touch the slices.

4. Cook the first side for about 4 min on medium heat, or until they are lightly browned. Flip and cook the other side for another 4 min.

5. Remove from pan and sprinkle each piece with salt, black pepper, and kala namak, a black salt commonly used in India. Kala namak is definitely one of my favorite seasonings, and it is commonly overlooked by Indian restaurants or Western-produced Indian recipes. The salt is actually pink, but it turns blackish when it gets wet, which I think is really cool! If you can't find kala namak, don't worry, the eggplant chips will taste great with just the salt and pepper. You can also try dipping it in cilantro or mint chutney, for an interesting flavor.