SQWIB wrote:
Interesting on the Dehydrator, that is one thing I have not tried, can you elaborate on your process and how you use once dried?
Pics?
I couldn't find any of the photos of "before and after" (can't post them, thanks to photobucket), but here is a photo I just took of one of the filled jars:
DSCF0347 by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
I cut the EP into chunks about the size I normally would when making most dishes - a little over 1" each way. The thicker ones I quarter lengthwise, the green ones, halve them, and then cut into pieces, and place on the dehydrator shelves, close together, since they shrink considerably. When drying them, I do it on the lowest heat - takes longer, but they don't get browned on one side of the shelf.
When using the EP, I soak it in hot water, and this takes about 30-45 min to soften it enough to put in the dish (though maybe not to the center). If I do it in the morning, I put them in warm water, and leave it for the day, and this softens them completely. Here is something a friend made for me, to weight the chiles, dried eggplant, mushrooms, and other similar items, when soaking. This is a ceramic disk that fits inside a 2 liter container (I have another that fits in 2 c pyrex cups), and keeps them under the water to soak:
DSCF0348 by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
I learned early on that if I just tossed them in a dish dry, some wouldn't get totally soaked and cooked, and would remain hard, even in a pressure cooker! I guess because they were floating, and not entirely submerged.
I use these mostly in soups and Indian and Thai curries, though I have also used them in many tomato based dishes. I have also ground it into a flour, and put that into Indian flatbreads, in place of some of the chapati flour, which turned out delicious.
imafan26 - I have grown many green eggplants, and my favorite is Hari - an Indian variety I got the seeds for from
https://www.seedsofindia.com/item/Eggplant-Hari-27
This is the fastest producer of any of the green varieties I have grown (I've tried many, and also tried another that company had -
Andaz - but that didn't produce much for me), and it is also very heat resistant. I would have thought the ones from Thailand and LA would have been, as well, but they stopped producing in heat waves, like all other varieties I have grown. In a record hot summer a few years ago, Hari produced throughout the summer. And this variety is mild flavored - does not get at all bitter, even when I miss one, and let it get too large and seedy. And they stay tender, as well; even though the large ones do get a little seedy, it's nothing like those round Thai EP, that seem seedy from the beginning!
Here's a photo of a day's harvest from two plants way back. I usually try to pick them before 10", but sometimes I can't keep up with them!
DSCF0600 by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Here's a photo from this year, and, as you can see, some are a little fatter, but still pretty much the same. I got a new pack of seeds this season, so maybe they aren't entirely stabilized, but still, they did great!
DSCF0258 by
pepperhead212, on Flickr