Why is brinjal bitter

Cut the green calyxes off the eggplants. Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. Using a sharp paring knife, cut a box in the center of each eggplant half, coming about half an inch from the sides and cutting down to within half an inch of the bottom. Using a large spoon, pry the center free. It should come out fairly cleanly, but use the spoon to scrape any excess eggplant from the inside of the box.

Place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet lined with paper towel. Cover the excess eggplant flesh with plastic wrap and set aside. Repeat, cleaning all the eggplants. Chop one of the onions and combine it with one-quarter cup of the olive oil in a large skillet. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and reduce the heat to low. Continue cooking an additional 3 minutes. While the onions and garlic are cooking, bone the shoulder chops, then trim the fat and cut the meat into pieces about the size of the tip of your little finger.

You'll have about three-quarters of a pound. When the garlic is fragrant, add the meat to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the lamb has lost its raw color, about 5 minutes. The lamb will not brown. Chop the reserved eggplant flesh into pieces about the same size as the meat. Add it to the skillet and cook until the eggplant has softened completely, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add 1 cup of the crushed tomatoes and cook until the color dulls a little, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pine nuts and parsley and remove from the heat. Taste and correct the seasoning. With the remaining tablespoon of oil, grease a large baking dish about a inch oval. Cut the remaining onion in quarters and then slice thinly. Put the slices in the bottom of the baking dish and pour the remaining crushed tomato over it.

Arrange the eggplant halves in the baking dish. They should fit tightly. Spoon the lamb mixture into the eggplant boxes, dividing evenly. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake 15 minutes, then remove the foil and spoon some of the tomatoes from the bottom of the baking dish over the eggplants, paying particular attention to the exposed cut sides.

Re-cover with aluminum foil and bake, spooning the tomato mixture over the eggplants twice more at minute intervals. After 45 minutes total cooking time, bake just 10 more minutes, then spoon tomatoes for the last time and scatter the grated cheese generously over the top of the eggplants.

Bake uncovered until the cheese is lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Each serving: calories; 19 grams protein; 23 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams fiber; 27 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 56 milligrams cholesterol; milligrams sodium.

Grilled foods are great in salads or as ingredients in other dishes Limiting your grilling repertoire to steaks, hamburgers and chicken is a waste of firepower. While coals are hot, you can cook vegetables, breads and even fruits for dessert along with the It's spongy, bitter and bland, and you just don't know what to do with it?

If so, you're not alone. For more than 1, years, as eggplant spread west from India, Paul Klitsie, executive chef and co-owner of Ristorante Fratelli, dices tomatoes in his kitchen in Portland, Ore. Klitsie is author of these delicious recipes below, at just the right time to take advantage of the season's bounty. My neighbors love me. Sure, I'll take that squash, I say. But I'm the lucky one.

There are all kinds of stories about people who sneak over in the dead of night and leave squash on your doorstep. Some of them may even Eggplant in white or glowing lilac, gold zucchini, green-and-yellow pattypan squash, green-and-white striped tomatoes, peaches blushing on the outside but white on the inside.

Talk about The most common eggplants and the most easily found in grocery stores are the giant globe variety. But there's a whole world of eggplant out there, including a chubby round Thai variety; a smaller, slender Japanese eggplant; and the darling of markets everywhere: the dainty lavender and white-flecked fairytale. Some of the smaller varieties are sweeter, explains Saffitz, and, depending on your recipe, might be a better fit than the globe. Saffitz likes using Thai or Japanese eggplants for stir-fries, but prefers larger eggplant for parm or baba ghanoush.

How do you know if an eggplant is ripe? It's all about visual cues. Discerning farmers' market shoppers may be used to sniffing and gently squeezing produce to suss out what's ready for the taking, but if an eggplant is squishy or its skin dimples with a little pressure, it's past its prime. Ripe eggplants at the peak of perfection are firm, with shiny and taut skin. To keep yours fresh and perky, definitely store it in the fridge, but there's no need to fuss over it with damp paper towels or a prime spot in the crisper: They're so hardy that senior associate food editor Alison Roman just stores 'em on a shelf and calls it good.

Related Article: Why is Eggplant so Filling? You can take a few actions to mitigate the bitterness. The most common and effective methods are the following:. Avoiding a bitter eggplant is something you can do before you even take it home. You should be looking for eggplants that are shiny. Consider the location, too. Also Read: Why is Eggplant Purple? Despite your best efforts to avoid a bitter eggplant, you might have ended up with one, anyway.

One time-tested way of removing the bitter factor from the eggplant is by salting it prior to cooking. Cube or slice the eggplant and salt the resulting pieces. Leave the salted pieces for at least half an hour. You can also gently rinse the eggplant to wash it away. The flavor should be less bitter. Another method you can use is removing the seeds. In any case, it wasn't ripe.. That's right, and only unripe eggplants are edible. Ripe eggplants are seedy, bitter and generally not fit for consumption.

The harder and firmer they are, the better! Picking eggplants is a bit of an art too - you have to compromise on how hard and firm and shiny they are versus how big they are. Basically, it's the exact opposite of a tomato! The more mature, the worse the taste. In addition, the riper they are, the tougher the flesh is after cooking.

It's all rather counterintuitive but eggplants are tricky that way. Your eggplant was probably just about to ripen, which combined with the water stress contributed to bitterness. I think the variety of eggplant might have something to do with it. I grew both ichiban and the miniature patio ones this year. The ichibans were delicious as always but the miniatures were so bitter that I intend to pull up the plant and use that space for something else.

Both plants had the same soil and growing conditions. Indem Sie weiterhin auf der Website surfen bzw. Mehr erfahren. Ultimate Lighting Sale. Bathroom Vanity Sale. Bestselling Chandeliers and Pendants. Sign In. Join as a Pro. Houzz TV. Houzz Research. Shop Featured Holiday Categories. Home Decor. Holiday Decor.

Christmas Trees. Holiday Lighting. Gift Cards. Vegetable Gardening. Why was my mini eggplant bitter? Email Save Comment Sort by: Oldest.

Newest Oldest. Ran short of water somewhere during development. Like Save. And too long on vine. Shine on the skin is already dulling. Related Discussions Budget mini kitchen redo Q. It has now been a while but I have decided to replace all the cabinet doors with a shaker style.