Fried Dersa Stuffed Aubergine

Deep fried dersa (spicy sauce) stuffed aubergine i'm not sure if it's authentically Algerian but my husband taught me this recipe so it must be?! 

The aubergine first has its skin removed while leaving the stem intact it's boiled until just tender before making an incision deep enough but make sure not to pierce straight through it.  

Stuff with a thick spicy garlicy tomato sauce/paste. A double dip in flour and egg then into panko bread crumbs before frying until crispy and golden. 

You get crunchy, soft yet meaty texture, saucy and spicy all in one!

I seem to only have ever made this dish and took photos during the night with artificial lighting using a mobile but still i hope my description does it justice.

If you haven't panko bread crumbs go ahead and use the regular already seasoned ones like i did here 

or make your own using stale bread in a food processor, chop, chop!

Fried Dersa Stuffed Aubergine 

Serves: 1-2 

Skill Level: Medium 

Preparation Time (including boiling): approximately 25-30 minutes

Cooking Time: about 3-5 minutes

Ingredients

Dersa (thick spicy sauce/paste)

2 tablespoon tomato puree

1/3 jalapeno chilli, finely chopped including seeds

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or 1-2 average-small cloves finely chopped then crushed in pestle and mortar

1/2 teaspoon cumin

small pinch of salt and pepper

squeeze of harissa (sorry i can't be more specific)

1 heaped tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped

1 average size aubergine

Coating

1/3 cup plain flour, seasoned 

1 egg, seasoned and whisked

panko bread crumbs (or regular), seasoned

oil for frying 

Method

1. Prepare dersa by combining all the dersa ingredients in a small bowl (or prepare everything in pestle and mortar if using fresh garlic but you must start with crushing your fresh garlic), mix thoroughly and set aside.
2. Prepare aubergine: peel skin off using a vegetable peeler, keep stem intact. In a saucepan fill 2/3 full with water add aubergine, over medium-heat bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to a fast simmer and cook until aubergine is soft but not mushy, mine took about 12-15 minutes. Pour contents into a sieve / colander (have a bowl underneath to catch the water) leave the aubergine to cool to room temperature in sieve set over pan.
3. Place seasoned flour, egg and bread crumbs in 3 separate deep sided plates. Heat oil to no lower than 160C ideally 180C.
4. On 1 side of the aubergine only, in the center make a cut about 1cm deep and 3-4cm length (leave space on either side of the cut) using a teaspoon place the dersa inside and encourage with your fingers to close the cut the best you can. Dip and coat all sides first in flour then egg repeat flour/egg then into breadcrumbs before carefully placing into hot oil! fry for a few minutes until crispy and golden, turning only once. Remove and drain on paper towels before serving.

Notes

• You can shallow fry if you prefer but it's more fiddly and means the dersa is more likely to spill out of the aubergine, coating and go into the oil.