My mom's red eggplant salad

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My mom and Musk share the same name. Elon. Her name is actually Ilana but her friends call her Elon and it's funny because she's about as scary as the real Elon Musk.

Eggplant is not a vegetable that children tend to like, but I remember digging into my mom's pot and loading it onto a huge slice of challah. It is spicy, addictive in its taste and has long since become a must every Friday on the Shabbat table.

A word before

Don't want to fry? You can also bake the eggplants. It's not the same calories, but it's not the same taste either.

The salad can be served hot or cold. The salad will keep for a week or more in the refrigerator. My mom isn't shy about adding a teaspoon (or two) of sahug to the salad. There's no such thing as too hot for her.

Ayalon's red eggplant salad

Materials

• Oil for frying

• 2 peeled "zebra" eggplants, sliced into 1.5 cm thick slices "Zebra style" is when you peel one slice one not, so you would leave some of the peel on the eggplant but not all of it

• 2-3 tablespoons oil

• 2 large tomatoes, cut into medium cubes

• 5-6 cloves of crushed garlic

• 2 medium red peppers, seeded and peeled, cut into 1/2 cm thick strips

• 1 can of tomato paste

• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

• 1 teaspoon consomme (optional)

• 1/2 teaspoon of hawag marak (optional)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• A handful of cilantro or parsley leaves, washed and chopped

How to prepare

1. Place the eggplants in a colander. Sprinkle salt on it and let the slices stand for half an hour, an hour. Lightly rinse the eggplant slices and with pat with paper towels, blot and dry the liquids. It is important that the slices are dry when they meet the hot oil.

2. In a deep frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry the eggplant slices on both sides and transfer to paper paper.

3. While the eggplants are frying up, we'll work on the tomato sauce.

   In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, heat a little oil and add crushed garlic. Stir and add diced tomatoes. Let the tomatoes and garlic cook for about 10-15 minutes. Add red pepper strips and mix well. Add tomato paste, salt, sugar and spices. Mix well. Add half a cup of boiling water, mix well and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce cook for 20-30 minutes. It is important that you taste and adjust the flavors to your liking.

4. After our sauce has been reduced, add the eggplant slices, using a fork, mash the eggplant slices into the sauce. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Remove the pot from the stove, add cilantro or parsley and go find yourself a challah.