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Mesa’ah is a very common dish in Egypt, and it varies slightly from home to home. Mesa’ah is a fried eggplant in a garlicky spicy tomato sauce. It’s eaten with fresh pita bread, and it’s absolutely delicious. This Egyptian fried eggplant recipe with tomato sauce is definitely worth trying!
Ingredients for Egyptian Mesa’ah Fried Eggplant Recipe
- Eggplant: The best eggplant to use for this recipe is purple eggplant like the ones below.
- Garlic: Always use the fresh stuff!
- Tomatoes: You will need beefsteak or Roma tomatoes.
- Vinegar: This recipe has just a slight amount of distilled white vinegar.
- Tomato paste: Any tomato paste will do.
- Olive oil: Alternatively you can use a high smoke point oil like canola oil or vegetable. I prefer to use olive oil because I like how it tastes. Olive oil has a lower smoke point, so if using olive oil be mindful of the heat on the pan.
- Spicy pepper: If you like some heat, you can add a few small spicy peppers.
- Salt and pepper
You will also need:
- Chef’s knife and cutting board
- Wide nonstick frying pan
- Spatula
- Blender
What is the Healthiest Way to Cook Eggplant?
You can steam eggplant or roast eggplant without oil. My American grandfather always said, “No fat, no taste” when we were grocery shopping as he added Little Debbie snacks to the grocery cart. My opinion is, let’s use fat but in a smart way.
So I pan fry this eggplant with a little bit of EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil). I like cooking it this way because I can control how much oil is being used for the dish. If you don’t measure out the oil, you will be surprised at how much oil actually gets soaked into the eggplant.
You want just enough olive oil to help cook and flavor the eggplant, but not too much where you are biting into a greasy eggplant. That’s why it’s important to use a nonstick frying pan for this recipe.
Another way to control the oil absorption into the eggplant is by pan roasting the eggplant in the oven. I use a pastry brush, and I brush the olive oil on both sides of the eggplant before putting it into the oven. If you roast the eggplant, you need to flip the eggplant over halfway through the cooking process.
Can You Eat the Skin of Purple Eggplant?
Yes! The outer skin of purple eggplant can be eaten, although it may have a chewy and tough texture.
Want Another Recipe for Fried Eggplant?
When my husband makes mesa’ah, he usually makes this fried eggplant dish with garlic as well. Basically, you are killing two birds with one stone by frying a little bit extra eggplant.
To make this garlic fried eggplant, just mash 4 garlic cloves with 1/2 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp of salt. Mash 1 tbsp of fresh green pepper (it can be spicy pepper or bell pepper) into the mashed garlic paste. And spread the garlicky love over the fried eggplant pieces.
We like to eat this fried eggplant with our baked falafel sandwiches. Another way to this eggplant is just with some fresh pita bread.
Other Egyptian Breakfast Recipes
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Egyptian Fried Eggplant Recipe with Tomato Sauce – Mesa’ah
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Mesa’ah is Egyptian fried eggplant with a tomato garlic sauce. This recipe for Egyptian fried eggplant is fattening and delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 spicy pepper (if preferred)
- 4 garlic cloves
- Oil for frying the eggplant
- 1 tbsp of tomato paste
- 3 tbsp of white vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Fry the Eggplant
- Wash the eggplant and slice into 1/4″ thick disks.
- In a large nonstick frying pan, add enough oil to coat the pan. Set the heat to medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add enough eggplant to just cover the pan. Don’t stack the eggplant on top of each other.
- Using a fork, flip the eggplant once it’s a golden brown. Cook on the other side.
- Add a paper towel to a plate, and place the fried eggplant onto the towel to soak the extra oil.
- Once the eggplant is all fried, set aside, and make the tomato garlic sauce.
Make the Garlic Tomate Sauce
- Chop of the garlic into very fine pieces.
- In a blender, blend the tomatoes. Strain the tomatoes using a fine mesh strainer.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil in a nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and cook until medium brown.
- Add the tomato paste, blended and strained tomatoes, and whole spicy pepper. Cook on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes to allow all of the flavors to infuse together.
- Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste at the very end.
Assemble the Mesa’ah
- Add the fried garlic into the garlic tomato sauce mixture.
- Serve with fresh pita bread.
Notes
- You can substitute canned tomato puree for fresh blended and strained tomatoes.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Egyptian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 pieces
- Calories: 189
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: eggplant with tomato sauce, mesa’ah, Egyptian eggplant, Egyptian eggplant and tomato dish, Egyptian fried eggplant
