Sesame Herb crusted Eggplant

I've actually been craving these ever since I made them a few nights ago, it reminds me of fish, in the way that it was super amazing with lemon squeezed all over it, and had a nice crunchy coating on it.

You will need:
1 large eggplant, peeled
1 cup of breadcrumbs - either make your own or store bought (make sure they're vegan)
2 tablespoons of dried mixed herb
1 cup of corn flour (or regular flour)
1 cup of water with 3 tablespoons of cornflour added
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
salt for salting eggplant.
oil for frying


preheat your oven to 180C

Prepare your eggplant.

Cut into thick (2-3cm) slices (I cut them lengthwise to get a more 'fishy' shape) and scrape away excess seeds, place on a plate and cover with salt to draw away the bitterness, you will need to do each side with salt for about 15 minutes, you will notice a brownish liquid coming from the eggplant (this is good!) then rinse.

place breadcrumbs, sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon of herbs into a container which is wide enough to dunk the slices of eggplant
prepare a second container (same rules apply) with the water/cornflour mix + extra herbs
and a third bowl with the cornflour or plain flour.

while still wet, dunk eggplant slices into cornflour (ensure fully coated) and then quickly into the water/cornflour mixture (ensure fully coated), and then finally into the breadcrumb mixture.
Fry off in a pan over medium/high heat for about 7 minutes on each side or until starting to go golden brown.
finish off in the oven for about 15 minutes, let them go crispy on the outside.


Enjoy, these were great with some fresh lemon!